THE CAFE AT LOW TIDE

A fake relationship. A very real fire. And a rule that was supposed to be easy to keep.
Sadie Kessler is the sunniest woman on Anchor Street, and everyone in Harbor's End loves her for it - which is exactly the problem when the new corporate property manager arrives with a plan to triple her rent. Dean Whitlock isn't the villain the town wants him to be. He's just a careful, quiet man doing his job... until Sadie realizes the whole street would fight for her if they thought she and Dean were actually together.
So she proposes an arrangement: they fake it, publicly, for exactly eleven weeks, with five ironclad rules to keep both their hearts out of it. It works beautifully - right up until a kitchen fire, a buried memo, and a phone call neither of them was supposed to overhear force them to find out which parts of the last two months were ever pretend at all.
Perfect for readers who love:

• Fake dating with real stakes
• Small-town business rivals-to-lovers
• A heroine who runs her whole world on charm and calculation - and a hero who finally sees under both
• A dark moment built on secrets, not shouting