Return to Me by Aimee Nicole Walker

Does the heart have a memory?

Noah McKinney and Maverick Rodriguez met when they were seven years old. Maverick’s family moved into the house next to Noah’s aunt, where Noah spent every summer of his childhood. During those three months every year, the boys were inseparable as they swam in the waters of coastal North Carolina, rode bikes, told ghost stories, and dreamed of finding hidden pirate treasures. A sweet friendship developed into an even sweeter young love, but then Maverick disappeared out of Noah’s life as suddenly as he appeared.

Twenty-two years later, Noah returns to Beaufort, North Carolina after he receives a call that his ancestral home has been vandalized. He is overwhelmed with a feeling that fate has something more up her sleeve than a simple home repair, but never in a million years would he have guessed what was waiting for him.

Maverick has returned to Beaufort in an attempt to stop running from his past and what better place than the source of his happiest memories. He quickly earns a reputation as the best in the business at restoring old homes to their former glory. No matter how successful his business has grown, he still feels there is something missing in his life. Or is it someone?

Noah and Maverick’s reunion is nothing like either man has fantasized about for so many years, but beneath the strain is an undeniable attraction and a feeling of rightness that neither man can deny or resist. However, giving in to their desires doesn’t erase their doubts and fears. Maverick knows that nothing of the boy Noah loved remains inside of him. He thinks he’s better as a memory than the man he’s become. Noah fears that Maverick will disappear again and doubts he could survive the heartbreak a second time.

The heart wants what the heart wants and it won’t be denied.

Can the two men overcome their fears and doubts to take a chance on a love that promises to burn brighter than the sun? Or will they use the obstacles they face as excuses to spare themselves from potential heartbreak?

Return to Me is the fifth book in the Fated Hearts series. It can be read as part of the series or as a standalone novel.

*This book contains sexually explicit material and is intended for adults only.