On the Shelf by Ash Keller

At thirty-seven—or seven-and-thirty, as they’d say in one of her cherished Regency romances—librarian Zoey Matthews is a spinster. On the shelf. Alone. But she’ll settle for nothing less than a man as good and noble as a hero in a Jane Austen novel…even if it means attending her baby sister’s wedding without a plus-one. As the date approaches, Zoey’s feeling more like an old maid than the Maid of Honor.
When Engine 17’s fire chief appears in her life—on horseback, no less—he seems to check all the boxes. But is Zach Shofner truly a hero? Or is he the villain in this story?

*An earlier version of this story was published in the Sweet Heat Summer charity collection.