One confirmed bachelor + One curvy woman who is injured and stranded + An unexpected snowstorm and just one bed = A mountain man romance that will have you cuddling in front of the fireplace!

I like my life on King Mountain. Me and the guys do our job, protecting the mountain, running a couple rentals to finance everything (including the secret work we do), and that’s it. And no women to complicate my life.

Until Teresa.

Damn city girl shows up to a cabin, claiming to be the granddaughter of the owner. Shows up in impractical pink boots, impractical jeans (that hug her curvy a** and make me want her in my bed). Shows up with a mouth full of sass.

I end up saving her when she hurts her ankle and can’t walk.

Of course, I do what any honorable, red-blooded male does. I get her back to her cabin, and then stay with her to make sure she’s ok. The more we talk, the more she cracks the walls around my heart. I can’t explain why I’m drawn to someone like her, but I know I don’t want to let her go. I want her in my arms and in my life.

After a massive storm, we’re snowed in. Can’t say either of us seem sad about more time together. When I learn about why she’s up on the mountain, I ache with need to make her understand she’s an incredible woman. Then the power goes out.

That night, there ain’t much sleeping going on. I’m overwhelmed by the depth of my need and desire for her. This kind of soul connection can’t be real…can it? She’s nothing like me, but now I can’t imagine my life without her. And that fking terrifies me.

I make a flimsy excuse and head out the next morning, which is the last thing I want to do, but the only thing I can do, despite knowing it hurt her, but I need to figure out what tf is going on in my heart.

When I get it together and realize how much of an idiot I was to leave her like that, I work on a gift for her, showing her both that I see who she is and love her for it, and also something that shows I want her to stay.

But will she give me a second chance?

Rugged Protector is the first in the new series, set in the world of Heartland Heroes. If you like small-town and mountain man romance with a strong sense of community, featuring military veterans, blue collar alpha men, and the curvy women they can’t live without, get ready for a series you’ll fall in love with, because that’s what you’ll get with the men who live on King Mountain. Steamy HEAs guaranteed, no cheating, no ex-drama — always just two people who can’t resist each other forging a new and loving future together.