Restoring Pelican Inn: A Later-in-Life, Small Town, Clean Romance about Second Chances and Starting Over by the Sea (Later in Life Love At Pelican Inn #1)

She’s ready to wrap up her brother’s unfinished business. He refuses to let her walk away. Neither expected to fall in love.

Elise Bray never planned on starting over. Especially not on a quiet island she hasn’t visited since childhood. But when she unexpectedly inherits The Pelican Inn, the crumbling bed-and-breakfast her late brother purchased two years ago, she’s stunned. She knew Travis had moved to Palmar Island, but she never imagined he’d leave his unfinished dream in her hands.

With a dream teaching job waiting back in Ohio, Elise intends to oversee the final repairs, sell the property, and return to the structured life she worked so hard to build. What she doesn’t expect is Jacob Oswald, the rugged, no-nonsense contractor who had been helping her brother restore the inn.

Jacob has no patience for out-of-towners who treat Palmar Island like a pit stop. He and Travis shared a vision for the inn’s future, and he’s not about to watch it disappear under a developer’s bulldozer. But the more time he spends with Elise, the harder it becomes to ignore the connection growing between them.

Elise has spent her whole life choosing stability over risk, and Jacob has already lost too many people he loved. Including the daughter who grew up half a country away. With her career and friends pulling her back to Ohio, and his lingering grief and guarded heart standing in the way, their feelings might not be enough to bridge the distance between them.

Can a woman who always followed the plan take a leap of faith? And can a man who’s spent years building walls around his heart find the courage to let someone in?

A heartfelt later-in-life romance about second chances, unexpected love, and the beauty of finding home where you least expect it.