When the Dust Settles

For readers craving a spicy MM cowboy romance, Ashley James’s emotional second-chance romance blends rodeo heat, forced proximity and former-best-friends tension into a love story about risking everything for the one man who’s always mattered. This print edition features exclusive bonus content.

"This is cowboy romance at its finest: romantic, sexy, and full of feeling. The story lassoed my heart and left me wanting more!" Jessica Peterson, New York Times bestselling author of the Lucky River Ranch series.

Trace Dalton is a world-champion bull rider, built on grit, fame, and a bad boy reputation. When a leaked scandal threatens his career, he’s sent back to Copper Lake, Wyoming, with strict instructions: lay low, work at Sunset Hope ranch, and stay out of trouble.

It would be the perfect plan… if Copper Lake didn’t come with Harlan Pierce. Once Trace’s best friend, almost his everything, Harlan now works at Sunset Hope, and is determined to keep his heart guarded, and their shared history exactly where it belongs: in the past.

But staying out of trouble becomes impossible when Trace’s agent proposes a reckless solution: a fake relationship with the one man he can’t stand.

The only problem? The chemistry between them isn’t fake.

Forced back into each other’s lives, they’re now sharing rodeo appearances, staged smiles, and enough forced proximity to test their limits. The closer Trace gets to Harlan, the harder it becomes to tell what’s real, what’s an act — or what they’ve been denying all along.

When the truth finally breaks through, Trace must decide: Will he walk away…or risk it all for the only man who’s ever mattered?