Mountain Man Secret Baby: a Western Small Town Romance

Three years ago, wilderness guide Ethan James spent a perfect weekend with a beautiful tourist who disappeared from his life as quickly as she'd entered it. Now she's back in Pine Vale with a dimple-cheeked toddler who has Ethan's eyes and adventurous spirit. As these strangers-turned-co-parents navigate their new reality, the spark between them burns hotter than ever. But when a frightening incident threatens their fragile family bond, they'll have to decide if some risks are worth taking.

ETHAN

I'm the mountain man everyone in this small town comes to when they need a wilderness guide who knows every trail and fishing hole within fifty miles. Self-sufficient. Independent. At least I was until Sophia Turner walked back into my life with a little boy who calls her "Mama" and looks exactly like me. Three years of being someone's father—gone. Just like that.

Now I'm sharing custody with the only woman who's ever gotten under my skin, and damn if she isn't even more beautiful than I remembered. When she bites her lip while watching me teach our son to skip rocks across the lake, it takes everything in me not to pull her into my arms. But becoming a family means risking my heart in ways that terrify me more than any mountain I've ever climbed.

SOPHIA

I never planned to return to Pine Vale with Ethan's child in tow. I had my reasons for keeping quiet—good ones—but now I need stability for my son, even if it means facing the rugged, impossibly handsome father who never knew he existed. Between my struggling photography business and single motherhood, I've been barely keeping my head above water.

Every time Ethan's calloused hands brush against mine during a custody handoff, electricity zips through my body, reminding me of that passionate weekend when we created our beautiful little boy. But falling for my son's father would complicate everything, especially when I'm not sure I can trust him with the most fragile parts of me—or if I'll ever truly belong in his mountain world.