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[PRE-ORDER] Holding Ground (The Mercer Family Book 1) by Piper Rayne

$25.00 USD

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Small-town romance • single dad • guest cabin rental • big-city woman in a power suit • opposites attract • “she’s leaving in 3 months” • slow-burn dock talks • found-family vibes

Perfect for readers of:

Single-dad small-town romances with a protective, steady hero
Big-city outsider heroines who soften (but don’t lose their edge)
Forced proximity + “temporary stay” angst
Quiet, emotional slow burns with lots of heart

The vibe

He’s been a single dad for five years, and after Baylor’s mother walked out, he made one promise: he’d be enough. Just the two of them—no one else to disappoint his daughter, and no one else who might leave.

Then Emelia Greene rents the guest cabin behind his house and turns his carefully controlled life upside down. She rolls into Echo Lake in a Mercedes and a power suit, determined to convince the townspeople to change what makes their small town special. She’s polished, ambitious, and everything this place isn’t.

Emelia isn’t supposed to be kind. She isn’t supposed to be good with his daughter. And she definitely isn’t supposed to be the one he finds himself confiding in—night after night—at the end of his dock.

She’s leaving in three months. He knows that.
The problem is, he can’t stop wondering what it would look like if a woman like her could belong in a place like this… in a life like his.

Tropes & tags

Single dad romance
Small town x big city outsider
Forced proximity (guest cabin behind his house)
Temporary stay / ticking clock
Opposites attract
Kid bonding / found family
Emotional slow burn / late-night talks

The Mercer Family Book Series In Order:

Holding Ground, Book 1
Chasing Smoke, Book 2
Treading Water, Book 3
Catching Light, Book 4

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