The Reluctant Romantic

If you’ve been following my Unclaimed Hearts series, then you already know that The Reluctant Romantic is Book Six—and Tyler has deserved his own story for a long time.

He has always been the quiet one.

In the earlier books, Tyler stayed mostly in the background. He wasn’t loud and outgoing like Finn. He wasn’t rebuilding after a divorce like Derek. He wasn’t searching for a lost love like Tom. Tyler was simply steady, dependable, and easy to overlook.

His perfect match had been on the edge of his life years earlier, but he never truly noticed her. At the time, the age difference mattered. She was too young, and he was already moving through adulthood.

Now, they are both grown. They have both finished college, built lives of their own, and reached a point where that old age gap no longer defines them.

Tyler is a genuinely good man who has been deeply hurt. He is also a romantic, and those are always some of my favorite heroes to write. Beneath his guarded exterior, he still wants marriage, family, and a love that lasts.

He is traditional, too. I know that isn’t always presented as a desirable quality in today’s world, but I see it as one of his greatest strengths. And so does Lainey.

Tyler Hayes still believes in forever. He just doesn’t trust it anymore.

At thirty-six, Tyler is the steady one—the last of his old college friends still quietly hoping for marriage, a house, children, and someone who stays. He almost had that future once. Then he came home early with a ring in his pocket and found the woman he planned to marry in bed with someone else.

Years later, Tyler has rebuilt his life behind the counter at Crossroads Powersports, surrounding himself with numbers, contracts, and predictable details—the kind of things that don’t betray you or break your heart.

Then a bold, barely dressed stranger walks into the dealership, flirts badly, and disappears before he can understand why she seems so familiar.

Lainey Sands never meant to make Tyler feel like a joke.

Shy, traditional, and tired of pretending she fits in with friends who constantly push her to be louder and more daring, Lainey accepts a foolish challenge for one reason: Tyler is the boy-next-door crush she never truly outgrew.

But when the truth comes out, Tyler doesn’t see an innocent dare. He sees a disguise, another game, and a woman he isn’t sure he can trust.

The trouble is, Lainey wants the same forever Tyler does.

Now, one awkward beginning may cost them both the future they have spent years hoping to find.

The Reluctant Romantic is a steamy contemporary romance featuring a grounded, traditional hero, a shy heroine, a disastrous dare, vintage-car tension, found family, old wounds from betrayal, and two people brave enough to admit that they still believe in forever.

Tyler may be reluctant to risk his heart again, but sometimes the quietest love stories are the ones worth waiting for.

If Tyler and Lainey’s story speaks to you, The Reluctant Romantic is available now on Amazon.