Fierce at Heart

I devoured this absolutely tender and sexy contemporary marriage of convenience romance from Zoe York, just like I would main character Isla's bake sale treats. I adore a marriage of convenience romance but they are so hard to pull off in a contemporary. I accepted the premise that the person selling the bakery for $1 wanted a married resident of Pine Harbour easily and it was the best ride. I especially loved how Adam Kincaid respected Isla from the beginning. She was his commanding officer in the military and they had no romantic relationship at all during that time. She's older, he was under her command. It was strictly professional, and then after time and distance, they hooked up for a night but both agreeing it was just as friends. Isla's story of betrayal and hurt, and Adam's respect of her heart and feelings was so absolutely love to see, and then how they both slowly fell for each other as their marriage went on. I don't want to say much more about the plot, but I did want to mention this is a great romance with no sudden third act breakup, there are rocky moments, but this fit the narrative of the story to perfection. I'm adoring this spin-off series and cannot wait for more! Plus, there's a huge backlist of titles in the original Pine Harbor series if you need more while waiting! Thank you to the author for the ARC!