Melting The Grumpy Mountain Man
(2026)(A book in the Grumpy Christmas Mountain Man Romance series)
A novel by Avery Shaw
I don't do Christmas. Don't do decorations, carols, or whatever the hell a "wassail walk" is supposed to be. Whisper Vale turns into a snow globe every November, and I ride it out alone in my cabin until January.
This year, the town council assigned me a Christmas Festival co-chair.
Punishment for skipping last year's tree lighting, apparently.
My co-chair is Holly Pearce — the new bakery owner who's all red lipstick, sugar-dusted curves, and aggressive holiday cheer. She's got binders full of festival plans and a smile that could power the entire town's light display.
She wants me to help organize caroling. Caroling.
I tell her no. She brings me cookies. I tell her absolutely not. She brings me pie. I tell her I'm not hanging a single damn light, and she shows up at my cabin in a Santa hat with a ladder and a look that says she'll do it herself.
So I hang the lights. Because watching her fall off a ladder would ruin my Christmas worse than caroling ever could.
That's what I tell myself anyway. The truth is harder to swallow.
She's melting me. One smile, one laugh, one plate of gingerbread at a time.
And I'm starting to think maybe Christmas isn't the problem.
Maybe being alone was.
Melting the Grumpy Mountain Man is a sweet-then-steamy Christmas romance featuring the town grump, the sunshine baker determined to thaw him out, and a holiday festival that proves even the coldest hearts have a warm center. Guaranteed HEA with no cheating.
Genre: Romance
This year, the town council assigned me a Christmas Festival co-chair.
Punishment for skipping last year's tree lighting, apparently.
My co-chair is Holly Pearce — the new bakery owner who's all red lipstick, sugar-dusted curves, and aggressive holiday cheer. She's got binders full of festival plans and a smile that could power the entire town's light display.
She wants me to help organize caroling. Caroling.
I tell her no. She brings me cookies. I tell her absolutely not. She brings me pie. I tell her I'm not hanging a single damn light, and she shows up at my cabin in a Santa hat with a ladder and a look that says she'll do it herself.
So I hang the lights. Because watching her fall off a ladder would ruin my Christmas worse than caroling ever could.
That's what I tell myself anyway. The truth is harder to swallow.
She's melting me. One smile, one laugh, one plate of gingerbread at a time.
And I'm starting to think maybe Christmas isn't the problem.
Maybe being alone was.
Melting the Grumpy Mountain Man is a sweet-then-steamy Christmas romance featuring the town grump, the sunshine baker determined to thaw him out, and a holiday festival that proves even the coldest hearts have a warm center. Guaranteed HEA with no cheating.
Genre: Romance