Bluebell

I'm famous for my to-do list and at the very top of it is trying not to lust after Hadrian Alkazar—hometown heartthrob, star skyball player, and my older brother Jasper's best friend. Jasper made it clear many years ago that the hunky gargoyle is completely off limits, and that was fine and dandy when Hadrian didn't live in Pine Gulch.

But now he does, and it's nearly impossible not to notice that he ticks all the boxes on my perfect boyfriend list: Kind. Nerdy. Seven feet of stacked muscles with a killer wit and a filthy mouth. So I do what any sensible girl would do—buy a business who hates me and throw myself desperately into figuring out how to make that work. If I keep myself on the edge of burnout, I won't have time to notice Hadrian pushing his way deeper into my life.

The big gargoyle seems determined to make things difficult by buying me gifts when he's away, feeding me when I'm too busy to feed myself, and helping on days the store is testing my willpower. I'd be a fool not to fall hard and fast for a male like that.

My shop might collapse around me. My brother might lose his mind. But the closer Hadrian and I get, the more I start to wonder if risking all of that might be worth it. Because the one thing I know for sure is that on my daily to-do list, I want Hadrian to be at the very top.

Buckle Up, Buttercup is book two in the small town cowboy monster romcom series Pine Gulch Ever After. It's a brother's best friend, friends-to-lovers romance between a type A, list-making heroine and the filthy-talking pierced gargoyle she's known her whole life. Get ready for bucketloads of longing looks and always a happily ever after.