I’m not here for holiday cheer. I’ve been hired to do a job—find out how Snow Hills cheats its way into winning a holiday decorating competition every year. I’m going to get to the bottom of it, I’m going to get paid, and then I’ll be done with this postcard-perfect town. At least that’s the plan until I meet Liza Grable. She’s like the Christmas fairy of Snow Hill, all curves and sweetness. I’m supposed to be investigating her and her mother, the mayor, but the thought of her being a cheater simply doesn’t fit.

Luke Knight thinks he can own me, can hurry me into a wedding and then into his bed. He seems to know everything about me. But he’s missed the most important point - I’m dastardly. He thinks he’s my one and only? Not a chance. But I like his estate and all his money, so I’ll bide my time. I don’t obsess over his good looks and the way he makes me feel. Not a bit. Once he’s dead, I’ll be more than happy to be the grieving widow...on a yacht...in the Seychelles...drenched in diamonds. Cassandra truly believes I’m the bad guy in her world. She’s wrong.

A quiet life as a clock tinker. That’s what I need. And that’s what I have...until her - the woman in the pop-up shop across the street. The shop that’s invaded my tranquil life and turned my town into a movie set. I want nothing to do with any of it. But then, I hear her voice. And I can’t think about cogs and tick-tocks. All I can think about is her. And when I find her? I’m never letting her go.

I knew I was going to be sold by my father. A bride offered to forge an alliance or seal a deal. Even so, I still held onto the hope of living free of the families. But when I’m given to Antonio Tuscani, I realize my thin dreams of escaping this life were just that - dreams. Giving up, I accept my fate...until a fierce-eyed boss, Nick DaVinci, shows up on my wedding day to exact lethal vengeance.

Mariana isn’t the kind of woman I ever expected to have a chance with. Not when I’m a rough enforcer, someone who shouldn’t be within 10 feet of anyone as innocent as Mariana. But I can’t shake my need to have her, and when she looks at me with those big eyes, I can feel the heat behind them. She wants me just as badly.