Big & Rough Mountain Man's Thanksgiving
(2025)(A book in the Big & Rough Mountain Men series)
A Story by Sara Hazel
BEAR
The mountain is my shield against the world. Until she trespasses on it.
I hate Thanksgiving. While the rest of the world stuffs their faces and pretends to get along, I patrol my fence line and wait for the snow to bury me. I’m a scarred, rough beast of a man, and I prefer the silence.
But then I find her.
Mena.
She’s bathing in my hot springs, completely naked, oblivious to the storm rolling in or the angry man watching her. She’s lush curves and soft skin—a stark contrast to my jagged, frozen world.
When the blizzard hits, I don’t have a choice. I have to save her. I scoop her up, wrap her in my coat, and carry her into my cabin. Now, we’re trapped. The snow is piling up against the door, and the heat rising between us is enough to melt the ice.
She thinks she’s just a guest waiting out the weather. She doesn't know that looking at her makes me feel things I thought were dead. She’s innocent, untouched, and far too sweet for a man with my darkness.
I should stay away. I should be a gentleman.
But I’m not a gentleman. I’m a starving wolf, and I’ve just found the only thing I ever want to eat.
By the time the plows come, she won’t just be a survivor. She’ll be mine.
MENA
I came to the mountains to escape my judgmental family. I didn't plan on getting snowed in with a feral recluse.
All I wanted was one Thanksgiving without apologies. I wanted to soak in a hidden hot spring and forget about my life for a few hours. I didn't know the land was private. And I definitely didn't know the owner was a six-foot-four wall of muscle named Bear.
He catches me at my most vulnerable—naked and freezing as a whiteout blizzard descends. He’s terrifying, with wild eyes and a rough beard, but when he lifts me into his arms to save me, I’ve never felt safer.
Now I’m wearing his flannel shirt, eating his food, and sleeping in his bed while the wind howls outside. Bear tries to keep his distance. He tells me he’s too damaged, too rough, that he’ll break me. He growls that I should run the second the snow clears.
But I see the way he looks at me when he thinks I’m not watching. I feel the hunger vibrating off him. He thinks he’s protecting me, but he doesn't understand. I’ve been saving myself for someone who makes me feel real.
I don't want to leave this cabin. I don't want to go back to the world.
I want the beast to claim me. And I’m not leaving this mountain until he does.
Genre: Romantic Suspense
The mountain is my shield against the world. Until she trespasses on it.
I hate Thanksgiving. While the rest of the world stuffs their faces and pretends to get along, I patrol my fence line and wait for the snow to bury me. I’m a scarred, rough beast of a man, and I prefer the silence.
But then I find her.
Mena.
She’s bathing in my hot springs, completely naked, oblivious to the storm rolling in or the angry man watching her. She’s lush curves and soft skin—a stark contrast to my jagged, frozen world.
When the blizzard hits, I don’t have a choice. I have to save her. I scoop her up, wrap her in my coat, and carry her into my cabin. Now, we’re trapped. The snow is piling up against the door, and the heat rising between us is enough to melt the ice.
She thinks she’s just a guest waiting out the weather. She doesn't know that looking at her makes me feel things I thought were dead. She’s innocent, untouched, and far too sweet for a man with my darkness.
I should stay away. I should be a gentleman.
But I’m not a gentleman. I’m a starving wolf, and I’ve just found the only thing I ever want to eat.
By the time the plows come, she won’t just be a survivor. She’ll be mine.
MENA
I came to the mountains to escape my judgmental family. I didn't plan on getting snowed in with a feral recluse.
All I wanted was one Thanksgiving without apologies. I wanted to soak in a hidden hot spring and forget about my life for a few hours. I didn't know the land was private. And I definitely didn't know the owner was a six-foot-four wall of muscle named Bear.
He catches me at my most vulnerable—naked and freezing as a whiteout blizzard descends. He’s terrifying, with wild eyes and a rough beard, but when he lifts me into his arms to save me, I’ve never felt safer.
Now I’m wearing his flannel shirt, eating his food, and sleeping in his bed while the wind howls outside. Bear tries to keep his distance. He tells me he’s too damaged, too rough, that he’ll break me. He growls that I should run the second the snow clears.
But I see the way he looks at me when he thinks I’m not watching. I feel the hunger vibrating off him. He thinks he’s protecting me, but he doesn't understand. I’ve been saving myself for someone who makes me feel real.
I don't want to leave this cabin. I don't want to go back to the world.
I want the beast to claim me. And I’m not leaving this mountain until he does.
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Used availability for Sara Hazel's Big & Rough Mountain Man's Thanksgiving