by Lyra Parish
First published 2026
Marisol runs a beachside bed-and-breakfast in Coconut Beach, and the place is bleeding money. She has three months to save her family's property before it slips away for good. Then Carter Banks books a room for the summer, looking like a man who just wants to disappear, and she takes his reservation because she needs every dollar she can get. He fits into her days easily, showing up for early morning coffee runs and staying up late just to talk. He slows her down when she forgets why she is fighting so hard. She starts to trust him, and the pull between them is real and steady. But trouble arrives from two directions: a circling ex who wants another shot, and corporate pressure threatening the B&B. Carter is the one holding her together through all of it. Then the gossip blogs run the photos. The man she has been falling for is Dyson Carter Banks, billionaire CEO, the exact type she swore off years ago. Now she has to decide whether what happened between them was genuine or whether she was just a convenient summer distraction. The answer requires one very hard conversation.
Genres: romance, contemporary, adult, adult-fiction, contemporary-romance
Vibes: emotional, heartfelt, intimate, romantic, tension-filled
Tropes: billionaire-love-interest, forced-proximity, hidden-identity, second-chance-romance
Setting: Coconut Beach
274 pages · Paperback · Happily Ever After Ink