He can pack his whole life in under an hour. She’s spent a year building one nobody can take away.

Emma Torres came to Haven Creek to disappear. After barely surviving a toxic boss, all she wanted was a barn, a routine, and animals who needed her exactly as she was. She says she’s fine. She says it a lot. She’s still learning how to mean it.

Liam Fitzgerald is only here for eight weeks. The rescue’s temporary vet tech. Her friend’s impossibly quiet brother. A man who’s spent ten years living out of a tiny house hitched behind his truck, everything he owns ready to move at a moment’s notice. He’s great with animals and terrible with people. He’s very good at being alone. He’ll tell you those are the same thing.

Then the rescue takes in Scout, a collie who can open any latch, and a goat named Houdini who treats every fence in Montana as a personal insult. Apart, they’re unstoppable. But penned side by side, they simply stop running.

Emma notices. So does Liam.

Eight weeks is long enough for Emma to sit up all night with a sick old dog and say things in the dark she’d never say in daylight. But its not nearly long enough for Liam, who’s never stayed anywhere, to learn how.

Can a man who leaves before anyone can leave him, and a woman too frightened to ask for something she might not get to keep, both be brave enough before his eight weeks run out to reach for a second chance at love?

A tender, slow-burn, closed-door romance about found family, second chances, and the difference between moving on and coming home.

A clean, closed-door small-town romance with a quiet, capable hero whos never let himself want anything and a soft-hearted heroine rebuilding her life from the ground up. Best-friend’s-brother, forced proximity, and a ticking clock. An anxious heroine written with tenderness and respect, an escape-artist goat, the collie who finally gives him a reason to stay put, found family, and all the warmth of a faith-friendly Montana summer.

Cynthia Dees is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over 100 romances, and Sarah Dees is a lawyer and published author. Join them at Second Chance Ranch for love, laughter, found family and friends in this sweet and emotional series about strong, wounded men, rescued animals, and close-knit women getting a second chance at love.

“A delightfully light and refreshing read…Ms. Dees never lets me down…What fun. Five stars! Highly recommend…”