Innocent Hearts — Dakota Lane

She came to Mule Creek to write about cowboys. She didn't expect to fall for one.Leah Beckett is quiet, shy, and a hopeless romantic. Staying at a ranch for research, she meets brooding rancher James Callahan—older, gruffer, and determined to keep his distance. But Leah's sweet heart and quiet strength slowly crack his walls.What begins as observation becomes entanglement. As Leah learns the truth about ranch life—and the man who runs it—she'll have to decide if real-life romance is messier, and sweeter, than fiction.An age-gap, grumpy-sunshine cowboy romance with emotional depth and sizzling connection.