What We Keep (Heartfire Falls #1)

He rebuilt a quiet life after his world fell apart. She brings the sunshine—and turns everything upside down.

Elsa Whitney grew up next door. I spent a handful of high school years half in love with her, without ever saying a word. After she moved away, not long after, my whole world fell apart. I grew up fast and buried a lot of things. Whatever I once felt for Elsa got buried with them.

Now she's back home in our small town, and somehow — before I can stop myself — I'm the one offering her the spare room.

Now she’s my roommate. Bad idea.

I’m a grumpy firefighter with enough responsibility to last a lifetime—raising my son, rebuilding my family’s struggling resort, and holding together a family that’s fraying at the seams. I don’t have room for distractions. Especially not Elsa who smiles like she owns the sun.

Too bad my family adores her. Too bad they’re right when they say I’m better with her around.

Elsa doesn’t just get under my skin. She settles into my home, into my days, and into the locked corners of my heart. But beneath all her warmth, Elsa is carrying her own pain.

What starts as forced proximity becomes something neither of us can control—a slow burn built on shared scars, stolen nights, and the terrifying possibility that maybe survival isn’t the same thing as living.

But loving someone means giving them the power to break you, and I’ve already survived enough loss. I’m not sure I can survive another.

A steamy, emotional small-town firefighter romance featuring a grumpy wounded single dad, the girl next door he never forgot, forced proximity roommates, found family, mutual healing, and a protective hero who falls first and hard.
A full-length standalone romance