Slow Burn by Annie Carlisle

Six weeks. One house. Zero chance this stays professional.

Captain Beckett Delano moved to Copper Ridge for peace, quiet, and fewer emotional disasters. As a newly divorced, grumpy fire captain with a six-year-old daughter who asks deeply inappropriate questions at full volume, his life is already chaotic enough.

Then Gemma Lockhart floods it—literally.

When Gemma’s apartment explodes in a plumbing catastrophe, the only place she can afford is the in-law suite at Beck’s new house. Six weeks. Shared walls. One relentlessly cheerful paramedic who talks to everyone. One stoic captain who communicates mostly in grunts. And one dinosaur-obsessed little girl who decides Gemma is her new best friend—and potential future mom.

Gemma doesn’t do serious. Beck doesn’t do feelings. Unfortunately, forced proximity, late-night coffee, and accidental domesticity have other plans.
As sparks fly and old wounds surface, they’ll have to decide if love is worth the risk… or if this slow burn is about to turn into a five-alarm heart emergency.

Opposites attract—especially under one roof.
Forced proximity has never been this dangerous—or this tempting.
This wasn’t the kind of heat either of them trained for.
A grumpy captain. A sunshine paramedic. One very opinionated six-year-old.

In Copper Ridge, even the grumpiest hearts catch fire.