A Merry Mess
By Lynne Hancock Pearson
(Keeney Builds, #4)
Publication date: November 15th 2026
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance
She’s fighting to keep her past in the past.
He’s fighting a father who refuses to retire.
After one disastrous mistake wrecked her career, Ingrid wants a quiet life. She has a great job and the staunch support of Iris, her widowed landlady.
Mickey’s spent years waiting to inherit the family business, but his father refuses to retire. When Ingrid mentions the community Christmas pageant, Mickey volunteers his father, hoping to distract him, and ignite the spark kindling between his dad and Iris.
But Mickey’s dad offends Iris with his mansplaining and refuses to accept that Mickey knows what he’s doing. Now, Mickey wonders whether running Rossi & Rossi was ever his dream.
He does know that he wants more time with Ingrid, who resists, unwilling to reveal the colossal mistake still haunting her. Yet, when the pageant is in peril, and Mickey shows up, she lets him in—just a little.
Thrown together by a shared backyard and a beloved tradition, Mickey and Ingrid catch fire as they fan the flames between the older couple. But when a major corporation targets Keeney Building Supply, both budding relationships falter, turning the happiest time of the year into a merry mess.
A Merry Mess is a steamy, friends-to-lovers, small-town holiday romance about fresh starts, found family, and choosing joy, even when life gets complicated.
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Enjoy this peek inside:
The sun had long since set, and while it wasn’t raining, it was cold. Ingrid hunched inside her coat, jamming her hands into her pockets.
“It’s hard,” she said, turning to Sylvie. “I was the other woman who broke you two up.”
Much shorter, Sylvie stared up at Ingrid, shaking her head. “If it weren’t you, it would have been someone else. That asshat was incapable of being faithful. He used you just like he used me.”
“It kills me that I was so gullible.”
“Me, too.”
“And I can’t believe you forgave me.”
Sylvie wagged a finger at Ingrid. “That took a while. At first I wanted you to have a case of chlamydia for the rest of your life.”
Ingrid winced. “Eww.”
“But then I got to know you and realized…” Sylvie trailed off and shrugged. “We both got played by a handsome charmer who was also a narcissistic dickhead without a conscience. And it helps that you have a killer pitching arm.”
Ingrid rolled her eyes, and Sylvie grinned. “I don’t see you enough, so come to game night. I promise I won’t tease you about Mickey.”
“Dating Mickey is not a smart idea. If things didn’t work out, living next door to him would be awkward, and his uncle could get me fired.”
“But what if it did work out?” Sylvie bounced her eyebrows. “That tight little cyclist butt would be all yours. Don’t you want him to…ride your bicycle?”
“Oh, my God! I definitely can’t go to game night with that image in my head!”
Sylvie curtsied. “You’re welcome. I’ll see you tonight.”
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About Author Lynn Hancock Pearson:
Lynne Hancock Pearson writes fun, flirty, feel-good fiction that simmers at low heat. Set in the Pacific Northwest, they are stories of people finding their way, even if it takes a while to get there.
She lives near Seattle with two and a half finicky felines and one long-suffering husband. She is a left-handed middle child who grew up in the Great White North and is a proud member of the Métis Nation of Canada.
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