Playing Cupid for the Mountain Man
(2026)(A book in the Willowbrook Ridge Holiday Special series)
A novel by Julia Stone
She came to fix his love life. Falling into his arms wasn’t part of the plan.
Gavin:
I don’t need a matchmaker.
What I need is a woman who won’t bolt the second she realizes what life on this mountain really means.
I’ve tried the mail-order bride thing more times than I should admit, and it always ends the same—women who decide my world isn’t for them. I own a bar. I live alone. I’ve accepted that love probably isn’t in the cards.
Then Daphne shows up.
She’s too soft, too curvy, and entirely too distracting to be here on business. She looks at me like I’m not a problem to fix, and when an early snow traps her on the mountain after a failed day of searching, everything shifts.
She’s here to find me a wife, but I already know who I want.
This time, I’m not letting her walk away without asking her to stay.
Daphne:
I’m a professional matchmaker.
Falling for my client is not part of the job.
Gavin is supposed to be another difficult case—a gruff mountain man with a long history of women who didn’t last. I come prepared with plans, profiles, and a clear end date.
Then the snow keeps me longer than expected, and Gavin starts looking at me like I already belong here.
He’s older. Quiet. Built like the mountain he refuses to leave. Every moment between us crackles with heat I shouldn’t want—and can’t ignore.
When Gavin finally makes his choice, it isn’t another profile he reaches for.
It’s me.
Genre: Romance
Gavin:
I don’t need a matchmaker.
What I need is a woman who won’t bolt the second she realizes what life on this mountain really means.
I’ve tried the mail-order bride thing more times than I should admit, and it always ends the same—women who decide my world isn’t for them. I own a bar. I live alone. I’ve accepted that love probably isn’t in the cards.
Then Daphne shows up.
She’s too soft, too curvy, and entirely too distracting to be here on business. She looks at me like I’m not a problem to fix, and when an early snow traps her on the mountain after a failed day of searching, everything shifts.
She’s here to find me a wife, but I already know who I want.
This time, I’m not letting her walk away without asking her to stay.
Daphne:
I’m a professional matchmaker.
Falling for my client is not part of the job.
Gavin is supposed to be another difficult case—a gruff mountain man with a long history of women who didn’t last. I come prepared with plans, profiles, and a clear end date.
Then the snow keeps me longer than expected, and Gavin starts looking at me like I already belong here.
He’s older. Quiet. Built like the mountain he refuses to leave. Every moment between us crackles with heat I shouldn’t want—and can’t ignore.
When Gavin finally makes his choice, it isn’t another profile he reaches for.
It’s me.
Genre: Romance