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The Heartbreaker Next Door
(2026)(The second book in the Valentine Bay: Lockhart Ranch series)
A novel by Melanie Shawn
Dean Lockhart has a spreadsheet for everything.
Ranch expenses. Investment portfolios. Payroll. His brothers’ questionable life choices.
Feelings are not included.
Dean learned young that being useful was safer than needing anyone. So while his brothers create chaos, Dean handles the business side of Lockhart Ranch, fixes problems before anyone knows they exist, and keeps his emotions exactly where they belong.
Locked down tight.
Then Felicity Foster shows up with a four-year-old son, approximately nine thousand opinions, and an alarming determination to talk about everything.
Felicity has a history of choosing gorgeous men with disappointing follow-through.
Her son’s father was the worst. After wasting years waiting for him to become the man he promised to be, Felicity made herself a promise instead:
No more men.
Not until Maverick graduates college. Possibly medical school. Retirement is looking safer. Because Felicity can survive another broken heart. What she won’t risk is letting her son love another man who might leave.
Then she meets Dean Lockhart. Quiet. Dependable. Infuriatingly controlled. And built like the universe personally designed him to test her resolve.
Dean doesn’t flirt. He shows up.
He fixes what’s broken without being asked. Remembers the things Felicity mentions once. Makes Maverick feel like he matters. And looks at Felicity like she’s becoming the one problem he can’t solve with a spreadsheet.
Which is inconvenient. Because the more Felicity talks, the more Dean feels. The more Dean shows up, the harder Felicity falls.
And somewhere between small-town chaos, meddling Lockharts, and enough sparks to set the ranch on fire, two people who have built their lives around never needing anyone are about to discover something terrifying.
Being needed isn’t the same as being loved.
And sometimes the safest man to give your heart to is the one who never planned on asking for it.
Genre: Romance
Ranch expenses. Investment portfolios. Payroll. His brothers’ questionable life choices.
Feelings are not included.
Dean learned young that being useful was safer than needing anyone. So while his brothers create chaos, Dean handles the business side of Lockhart Ranch, fixes problems before anyone knows they exist, and keeps his emotions exactly where they belong.
Locked down tight.
Then Felicity Foster shows up with a four-year-old son, approximately nine thousand opinions, and an alarming determination to talk about everything.
Felicity has a history of choosing gorgeous men with disappointing follow-through.
Her son’s father was the worst. After wasting years waiting for him to become the man he promised to be, Felicity made herself a promise instead:
No more men.
Not until Maverick graduates college. Possibly medical school. Retirement is looking safer. Because Felicity can survive another broken heart. What she won’t risk is letting her son love another man who might leave.
Then she meets Dean Lockhart. Quiet. Dependable. Infuriatingly controlled. And built like the universe personally designed him to test her resolve.
Dean doesn’t flirt. He shows up.
He fixes what’s broken without being asked. Remembers the things Felicity mentions once. Makes Maverick feel like he matters. And looks at Felicity like she’s becoming the one problem he can’t solve with a spreadsheet.
Which is inconvenient. Because the more Felicity talks, the more Dean feels. The more Dean shows up, the harder Felicity falls.
And somewhere between small-town chaos, meddling Lockharts, and enough sparks to set the ranch on fire, two people who have built their lives around never needing anyone are about to discover something terrifying.
Being needed isn’t the same as being loved.
And sometimes the safest man to give your heart to is the one who never planned on asking for it.
Genre: Romance