Chase a Dream

Why was Flora having such an effect on me? I'd taught hundreds of students at Northeast Kingdom College and had never had this reaction.

I don't want to teach a course this summer. I have plans to work on a nature trail at my family's wildlife rehabilitation center, Hartley's Nest, in Greenridge, Vermont instead. When the dean asks me to take on this class, however, I say yes because it's my mission in life to create stewards of the environment.

I never considered that one of those stewards of the environment would be so lovely I'd turn into a smitten kitten on the spot. Flora Sumner dazzles me the moment she successfully wrangles my barred owl that flew at her as if he was smitten as well. The owl, brought to class as an ambassador, has never strayed from me. He's certainly never launched into a mating call ritual at a human either.

But he has today. The object of his affection is Flora, and I completely understand his fascination. Not only does Flora handle an owl like a pro, she also makes flower-themed clothing look incredible. At first, I think Flora might be a new member of the faculty, but when I spot her in the classroom, it's clear she's a student.

My student.

And I'm her professor. Her much older professor. Who she's probably not interested in at all.

Yet . . . she keeps looking my way.

She might simply be curious about wildlife identification, the topic of the summer class, and is merely hanging on my every word because of its intellectual value. When she volunteers to help with an extra credit project at Hartley's Nest, however, our animal instincts make us unable to resist each other despite an age gap and the forbidden nature of a teacher-student relationship.

My father had always advised me to chase my dreams. I wasn't sure what those dreams were until I met Flora. Now we just need to make it through an entire summer course without damaging either of our reputations. 

Chase a Dream is a small-town, age-gap, forbidden, contemporary romance between a smitten-kitten college professor and his owl-whispering student.