Spring Fling

Moving to Wanted, Kentucky was supposed to be my fresh start.

Settle in to work at the animal rescue shelter. Keep my head down. Absolutely do not get tangled up with broody men carrying bourbon and generational expectations.
Then the spring festival recipe contest implodes.
I did not mean to dethrone the town’s beloved reigning champion. But thanks to an anonymous judging mix-up—and a wandering dog named Barrel with suspiciously sticky paws—I’m accidentally crowned winner.
Wanted loses its collective mind.
Enter Ian: master distiller at Four Brothers Bourbon, local golden boy, and walking embodiment of serious about his craft. Dragged onstage to “clarify the rules,” he delivers a passionate speech about fairness, integrity, and respecting tradition… while being offensively attractive.
Within hours, the internet dubs him Hot Bourbon Guy.
Within minutes, I want to fake my own death.
I’m trying to give the prize back and disappear. Ian would prefer to hide in a rickhouse and age quietly for the next hundred years. Instead, we’re stuck together in the middle of viral fame, wounded small-town pride, and a spring that’s heating up in ways that have nothing to do with bourbon.