The Grump Next Door (Steele Brothers of Starlight Cove #1)
Brighton Walsh
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars
4.17
· Steam/Spice level: 5 of 5
Explicit and plentiful [?]
· 45 ratings · 326 pages · Published: 05 Jun 2025
Because now Sutton Sinclair—the sharp-tongued troublemaker who left claw marks down my back and a dent in my self-control—is living in my backyard cottage with her teenage daughter. And I’m her goddamn landlord.
I like things quiet. Controlled. She's neither. Sutton’s chaos wrapped in sunshine, a temptation in scrubs I can’t seem to stay away from.
When her ex shows up acting like Sutton’s still his to lose, I claim her on instinct. The kiss? Hot. The fallout? Immediate.
Now my family—and the entire town—thinks we’re a couple.
Fake dating Sutton wasn’t in my playbook, but if being a pro-footballer turned high school coach has taught me anything, it’s how to pivot. All I have to do is keep my hands to myself.
Then her cottage floods.
Now we’re sharing a roof…and a bed. The line between real and fake is blurring faster than I can redo the guest house.
This is supposed to be temporary. But Sutton doesn’t just crash into my life—she rewrites it. She’s in my home, moaning my name, breaking every rule I’ve ever lived by.
And I’m starting to want something permanent with the woman who’s already got one foot out the door.
Sponsored links
Tagged as:
- small town 14
- grumpy & sunshine 13
- single mother 12
- teacher/coach hero 12
- forced proximity 12
- rich hero 12
- m-f romance 11
- grumpy/cold hero 11
- contemporary 11
- age gap 10
- football 10
- sassy heroine 10
- take-charge heroine 10
- working class heroine 10
- height difference 9
- caretaking 9
- spanking 9
- possessive hero 9
- fake relationship 9
- sports 8
- independent heroine 8
- athlete hero 8
- class difference 6
- funny 6
- praise kink 6
- hurt/comfort 5
- sweet/gentle heroine 5
- alpha male 5
- new adult 5
- found family 5
- working class hero 4
- sweet/gentle hero 4
- masc-dom 3
- anal sex 2
- bdsm 2
- bondage 2
- forbidden love 1
- breeding 1
- curvy heroine 1
- good grovel 1
- Add topics
- Format
- Audiobook
- dual pov 9
- first person pov 5
- male pov 1
romance tags
The 'Steele Brothers of Starlight Cove' series
4.16 · 84 ratings
forced proximity · contemporary · humor · age difference · male-pov · independent heroine · usa · length-medium · sassy heroine · working class heroine · forbidden love · height-difference · masc-dom · maine · found-family · audiobook · m-f · cold hero · possessive hero · praise-kink
Steele Brothers of Starlight Cove reading order and complete book list ❯
