The Marrying Kind

by Kendall Ryan

Genres: Contemporary Romance; Small-town Romance; cowboy romance

Synopsis

Welcome to Kodiak Canyon, where the men outnumber the women, the beards are impressive, and the beer is home-brewed. Ella Westover and Austen Hart are about as different as they can be. After losing her parents in a tragic accident, Ella is determined to live her life to the fullest, and so she sets off on an adventure, complete with a hand-written bucket list tucked safely in the worn pages of her journal. Her first stop? Kodiak Canyon, elevation nine thousand feet, population just over six hundred. The views are breathtaking, the mountain air is sweet, and the pace is slow . . . it’s everything she’s dreamed of. Austen is a real-life mountain man. A local with a knack for surviving in the toughest of climates, he’s got everything a man could need . . . almost. The only thing he doesn’t have is a wife, a pretty maiden to warm his bed at night, someone to share his homestead with. Kodiak Canyon has a lot to offer, but female companionship isn’t one of them. He isn’t about to let the beautiful and strong-willed Ella get away so easily. Ella might take him up on his room to rent, but she’ll never be someone’s wife. She’s got a plan. A life to live. But as she starts ticking off items on her bucket list . . . one that she never imagined starts to take center stage. Fall in love.

Release date: June 6, 2023

Publisher: Kendall Ryan

Print pages: 300

Sample

“Can I get you anything else?” the perky bartender asked, stopping right in front of me.

Her blonde hair was cut in an angled bob and she had a full sleeve of tattoos on one arm. Her nametag read CJ.

I glanced at my phone. It had been only about fifteen minutes since Samantha had told me to give her an hour. But would she really come up with someplace else for me to stay? I knew how limited the options were here. I’d chosen this town specifically because of how isolated and remote it was.

“Is there a hotel nearby, by chance?”

Her eyebrows shot up. “In Kodiak Canyon? No.”

I frowned.

“I take it you need someplace to stay?”

I swirled the wine in my glass and released a long exhale.

“I might know someone who can help you. See that guy at the end of the bar?”

My gaze drifted to my left and the two men seated together at the far end of the bar. They appeared to be deep in conversation.

“The cute one,” CJ clarified.

The cute one was tall with broad shoulders and a five o’clock shadow. He was wearing a gray flannel shirt and had on a baseball cap turned backwards. Both men had a pint glass of dark beer in front of them.

“He and his family own a bunch of cabins up on the mountain. Rental cabins,” CJ clarified.

My eyes returned to hers as hope lifted in my chest. A cozy cabin in the woods all to myself? My Hallmark movie Christmas might still be within reach.

“But I don’t know that they’re open yet. Last I heard they were still building them. It’s worth a shot, though. I could introduce you. It would be better than sleeping in your car,” she pointed out.