Blood Sweeter than Honey by Chiara Forestieri

Gideon

After leaving the military and an all-too-violent past behind, I craved nothing more than solitude-a peaceful life carved out under open skies and green pastures. So, when the local sheriff asks me to take in a mysterious woman, I'm far from thrilled. I've spent the last five years celibate and untouched by romance, surrounded only by honest work and the gentle souls of the animals on my ranch. Yet with every moment I spend in Winnow's presence, some unseen cord winds tighter inside me, drawing me toward her. Soon enough, the urge to protect her-truly care for her-settles deep in my bones, impossible to ignore. I'm starting to believe I was made for this woman-and she, for me.

Winnow

After surviving a war and a traumatic past, I was endowed with the Duchy of Cerulia-thrust into a life I never wanted, bound by a duty I never chose. I've been shackled between the urge to walk away and the aching need to give my people the peace they've long been denied. It doesn't take long for the weight of responsibility to wither my soul. So when a rare chance for a vacation appears, I seize it-only for everything to go horrifically awry.

Just when I think all hope is lost, the universe rewrites my path in the most unexpected way, and I find myself with nowhere to go but into the arms of a gruff cowboy-my soulbound.