He’s a rough and rugged hockey player. She’s a posh British princess. To win an enormous inheritance, they’re forced to live together.
This is not going to go well.
When his former hockey coach passes away, Declan Cadell is shocked to learn the man left him a cattle ranch. Well, not exactly. He’s got one little hurdle to jump first. He has to win a trivia contest against the man’s estranged daughter. Oh, and there’s a caveat: he’s only in the running if he lives and works with the spoiled princess who blew off one of the greatest men he’s ever known.
As if it wasn’t hurtful enough that Seraphina Crutchley’s biological father replaced her with a bunch of sweaty hockey boys, now he’s forcing her to vie for her inheritance with one of them. Worse, the guy clearly can’t stand her because if—no, when she wins the contest—she’ll sell the land and return home to London. Why on earth would she keep a cattle ranch in Wyoming?
But Seraphina comes to learn the contest is about so much more than a ranch. It’s about learning who her father was and why he stopped asking to see her. It’s about falling in love…and finding the courage to fight for it.
Declan is such a sweetie…
Keep reading to see the full Love Note!
Dear Phinny,
You left the house so early this morning, you didn’t have a chance to make your coffee, so I came by the store to drop it off.
You’re probably wondering why I didn’t come in, and I’d like to say it was because you were busy. Holding court in your shop, surrounded by customers and clients, you’re the brightest star in our little town. Like bees to nectar, everyone’s drawn to you.
Including me. Especially me.
We’ve been together nearly a year, so I should be used to it. But I’m not. I’m just not.
Every time I see your smile, it drops me to my knees. And it’s crazy, right? It’s just a smile. I’ve seen plenty of them. But until I met you, I didn’t know life could feel like this. You’ve got this joy right in the heart of you, and it makes you glow, makes your eyes sparkle. And it radiates out of you.
I want it, Phinny. I can’t get enough of it. I want it every day for the rest of my life.
I look at you, and I don’t even know what to do with all this emotion. And, yeah, I’ll always have that deep-down fear you’ll be taken from me. Before I met you, I used it to build up walls, keep my distance. But now? Now, I use it as reminder that life is unpredictable, and so I’d better give you my whole heart every minute of the day.
I watched you for so long—just drinking in your goodness and joy—that your coffee went cold. So, I’m going to run over to Calamity Joe’s and get you a fresh cup. And then I’ll bring it over. And when I do…I’m going to kiss you and whisper in your ear, let you know how beautiful you are and that…
I love you.
Declan.
Award-winning author Erika Kelly has been spinning romantic tales all her life–she just didn’t know it. Raised on the classics, she didn’t discover romantic fiction until later in life. From that moment on, she’s been devouring the genre and has found her true voice as an author. Over three decades she’s written poems, screenplays, plays, short stories, and all kinds of women’s fiction novels. Married to the love of her life and raising four children, she’s lived in two countries and seven states, but give her pen and paper, a stack of good books, and a steaming mug of vanilla chai latte and she can make her home anywhere.
