Bartender Nate Hunter enjoys his small-town, no-strings-attached life in Whispering Pines. Then a dying ex-girlfriend tracks him down to tell him he has a daughter he never knew existed. Nate doesn't know the first thing about being a father, but one look at Autumn and he's a goner, so he agrees to take care of her until her aunt returns at Christmas.

When Nate asks the town’s librarian, no-nonsense Maxine Abbott, to move in with him and help take care of Autumn, she agrees, but only if he'll pretend to be her boyfriend and get her mother off her back. Their relationship of convenience works perfectly at first, until real feelings begin to invade their false romance. Then Autumn's aunt shows up early, and everything changes.

Will Nate and Maxine's budding love end in heartbreak before the last leaves fall?

(Please note that this book was originally released in 2016. It is being re-released with a new cover and as part of a newly-titled series in 2020).