The Lighthouse Bet

She made a bet she could find a date.
She never expected to fall for the worst possible candidate.

At thirty-four, elementary school teacher Abby Collins is perfectly happy with her carefully organized life in the charming lakeside town of Cottonwood Cove. She has wonderful friends, a job she loves, and absolutely no need for a man-no matter what the town's matchmaking committee thinks.

Then one ill-advised lunch at the marina ends with Abby wagering one hundred dollars that she can find a genuinely interested date for the annual Lighthouse Gala.

Enter Owen Mercer.

Handsome charter captain. Shameless flirt. Professional commitment-phobe. And the last man Abby would ever consider dating.

When Cottonwood Cove's increasingly disastrous matchmaking attempts get out of hand, Abby and Owen make a deal: they'll pretend to date until the gala, convince everyone they're hopelessly smitten, and then walk away with their hearts-and Abby's hundred dollars-safely intact.

They even have rules.

No jealousy.
No sleepovers.
No falling in love.

Unfortunately, rules become considerably harder to follow after sunset cruises, unexpected kisses, one stormy night aboard Owen's boat, and the unsettling discovery that the person who drives you completely crazy might also be the person who understands you best.

But Abby has spent years building a life where nothing important is left to chance, while Owen has made an art form out of leaving before anyone can ask him to stay.

And pretending to fall in love is easy.

Admitting they stopped pretending might cost them everything.

Set along the sparkling shores of Lake Ontario, Home Is Where You Anchor is a funny, heartwarming small-town romantic comedy filled with meddling friends, marina gossip, fake dating, forced proximity, second chances, a commitment-phobic boat captain, and one very determined elementary school teacher who discovers that the safest place for your heart isn't always where it belongs.