Autumn Embers: A Small Town Age Gap Romance (Pine Lake Chronicles Book 2)

When a burned-out professor meets a small-town dreamer, will their seventeen-year age gap be too much to overcome?

After fifteen years of university politics and disenchanted students, literature professor Jason Rivers has had enough. Inheriting his reclusive uncle’s lakeside cabin in Pine Creek, Wisconsin, feels like a lifeline—a chance to rediscover his passion for teaching at the local elementary school. What he doesn’t expect is to be captivated by Leila Martinez, the twenty-five-year-old clinic receptionist with dreams bigger than her small hometown.

Leila has spent her whole life in Pine Creek, caring for her aging grandmother and working at the medical clinic. She’s watched her best friend Emma find unexpected love and wondered if her own dreams of adventure and education will ever become reality. When the mysterious new teacher arrives in town, she’s drawn to his quiet intelligence and the shadows of his past—but at forty-two, Jason seems like he’s lived a lifetime she’s only beginning to imagine.

As autumn paints the lakeside town in brilliant colors, Jason and Leila find themselves fighting an undeniable attraction. He worries he’s too old, too jaded, too set in his ways for someone just starting to discover who she might become. She fears the town—and his own doubts—will convince him she’s too young, too naive, too small-town for a man with his experience.

But Pine Creek has a way of bringing together hearts that belong together, regardless of what the world thinks. Between harvest festivals and cozy evenings by the lake, Jason and Leila must decide if love is worth the risk of judgment, if their dreams can align across the years that separate them, and if sometimes the most unexpected partnerships create the strongest foundations.

Can a second chance at happiness bridge the gap between where they’ve been and where they’re going?

Autumn Embers is the heartwarming second book in the Pine Creek series, featuring a swoon-worthy age gap romance, small-town charm, and the healing power of finding where you truly belong. While each book can be read as a standalone, you’ll want to start with Summer Sanctuary to fully experience the magic of Pine Creek.