The Grumpy Innkeeper and the Wandering Merchant
A Cozy Fantasy Romance

About this book:

When a fastidious innkeeper who treats dust like a personal insult meets a charming merchant who tracks mud across a freshly scrubbed threshold, the sparks don't fly—they simmer. Jasper runs the Wayward Hearth with military precision: floors gleam, accounts balance to the copper, and absolutely no nonsense is tolerated. Silas Vance arrives in a crimson wagon wreathed in brass bells, smelling of lavender and trouble, armed with exotic spices, a silver tongue, and a complete inability to take anything seriously. Snow is coming. The pass will close. And Jasper has exactly one spare room.

Forced into proximity by an early blizzard, the two men circle each other across a roaring hearth—Jasper guarding his orderly world with a broom and a scowl, Silas chipping away at the innkeeper's defenses with terrible puns, bergamot oil, and a stew that makes a hardened merchant weep. But beneath the banter and the battle over boot-scraping etiquette, something warmer than the kitchen fire takes root. Silas sees the loneliness behind Jasper's rigidity; Jasper recognizes the restless heart beneath Silas's glittering façade. As the snow piles higher and the nights grow longer, the line between tolerated guest and necessary partner blurs in ways neither man bargained for.

*The Grumpy Innkeeper and the Wandering Merchant* is a slow-burn, grumpy/sunshine cozy fantasy romance steeped in the quiet magic of everyday life: hand-quilted blankets, perfectly seasoned beef stew, the particular satisfaction of a clean floor, and the terrifying, wonderful moment you realize the person annoying you most has become the one you can't live without. Welcome to the Wayward Hearth. Wipe your feet. Stay awhile.