One single night. One perfect kiss. One undeniable connection. That's all it took for the most captivating man I've ever met to anchor himself within my soul. Deeply enough that I can't help reliving our stolen moment in time over two years later.

Six years ago, Maria Romano got her birthday wish—a kiss from Enzo Costa. A man she could never take her eyes off, but who seemed as haunted as her favorite book boyfriends and strictly off-limits. Just one unforgettable moment in the dark and then he was gone. Now Maria is a divorced single mom, moving on and open to romance again. Fatefully, it’s with the new head chef at her sister’s restaurant: Enzo. A gentler man than the one she remembers, yet fire still burns. And a warning still lingers: don’t get too close.

I'd spent my entire life loving my best friend's older brother. Every single one of my birthday wishes was spent hoping Cade would finally notice me. And then, one day, he did. But not all love stories have happy endings. It's been years since I left the small town of Sutten Mountain devastated and heartbroken. I'd used the pain to fuel a bestselling novel that solidified I'd never have to return. Until tragedy struck, forcing me to face the man who shattered my heart.

It's the dog's fault, really. If this untrained Great Dane I'm walking had any manners at all, I never would've ended up here: With my leash wrapped around the most gorgeous man I've ever seen. Lucky for me, the guy is a good sport about it. (Although his joke that “Dogs take after their owners” hits a little too close to home when Rufus starts humping his leg.) He leaves me with his business card and a smile that makes my knees weak.

First rule of being a nanny? Don’t fall for the single dad, even if he is smoking hot. But that’s exactly what happens when grumpy small-town sheriff Asher Whitlock reluctantly hires me to take care of his daughter for the summer. Neither of us is thrilled with the arrangement, but he’s desperate for help, and I need the money for grad school this fall.