A Very Mountain Man Romancing: Fallen Peak: Military Heroes, #1

By Shaw Hart

The worst day of my life is the one that people can't stop asking me about. 

Mabel:
When my car breaks down one night, I'm sure that I'm about to be murdered.

Isn't that how most horror stories start?

Instead, I'm saved by a grumpy giant.

Jonah isn't much of a talker but that's okay because I am. He lets me chatter at him as he takes me home and when he returns with my car that he fixed the next morning, he instantly becomes my hero.

Now I just need to convince him that the curvy girl he rescued is also his perfect match.

Jonah:
They keep calling me a hero.

I feel like a fraud.

I don't deserve the congratulations or the accolades. I was just in the right place at the right time.

I thought that things would be better once I got out of the military, but when I land in Fallen Peak, it feels like I'm living under a microscope.

Now I can't leave the house without being stopped and thanked for my service.

I hate it.

Until one night I run into Mabel.

She makes me feel like the hero that everyone keeps saying I am, but can I juggle a relationship while also navigating reintegrating to civilian life?

Do I even deserve to get a happily ever after?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shaw Hart
• Release date: Oct 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223105954

Book preview

ONE

Jonah

I try not to fidget as I watch my cousin, Ledger, and his wife Tilly move around the kitchen. I’ve been staying with them for the last few days, ever since I was medically discharged from the military. I have no idea what I want to do with my life now that I’m not in the Marines and I’m grateful to Ledger for offering for me to stay with him.

Is this enough food? Tilly asks, and Ledger nods.

Yeah, I think so. It’s just our friends coming, he reminds her and she thinks for a minute before she pulls out another pie crust and gets to work.

Ledger just grins at his wife. I wasn’t here when they got married, but he told me about her even before they got together. It was always obvious that he was in love with her and I’m glad that they finally admitted their feelings for each other and got married.

Are you excited to be back stateside? Ledger asks me as he passes me a beer and joins me on the couch.

Yeah, it’s good to be back, I lie.

It doesn’t feel right to tell him that I have no idea what I’m doing with my life and that I feel like a fraud back in the States where everyone is treating me like I’m some kind of hero.

That’s what tonight is all about, actually. They’re throwing me a welcome home party and they invited some of their friends. It was a nice thing to do, but I wish that they hadn’t. Everything still feels too real, too raw, even after all these months. I don’t want to answer questions about my time in the service or make small talk with people that I don’t know. I just want to be alone for a bit.

Living with Ledger and Tilly hasn’t exactly provided me with that opportunity. I know that I should be looking for my own place or trying to figure out a new career. The only problem with all of that is that I don’t know if I want to stay in Fallen Peak or try to find some other place to call home.

Tilly is expecting their first baby in a few months and I need to be out before the little one gets here so that they have some time as a family. I know that Ledger and Tilly would never kick me out, but I don’t want to overstay my welcome either.

There’s a knock on the door and Ledger makes his way over to answer it as I push to my feet. My shoulder is killing me and I roll it back, trying to loosen the muscles there as the guests start to arrive.

You must be Jonah! says a sweet-looking brunette.

Yeah, hi, I say awkwardly as I hold out my hand.

I’m Rory, she says with a bright smile. And this is my husband, Rhodes.

Nice to meet you, Rhodes says, and I shake his hand next.

Yeah, you too.

And this is Magnolia and her husband Graham, Alder and Myra, and Wells and Snow, Rory says as she introduces everyone.

Nice to meet you guys.

Everyone is carrying plates or Tupperware of food and I move to the kitchen to help make room for everything. I’m grateful that I have something to do with my hands so that I don’t have to try to think of something to say.

I’ve never been great with meeting new people or with large crowds of people. I always preferred to stick to myself and after nine years in the military, living in tents with a dozen other guys, nothing has changed.

So, you’re Ledger’s cousin, right? Wells asks and I nod.

Yeah.

I’m about to ask him which cabin nearby is his, but he starts talking again before I can.

I thought that Ledger stopped talking to his family, he says, and I wince slightly.

Yeah, he did for everyone else. I was already in the military when all of that drama went down and we stayed close.

Good, Wells grunts, giving me a nod and a once over. I’m glad you’re not a money-hungry bastard like the rest of them.

I just nod at that. It’s true. Ledger cut off everyone after his parents died and left him a fortune. A lot of our family started asking him for money or trying to cozy up to him so that they could get something out of him. I was in basic training when it happened and was able to come back for the funeral and then go into the next round of training. I tried to help Ledger through it the best that I could while being stationed States away. I’m not sure that it made a difference when he was dealing with some of the vultures in our extended family.

I never blamed Ledger for wanting nothing to do with them and I actually distanced myself from everyone too. It wasn’t hard. I wasn’t outgoing like my brother and so he became the golden child and I was pushed to the side. My parents barely wrote or checked in during my time in the military and after a while, I stopped trying to force a relationship that was clearly only one-sided.

Are you hungry? one of the girls asks and I search my brain, trying