A Plot Twist for the Grump
(2026)(A book in the Maple Lane Falls Romance series)
A novel by S L Sterling
They say everyone has a calling. Mine just happens to involve writing extremely detailed love scenes while making grilled cheese for a six-year-old.
Ember Wilde is broke, behind on rent, and one late royalty check away from disaster when the nanny agency calls with a desperation gig: look after six-year-old Sophie Stone, daughter of Maple Lane Falls’ grumpiest tech mogul. The pay is ridiculous. The catch? Her new boss has a list of rules longer than her latest manuscript—and rule number one is no Halloween. No music, no decorations, no holiday nonsense. Period.
Everett Stone hasn’t celebrated any major holiday since his wife died two years ago. He’s buried himself in work, locked away every ornament, and convinced himself that avoiding the holidays is the same as protecting his daughter from pain. He doesn’t need a nanny who drinks pumpkin spice latte’s, wears cat leggings and ridiculous holiday sweaters, leaves glitter on every surface, and makes his daughter laugh for the first time in two years.
He definitely doesn’t need to discover that his new nanny is secretly a romance author—and that her latest manuscript features a brooding CEO who bears a suspicious resemblance to him. Complete with a detailed scene on page 147 that he has some very specific thoughts about.
As Ember wages a one-woman war to bring Halloween back to the Stone house, Everett finds himself doing something he swore he’d never do again: falling. For the woman who taught his daughter to smile, who writes love stories in his kitchen at midnight, and who sees through every wall he’s built.
But when his late wife’s parents threaten to take Sophie away, Everett has to decide: retreat into the safety of grief, or fight for the messy, glitter-covered, pumpkin-spice-drinking future standing right in front of him.
A Plot Twist for the Grump is a steamy standalone romance featuring a grumpy widower, his sunshine nanny, a six-year-old who knows more about dinosaurs than any adult, and a Halloween that changes everything. Guaranteed HEA.
Genre: Romance
Ember Wilde is broke, behind on rent, and one late royalty check away from disaster when the nanny agency calls with a desperation gig: look after six-year-old Sophie Stone, daughter of Maple Lane Falls’ grumpiest tech mogul. The pay is ridiculous. The catch? Her new boss has a list of rules longer than her latest manuscript—and rule number one is no Halloween. No music, no decorations, no holiday nonsense. Period.
Everett Stone hasn’t celebrated any major holiday since his wife died two years ago. He’s buried himself in work, locked away every ornament, and convinced himself that avoiding the holidays is the same as protecting his daughter from pain. He doesn’t need a nanny who drinks pumpkin spice latte’s, wears cat leggings and ridiculous holiday sweaters, leaves glitter on every surface, and makes his daughter laugh for the first time in two years.
He definitely doesn’t need to discover that his new nanny is secretly a romance author—and that her latest manuscript features a brooding CEO who bears a suspicious resemblance to him. Complete with a detailed scene on page 147 that he has some very specific thoughts about.
As Ember wages a one-woman war to bring Halloween back to the Stone house, Everett finds himself doing something he swore he’d never do again: falling. For the woman who taught his daughter to smile, who writes love stories in his kitchen at midnight, and who sees through every wall he’s built.
But when his late wife’s parents threaten to take Sophie away, Everett has to decide: retreat into the safety of grief, or fight for the messy, glitter-covered, pumpkin-spice-drinking future standing right in front of him.
A Plot Twist for the Grump is a steamy standalone romance featuring a grumpy widower, his sunshine nanny, a six-year-old who knows more about dinosaurs than any adult, and a Halloween that changes everything. Guaranteed HEA.
Genre: Romance
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