A Forged Promise

When secrets burn to the surface, promises are forged in the flames.

Sadie
I’ve built the perfect life in Sierra Rose Ridge—a thriving bookshop, a fresh start, and a secret identity as Sienna Saguaro, bestselling romance author. For five years, no one’s connected the dots.

Until the book club reads Desert Hearts.

Until they recognize our small town in the pages.

Until my secret explodes across social media and the judgment comes swift and brutal.

Boycotts. Vandalism. Threats. My lease hangs by a thread, my shop is hemorrhaging money, and every instinct screams for me to run before this town destroys what’s left of me.

But then Mateo Herrera reads my book—and recognizes himself on every page.

Mateo
I fell in love with Sadie Pierce the moment she walked into my forge with a list of dreams and tired eyes. Five years of quiet devotion, unspoken feelings, and custom metalwork. Five years of watching her with the wrong man. Five years of her smiling at me like I’m just a friend.

Now she’s finally free—and I’m about to lose her.

When her world implodes and she starts packing boxes, I read the book everyone’s talking about. The hero who’s patient, protective, shows his love through actions instead of words. Who’s been waiting years for the woman he loves to finally see him.

The carpenter isn’t a blacksmith. But everything else? That’s me.

She wrote about us without even knowing it. Which means she feels something too.

She’s trying to run from the flames, but fire is where the strongest things are forged. I’m not letting her go now. She can pack every box in that shop—I’ll unpack them all.