Mountain Man's Holiday Home

A Steamy Instalove Holiday Romance

Small-town mountain man holiday romance—grumpy ex-military lumberjack hero meets the younger sister of his old army buddy on a Christmas tree lot, blending instalove intensity, holiday forced proximity, possessive alpha energy, OTT age gap heat, and a virgin heroine who came home for the holidays and found forever instead.

One Christmas. One mountain. One man who's done being alone.

I'M A MOUNTAIN MAN. Ex-military. Not the holiday type. I came to Wildwood Valley because an old army buddy invited me for Christmas. Quiet visit. No complications. Then a Christmas tree knocks his sister flat and I'm the one pulling her out from under it. She looks up at me with pine needles in her hair and a laugh that rewires something I thought was disconnected for good. I'm here for two weeks. That's not enough. Not even close.

SHE WASN'T PLANNING ON THIS. I came home to help on the family tree lot. Sell some Fraser firs. Drink cocoa. Breathe mountain air for two weeks and leave. That was the plan until six feet of grumpy, gray-eyed, rugged charm pulled a toppled Christmas tree off me and brushed his hand against mine like it was nothing. It wasn't nothing. He's my brother's old military buddy. Off-limits. Temporary. Passing through. And every single reason I have to stay away disappears the second he looks at me.

TOGETHER, THE HOLIDAYS CATCH FIRE. She's his sister. I know that. I also know the way she shivers when I stand too close has nothing to do with the cold. She's bright where I'm dark. Warm where I'm walled off. She smells like pine and sugar and something I didn't know I was starving for. I should keep my distance. I close it instead.

She says it's just the holidays. Just the magic. Just the moment. She's wrong. Because I've spent years not feeling a thing—and this woman dismantles me with a laugh and a look and hands that tremble when I pull her close. She came home for pine needles and cocoa. She found me instead. And I don't care if it's two weeks or two days or two hours— I know what this is. She's not a holiday fling. She's the reason I came to this mountain. They say you can't build forever on Christmas magic. Watch me. Because when I touch her—when she melts against me like she's been waiting her whole life for someone to hold her like this— That's not seasonal. That's mine. And I'm not leaving Wildwood Valley without her.

MOUNTAIN MAN'S HOLIDAY HOME is a steamy small-town mountain man holiday romance featuring:

• Grumpy ex-military lumberjack hero
• Bright, warm heroine home for the holidays
• Brother's army buddy forbidden spark
• OTT possessive alpha with holiday heart
• Scorching age gap instalove
• Virgin heroine awakening under the Christmas lights
• Christmas tree lot forced proximity
• Tender, intense, holiday-fueled romance
• No cliffhanger. Guaranteed HEA

Genre: Contemporary Romance / Small-Town Romance / Instalove Romance / Mountain Man Romance / Holiday Romance
Subgenre Elements: Christmas setting, tree lot meet-cute, brother's friend, ex-military lumberjack, small-town homecoming
Tropes: Age gap, brother's best friend, virgin heroine, forced proximity, grumpy/sunshine, possessive alpha, instalove, holiday romance
Tone & Heat: Warm, intense, festive, scorching instalove