Book excerpt: A missed opportunity five years ago makes for an unexpected encounter now between two people meant for each other – but who square off in a very public battle of wills in the small town of Love You, Maine, where every day is Valentine's Day. Can love conquer all in a town steeped in it? Kell Luview refuses to be a sucker at love again. Five years ago, he left D.C. with his pride wounded and his heart broken. Fiercely protective of his small town in rural Maine, he's determined to save the family tree business and avoid his feelings at all costs, no matter how much he longs to solve the mystery of what happened in D.C. L.A. native Rachel Hart hates being underestimated almost as much as she hates this small town. She has two goals on this trip: get out of the cheesy tourist trap of Love You, Maine with a completed business deal, and avoid running into Kell, her old friend from D.C. who never became an old flame because of a huge misunderstanding. One that still aches. When her rental car breaks down on a logging road and Kell comes to her rescue, it's clear he's a changed man – and not for the good. Grumpy and reserved, he pushes all her buttons, still stubbornly convinced she betrayed him all those years ago. He's never forgiven her, and she's never forgiven herself for carrying a torch for him. An embarrassing incident gets the town gossip mill going when residents wrongly assume Kell and Rachel are the newest couple to find love in the most romantic place on Earth. But the townsfolk aren't wrong for long... As Rachel breaks through his defenses and charms the town, he faces his biggest fear: all those pesky feelings he's been avoiding. Because they're all about Rachel now. And maybe they always were. Can Kell and Rachel fight their growing attraction in the one place in the world where you can't avoid love? If you're looking for a fun read about enemies to lovers, forced proximity, heroines who get their comeuppance and sworn bachelors felled by unexpected true love, featuring a hot bearded lumberjack impervious to poison ivy, and a city-slicker, jaded career woman with a penchant for great coffee, set in a small town in New England - then this is your book. Grab a cup of (properly good) coffee, a can of hot cocoa mix, a jar of Fluff and maybe some calamine lotion (just in case), and get your happymeter ready as you read the very first book in New York Times bestselling romantic comedy author Julia Kent's Love You, Maine series - where love isn't just a feeling - it's a way of life. Standalone Slow Burn Enemies to Lovers Small town romance Lumberjack and city slicker outsider ... and a cat named Calamine