Rescuing Jax

He plants gardens and leaves before they bloom. She builds things to last and never asks to be one of them.

Harper Aldridge keeps the craft store lights on late, shows up for everyone in Haven Creek, and makes beautiful things designed to outlast her. It has never once occurred to her to want something she gets to keep.

Jax Chester, Mia’s brother, is only here for the summer, a renowned garden designer brought in to restore a Montana garden that's been waiting eleven years for someone to fix it. He's fluent in soil and hopeless with people. He designs gorgeous spaces, builds them, and never stays long enough to see them—or relationships—bloom.

Then there's Rufus, a beagle-basset mix who spends weeks in the back corner of his kennel with his back turned to the world. He won't let anyone touch him, so Jax sits down outside the kennel and stays. As Harper watches the two of them decide about each other, something she’s kept very carefully closed in her heart begins to open.

Can a woman who’s never let herself want anything, and a man who leaves before anyone can love him, find the courage to stay and make something beautiful they both get to keep?

A tender, slow-burn, closed-door romance about found family, second chances, and the difference between making something that lasts and staying for it.

A clean, closed-door small-town romance with a quiet, capable gardener hero who's never wanted anything for himself and a heroine who takes care of everyone but herself. Meddling-sister matchmaking, a summer of forced collaboration, and a grand gesture built out of cedar and glass. A foster-care heroine written with tenderness and respect, an anxious rescue dog who chooses his person, four sheep and one extremely opinionated ewe, found family, and all the warmth of a faith-friendly Montana summer.

Cynthia Dees is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over 100 romances, and Sarah Dees is a lawyer and published author. Join them at Second Chance Ranch for love, laughter, found family and friends in this sweet and emotional series about strong, wounded men, rescued animals, and close-knit women getting a second chance at love.

"A delightfully light and refreshing read...Ms. Dees never lets me down...What fun. Five stars! Highly recommend..."