More than Just Friends: A small-town, single dad, slow-burn, medical romance ~ Alex & Lily's Story (Hearts of Hope Bay #2)

Everyone can see they belong together... except them.

Six months after fleeing London, Dr. Lily Carter has finally started to breathe again. Hope Bay feels familiar the small community hospital, Mae’s harbour café, the quiet rituals that make a place feel like home. She is rebuilding her confidence one shift at a time, and she is determined not to complicate it with messy feelings or workplace drama.

Dr. Alex Maguire has never been good at letting people in. As Hope Bay’s GP and a single dad to six year old Sam, he has built his life around keeping things steady, predictable, and safe. Lily was never meant to become part of that. But somewhere between shared cases, school meetings, and the kind of everyday moments that look suspiciously like family, she has.

The problem is, Hope Bay notices everything.

The town has already decided Lily and Alex are a pair. Lily insists they are just friends. Alex insists he is fine. Then Dan suggests a drink, a harmless not a date date, and Alex discovers that fine is not even close. When old fears flare and boundaries start to blur, they will have to decide what matters protecting the friendship that saved them, or risking everything for the love everyone else can already see.

More Than Just Friends is Book Two in the Hearts of Hope Bay series, a heartfelt, slow burn, closed door contemporary romance set on the British coast.

• best friends to lovers with mutual pining
• a guarded single dad GP who falls hard
• a junior doctor learning to trust herself again
• a red headed six year old with dinosaur facts and Lego priorities
• a meddling café owner who feeds everyone
• small town gossip, found family, and a warm, satisfying “for now” on the way to happily ever after

Alex and Lily’s story continues across the Hearts of Hope Bay books, each ending with a hopeful HFN as they move towards their full HEA.