They loved each other once.
Then life pulled them in opposite directions.
Kentucky-born Monica Caldwell built her life in New York brick by brick—career, independence, control. Walking away from Jess Washburn years ago was the hardest choice she ever made, but staying would have meant giving up everything she worked for.
Jess never forgot her.
Monica tried to forget him.
Now a chance reunion in Paris, Kentucky cracks open old wounds, buried desire, and a truth neither of them saw coming. Because some connections don’t fade with time. They wait. They ache. They demand answers.
Three days in Las Vegas with her father and his new love should have been a distraction. Instead, it becomes a reckoning—because Jess is there, too.
Caught between the future she’s built and the love she never truly let go of, Monica must decide if she’s brave enough to return to the one place she swore she’d never go back to: him.
Because sometimes the road forward isn’t about starting over.
It’s about finding the way back to us.
A steamy, emotional second-chance romance about fate, forgiveness, and choosing love when it matters most.
BOURBON & ROSES SERIES
Bourbon in the glass. Roses in the air. Love in the Bluegrass has never been this intoxicating
From the roar of the Kentucky Derby to the quiet hum of Appalachian backroads, love blooms where you least expect it. In this swoon-worthy series of standalone romances, big-city lights meet small-town charm, and every couple finds their own happily-ever-after against the rich backdrop of the Bluegrass State.
From country music heartthrobs to bourbon kings, horse farm rebels to mountain town dreamers ... each story is a shot of passion with a splash of Southern charm. Here, the stakes are high, the kisses are hotter than July, and the only thing smoother than the bourbon … is falling in love.
Opal Nicks delivers page-turning passion wrapped in Kentucky charm - where every hero is worth falling for and every kiss lingers like the last drop in the glass.
Genre: Literary Fiction