Erin March thought it was all behind her. She'd finally won a bitter court battle to become guardian of her orphaned niece, Lily. Now she's stunned to find that the lawyer who fought against her has moved in next door. Wyatt Keegan contends he's just as surprised. But his presence in the quaint Vermont town worries Erin. She's afraid he's really here to gather evidence to reopen the case on behalf of the rich aunt and uncle who wanted to adopt Lily. Erin goes out of her way to demonstrate her fitness as a single guardian and to hide her precarious financial situation, but things keep going wrong. Worse, four-year-old Lily develops an attachment to Wyatt. Worse yet, Erin finds herself falling for this handsome, love-wary lawyer.

Bernadette Pruitt is a former newspaper reporter and instructor of college journalism. She studied writing at the University of Oklahoma, and is editor of and contributor to Salt of the Earth, a series of profiles of Oklahomans who are among the last of their kind. Her interests include antiques, interior decorating, reading, and traveling. She and her husband live in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with a dog named "Boo."

The Man Next Door is her fifth novel for Avalon.

Avalon titles by this author:
THE MAN NEXT DOOR
THE RELUCTANT HERO