When Penelope Davis inherits the farm next to grumpy widower Carlo di Laurentis’s farm, neither one of them expect the connection—or alpaca fur—to weave them so tightly together. Carlo loved his job as team lead at a fire station in California, but when his wife dies in a fire, he can’t handle the memories…or how he failed her. Her family apple orchard in tiny Cinnamon Bay, all the way across the country, seems like the perfect place to grieve—and do his best to keep her hard apple cider dream alive. Penelope lived for those weeks with her grandmother in Cinnamon Bay. Pen’s lived a nomadic life of touring the country from one fair or convention to another, selling her fiber art creations. Yet, now, she’s the proud owner of a house, complete with a hot-mess-of-an-almost studio and her very own loom!, and a mischievous alpaca who loves to eat her grumpy neighbor’s prized apples. First impressions aren’t always true, and as Carlo and Pen spend more time together, they come to realize they have much more in common than either expected. But can Pen’s optimism help Carlo heal from the shattering truths he uncovers? And will Alpaca Man destroy their first-ever cider press?
Author
With a degree in international marketing and a varied career path that includes content management for a web firm, marketing direction for a high-profile sports agency, and a two-year stint with a renowned literary agency, award-winning author Alexa Padgett has returned to her first love: writing fiction. Alexa spent a good part of her youth traveling. From Budapest to Belize, Calgary to Coober Pedy, she soaked in the myriad smells, sounds, and feels of these gorgeous places, wishing she could live in them all—at least for a while. And she does in her books. She lives in New Mexico with her husband, children, and Great Pyrenees pup, Ash. When not writing, schlepping, or volunteering, she can be found in her tiny kitchen, channeling her inner Barefoot Contessa.
