Growing up in a house full of brothers, it’s not a surprise that Alana Ashton is the princess of Hope Crest.
Being the only female of the small town’s founding family means that while she usually gets her way, she has to work doubly hard to earn and keep respect. Veering from her expected path to follow crazy dreams, like opening her own shop, not only isn’t in the cards, it’s also not taken seriously. So when her best friend, the ex-high school quarterback with a smile of gold and a traumatic past, proposes marriage out of the blue after years of Alana not-so-secretly pining after him, the answer isn’t an automatic no.
Marrying him, and the fortune they’ll both inherit if she specifically says I do, could be just the thing to set her vision in motion. But can she keep their decades-long relationship strictly business, or will those long unrequited feelings fool her into thinking this union will be for life?
Warren Teal is the orphan no one wanted but everyone speculated about.
After his father tragically took his mother from him, Warren’s story has been broadcast in the media for years. Cue the Ashtons, who took him under their wings the first time Alana brought him home in middle school. Years later, Hope Crest’s royal family offered him a job at their renowned restaurant, and Warren thought he’d found the quiet, under-the-radar life he’d always been searching for.
Until the day he received a letter leaving him a fortune. There was just one catch; he must marry to receive it. And not just anyone, but the gorgeous, stubborn woman he’d always loved in secret but never felt worthy of. Knowing he could return the favor and grant her wildest dreams, he popped the question.
But when his past comes for the future they’re building, she gets caught in the crossfires of the danger and darkness meant for him. Divorce, and breaking his own heart, seem like the only options to keep her safe.
Even if doing so means he may never get to confess that their fake marriage is the realest love he’s ever experienced.
Carrie Aarons
