Any Cold Morning: Lark Bay Book Two

By: Ashcroft, J. T.

A winter grant deadline. A small-town rink on borrowed time. Two women who would rather manage a crisis than risk their hearts.

Lark Bay Arena survived the summer on grit, luck, and a whole lot of community stubbornness. Now winter has arrived, and keeping the rink alive will take something harder: funding, governance, and a successful season that proves this small Ontario town deserves its future.

Tessa Dunlop is already holding the place together with coffee, binders, and panic-management. Celia Mercer, the sharp Toronto consultant whose report upended the town, is back to help secure the next grant package. Tessa thinks Celia writes elegant problems for other people to solve. Celia thinks Tessa confuses goodwill with structure. Unfortunately, the rink needs both of them.

As board meetings spiral, Bayford circles, volunteers meddle, and winter programming fills every inch of the arena, irritation gives way to reluctant respect, then to something far more dangerous. Because in Lark Bay, people notice everything. And once the town starts seeing the chemistry between Tessa and Celia, ignoring it becomes impossible.

Warm, witty, and deeply rooted in community, Any Cold Morning is a cozy sapphic romance about hard-earned trust, small-town politics, and choosing love when staying feels riskier than leaving.

Perfect for readers who love:

cozy sapphic romancesmall-town settingsslow-burn chemistrylater-in-life and emotionally mature love storiesfound family, hockey, and community heart

A Lark Bay novel. Can be enjoyed as a standalone, but readers will get even more from starting with No-Check Summer.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GXYJGYBX
• ISBN13: 9798258177643
• Release Date: April 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 146 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"