He knows how every romance should end. He's just never learned how to ask for his own.

At thirty-one, Eli Mercer has built his entire life around other people's happy endings.

As the owner of Bramble & Binding, a romance bookshop in a snowy Finger Lakes town, he knows exactly what his customers want. Cowboys. Billionaires. Hockey players. Monsters with surprisingly excellent communication skills.

What Eli doesn't know is how to ask for anything himself.

Especially when it comes to Graham Calder.

Forty-four. Broad-shouldered. Silver-threaded beard. Beautifully scarred hands. The maddeningly patient carpenter next door has spent two years repairing Eli's furniture—and quietly becoming the center of every fantasy Eli refuses to admit he has.

When Eli hires Graham to transform the shop's neglected back room into an intimate reading lounge, their comfortable friendship starts to become something neither man can ignore.

Then Graham discovers a box of romance novels filled with Eli's most private handwritten desires.

Suddenly, the man who can repair almost anything knows exactly what Eli has been longing for.

And Graham is very, very good at making him ask.

But behind the stolen kisses, late-night encounters, and promises whispered between bookshelves, Graham is hiding a decision that could change both their lives.

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is waiting in Boston.

And Eli has spent his entire life making it easy for people to leave.

This time, getting his happy ending means finding the courage to ask someone to stay.

A deliciously steamy, emotionally satisfying MM age-gap romance featuring a patient silver-fox carpenter, a bookish younger man, praise kink, gentle dominance, years of mutual pining, found family, and a guaranteed happily-ever-after.

Ames Willow