Wildlife
biologist Shauna Hale knows exactly what belongs on the beaches of
Romance, Florida.
Nesting sea turtles. Protected dunes.
Carefully placed orange flags.
When an overnight nest redraws her boundaries, she finds a broad-shouldered man of the silver-fox variety inside the expanded buffer zone.
Barefoot. Shockingly attractive. Up to his elbows in Gulf
sand.
Definitely not on the list.
Chip Moreau’s marble sculptures are known around the world. Now Romance has chosen him to create the fair’s featured sculpture in sand—his first masterpiece meant to disappear.
He expects the sand to challenge him.
He doesn’t expect
Shauna.
The loggerhead cares nothing about the fair, the sculptor, or the biologist. Instinct brought her ashore where their plans collide, forcing the grumpy biologist and the effervescent artist together.
Boundary walks become borrowed breakfasts. Professional friction becomes an attraction neither can ignore.
But seeing someone clearly is not the same as knowing their thoughts. When assumption replaces asking, everything they have built begins to crack. Finding their way back requires the courage to ask—and the willingness to listen.
Amid amateur sandcastles and fierce pie competition, Shauna and Chip must decide what deserves protection—and whether two full lives can make room for unexpected love.
A warm, witty later-in-life coastal romance with enemies-to-lovers spark, grumpy/sunshine chemistry, forced proximity, and a closed-door happily ever after.