More Than Rum — Christine DePetrillo

Web designer Hope Stannard has watched her cousin and her sister fall madly in love. She's waited patiently for her turn to roll around, but her last boyfriend broke up with her via text message and the new guy she's interested in disappeared on her for months with no explanation. Perhaps it's time to throw in the towel, be content living with her Dalmatian puppy and her mother, and accept the official title of Unmarriable Old Maid. Ex-Marine Adam Rouse fills his days with lumberjacking and building furniture. His nights are spent wide awake as he relives a raid in Afghanistan gone wrong. He emerged as the sole survivor, but questions why. Certainly other members of this team were more worthy of living than him. Deciding that bartending at night would be a better use of his time than battling insomnia, Adam applies at Black Wolf Tavern, the only place to hang out in small-town Danton, Vermont. He couldn't drown his own troubles in rum, but maybe he can help others do so. When Hope is attacked just outside the tavern, Adam comes to her aid, and the frosty winter temperatures can't cool the heat that's always been between them. Can Hope scale Adam's fortress walls? Can Adam believe he is worthy of a woman like Hope? Will they rescue each other?