Grump And The Second Chance Family Next Door: A Small-Town Slow-Burn Romance

He broke my heart once.
Now he’s back—with secrets, a past, and a second chance neither of us expected.

I keep Hill Country Ridge running one festival at a time, hiding my heartbreak behind clipboards, schedules, and color-coded perfection. My life is steady—until Matt Keller returns. The man who walked away without goodbye. The man she never truly forgot.

Now a single father trying to rebuild what he lost, Matt brings more than memories back to town. He brings danger. Old secrets. And a truth that could change everything Emma thought she knew about love—and family.

Working together on the Festival of Second Chances rekindles feelings neither of them are ready to face. But when threats begin to surface and the town they love is put at risk, love becomes the most dangerous plan of all.

To protect what matters, Matt will risk everything.
I will have to trust again.
And Eli—incorrigible, lovable, and far wiser than he should be—may be the one who reminds them both what family really means.

Because in Hill Country Ridge, second chances aren’t given…
they’re earned.