Trouble just moved in next door.

Veterinarian Cassie Thompson wants one simple thing: to completely start over. New town. New job. New family. That’s not asking too much, is it? It’s almost as if the universe is conspiring in her favor when an escaped tiger—yes, you heard that right—and the two half-sisters she just discovered lead her to a fresh start. She’s ready to start rebuilding her life one Maryland crab cake at a time. It would be smooth sailing if it weren’t for the rapidly escalating neighbor war with her grumpy lumberjack of a landlord.

Noah Reed has no time for distractions—especially not a spunky, house-stealing veterinarian who won’t stop making suggestions for saving his mother’s exotic animal sanctuary. He has work to do, tenants who keep clogging their toilets, and a literal ton of emotional baggage that he’ll get around to addressing someday.

Cassie would rather neuter a rabid chihuahua than get entangled with another life-ruining jerk. But when one night—and one girthy bottle of wine—changes everything, their contentious professional relationship gets a lot more personal. With the fate of the sanctuary and Cassie’s career hanging in the balance, these neighbors with benefits will have to put aside their differences and their begrudging mutual attraction.