Fireside with the Forester
(2026)(The fourth book in the Hope Hollow Winter Nights series)
A novel by Stephanie Faris
She fled the city. Love found her.
Adria Whitaker had spent two years learning how to stay.
After fleeing a suffocating career at her family’s accounting firm, she found unexpected peace managing the woodland acreage behind her aunt’s bed-and-breakfast in Hope Hollow, Tennessee. She’d put down roots. Built a life. Finally stopped running.
Then Dane Northcutt walked out of her forest.
Hired to assess storm damage on the Whitaker property, Dane discovers something far worse—oak wilt spreading silently through the trees Adria has sworn to protect. Containing it will take weeks. Weeks of walking wooded trails together. Weeks of quiet conversations by the fire. Weeks of falling for a man who has never learned how to stay.
For fifteen years, Dane has lived in motion. New contracts. New towns. No attachments. Staying means settling—and settling feels like a trap he promised himself he’d never enter after watching his parents live the same life for decades.
But Adria makes him want what he trained himself not to need.
She shows him the ancient oak she’s never shared with anyone. He teaches her how to read the warning signs in the forest she calls home. And somewhere between fallen leaves and flickering firelight, the line between professional obligation and something deeper disappears completely.
He’s a man who never stays.
She’s a woman who finally found home.
And in two short weeks, one of them will have to decide what love is worth giving up.
Tropes:
🌲 Small-Town Romance
🧳 Career Escape Heroine
🧭 Wandering Hero
🔥 Forced Proximity
⚖️ Opposites in Love
🏡 Found Home
🌿 Nature-Set Love Story
🔥 Slow-Burn Attraction
❤️ Emotional Connection
✨ Happily Ever After
Fireside with the Forester is a sweet, small-town romance with a found family theme. It has no profanity or violence, and romance doesn't go beyond kissing. If you like your romances on the sweet, heartwarming side, you'll love the entire Hope Hollow Winter Nights series.
Genre: Romance
Adria Whitaker had spent two years learning how to stay.
After fleeing a suffocating career at her family’s accounting firm, she found unexpected peace managing the woodland acreage behind her aunt’s bed-and-breakfast in Hope Hollow, Tennessee. She’d put down roots. Built a life. Finally stopped running.
Then Dane Northcutt walked out of her forest.
Hired to assess storm damage on the Whitaker property, Dane discovers something far worse—oak wilt spreading silently through the trees Adria has sworn to protect. Containing it will take weeks. Weeks of walking wooded trails together. Weeks of quiet conversations by the fire. Weeks of falling for a man who has never learned how to stay.
For fifteen years, Dane has lived in motion. New contracts. New towns. No attachments. Staying means settling—and settling feels like a trap he promised himself he’d never enter after watching his parents live the same life for decades.
But Adria makes him want what he trained himself not to need.
She shows him the ancient oak she’s never shared with anyone. He teaches her how to read the warning signs in the forest she calls home. And somewhere between fallen leaves and flickering firelight, the line between professional obligation and something deeper disappears completely.
He’s a man who never stays.
She’s a woman who finally found home.
And in two short weeks, one of them will have to decide what love is worth giving up.
Tropes:
🌲 Small-Town Romance
🧳 Career Escape Heroine
🧭 Wandering Hero
🔥 Forced Proximity
⚖️ Opposites in Love
🏡 Found Home
🌿 Nature-Set Love Story
🔥 Slow-Burn Attraction
❤️ Emotional Connection
✨ Happily Ever After
Fireside with the Forester is a sweet, small-town romance with a found family theme. It has no profanity or violence, and romance doesn't go beyond kissing. If you like your romances on the sweet, heartwarming side, you'll love the entire Hope Hollow Winter Nights series.
Genre: Romance