The Reluctant Romantic

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

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

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Years later, Tyler has rebuilt his life behind the counter at Crossroads Powersports, handling numbers, paperwork, and the kind of predictable details that don’t break your heart. Then a bold, barely dressed stranger walks in, flirts badly, and disappears before he can figure out why she seems familiar.

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

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Shy, traditional, and tired of pretending she fits with friends who keep pushing her to be louder, Lainey only took the dare because Tyler was the boy-next-door crush she never outgrew. But when the truth comes out, Tyler sees disguise, games, and a woman he can’t fully trust.

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Lainey wants the same forever Tyler does.

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Now one awkward beginning could cost them both the future they want.

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The Reluctant Romantic is a steamy contemporary romance about a grounded hero, a shy heroine, a messy dare, vintage-car tension, found family, old betrayal wounds, and two people brave enough to admit they want forever.