Stuck Bayou: a rivals to lovers, he falls first, steamy small town romance

It's really difficult to stay mad at a guy you want to lick like a giant candy cane...

Opposing her proposal to build luxury condos in his tiny hometown...and maybe getting her fired...is probably not the best way to get on Savannah Lee's good side. But Theo Taggart likes all of Savannah's sides-her sweet, tight backside in her uptight pencil skirts and her delicious, curvy front side in those buttoned-up silk blouses. Oh, yeah, he welcomes every single clash with the sassy city girl.

He's never wanted anyone like he wants this woman.

It's really too bad she's allergic to settling down, because he's got very deep roots.

It's really too bad the big, rugged game warden has become her nemesis.

Because Savannah would really like to sleep with Theo just once.

Of course, there's always hate sex.

But it doesn't feel anything like hate when he rescues her from the bayou cabin where she's stranded without power.

Or when he insists on accompanying her on a work trip at Christmas so she doesn't have to spend the holiday alone.

Or when he literally carries her to safety and then, ahem, keeps her warm when they get snowed in at the Merry Falls Lodge.

But no matter how festive things get, or how 'jolly' they are together, they need to remember that all of this will end when the cocoa loses it's steam and the mistletoe dries up.