She came to investigate a fire. She wasn't supposed to stay.
The fire captain of Stone River has spent twelve years being exactly what his town needs.
Fire investigator Nora Vane has spent seven years trusting evidence instead of people.
They meet at a burned barn before sunrise, and Nora is only supposed to be here long enough to close the case.
But the burn pattern tells a different story.
Nora has worked forty-one fire scenes. She knows the difference between a blaze that started by accident-and one that was made to burn.
The Pruett barn in Stone River, Montana is the second kind.
When Captain Jace Halstead arrives at the scene with two coffees and a read on the fire that matches hers, Nora realizes she may have found the only person in town willing to see what she sees.
But the fires keep coming.
Someone is setting them with purpose-using the valley's trust against itself. And the only person who knows Stone River well enough to help her stop it is the man she keeps trying not to look at.
As the investigation deepens, the line between evidence and instinct begins to blur-and so does the distance between them.
Some burn patterns are evidence.
Some are warnings.
And some are the shape of something you didn't see coming until it was already on fire.
Built to Burn is a slow-burn romantic suspense set in small-town Montana.
Firefighter heroFire investigator heroineSmall-town secretsForced partnershipSlow-burn romanceHEA guaranteedBook Two in the Stone River series. Can be read as a standalone.