Dare Me to Dance: She built her daughter’s hero out of the man who never stayed—now he’s home, and her heart is in trouble.

Kendall MacBride grew up on Jonathon Island, on her family's lakeside resort, certain she'd spend her whole life there. Then the boy she loved broke her heart—and she ran.

Twelve years and one little girl later, the resort is crumbling, her father's medical bills are stacking up, and the only home she's ever loved is calling her back.

The last person she expects to see is the one man who swore he'd never return. The boy who never once asked her to dance.

Mountain climber Brandon Kelley has been leaving places—and people—since he was eighteen. He's home for eight weeks, tops, just long enough to get his mother back on her feet. And sure, while he's here, he'll fix up the lodge. He'll even pull off the Valentine's fundraiser dance that's the only thing standing between the MacBrides and losing everything.

He doesn't expect that to include the one girl he could never forget.

Brandon isn't the restless boy Kendall remembers. He shows up early. He stays late. He's steady and charming and impossibly present—and her daughter has started watching him like she's seen him somewhere before.

She has. Laurel has a story about her father: a brave man who loved adventure, a man the world called away. It isn't the truth. But it's a far better version than the truth. Kendall built that hero out of Brandon—and every day he shows up with coffee and a tool belt and that slow, dangerous smile, her heart betrays her all over again.

But Brandon took a secret off that last mountain. And when he's offered the expedition of a lifetime, he'll have to choose between the summit that might redeem him and the island girl finally asking him to stay.

Twelve years ago, at a street dance, she reached for his hand. He pulled away. Now—what adventure will he choose?

Dare Me to Dance launches Season Three of the beloved Jonathon Island series—a sprawling, interconnected world of small-town second chances, found family, and faith that holds when the ice breaks. New to the island? Start here.

READERS WILL LOVE…

●     A second-chance romance between the boy who always left and the woman who finally stopped waiting.

●     A single mom fighting to save her family’s resort—and a daughter who deserves a place to land.

●     A wounded wanderer hero carrying a secret off his last summit he’s never said out loud.

●     Forced proximity in a crumbling lodge, a Valentine’s dance on a six-week deadline, and a whole island watching.

●     Clean, closed-door small-town romance. Big heart. A faith that holds when everything’s breaking.