Bad Boy Era

This is the fourth book in Amy Daws's Mountain Men Matchmaker series, following the romances of Everly Fletcher's three uncles in previous installments. It can be read as a standalone.

Everly Fletcher is a 22-year-old American finishing her Finance, Economics, and Social Studies (FESS) degree at Trinity College Dublin. She has spent her university years running matchmaking clinics at a local pub, successfully pairing 16 couples, yet her own romantic life has been a disaster. When a date publicly posts a one-star review of her on Instagram, calling her a fraud, it confirms her fear that she is better at finding love for others than for herself. Her only close friend at Trinity is her roommate, Cliona Reilly, a rugby player whose twin brother, Conri "Wolf" Reilly, is a brooding, tattooed athlete who has barely acknowledged Everly for four years despite giving her the nickname "Stretch" in first year.

Wolf's rugby career implodes during a semifinal match when Cliona's ex-boyfriend, a player on the opposing team, provokes him with vile comments about a private video of Cliona. Wolf starts a violent fight and shoves a referee, costing Trinity the match and its championship hopes. Scouts from Leinster Rugby, a top-tier Irish provincial club, lose interest, and Wolf faces a six-week ban. One team remains interested: the Denver Grizzlies. To attend their summer training camp, Wolf needs community service hours at a nonprofit. Cliona asks Everly to secure him a position at Mount Millie Rescue Center, the animal sanctuary run by Everly's aunt Trista on Fletcher Mountain, the family compound near Jamestown, Colorado. Everly reluctantly agrees, and her father, Max, handles the visa paperwork.

Everly's family flies Wolf to Colorado after graduation. On the plane, Wolf accidentally reveals he has remembered Everly all along by calling her "Stretch," confirming years of pretense. His narration reveals that since first year he has secretly followed her home after matchmaking events to ensure her safety, but he kept his distance because he believed he did not deserve someone as bright as her. On Fletcher Mountain, Trista welcomes Wolf to his quarters above the barn. At Everly's welcome-home party at the local pub, her three imposing uncles corner Wolf before Trista rescues him. Everly's ex-boyfriend, Hilow, also appears, provoking Wolf's open hostility.

Work begins at Mount Millie, where Everly presents an ambitious business plan including Visitor Sundays, a charity auction, and a Patreon account. Wolf struggles with the animals, getting tackled and spat on by an alpaca. When a bearded dragon arrives as a rescue, Wyatt and Trista's young daughter, Stevie, names it Rugby. Everly declares she and Wolf are co-parenting the lizard, sparking a texting rhythm that edges toward flirtation.

Everly asks Wolf to accompany her to Hilow's housewarming party in Boulder, where her high school nemesis, Taya Donalson, arrives unexpectedly. Panicked, Everly asks Wolf to pretend to be her boyfriend. He agrees, then impulsively kisses her with fierce intensity. Everly convinces herself it was a pity kiss. Days later, in a hospital parking garage while the family waits during a birth, Wolf confesses the kiss was real. He shares that he was severely bullied as a child before rugby transformed him. Everly reveals that mean girls once paid a boy to take her on a fake date, making her first kiss a cruel prank. Wolf tells her he will never kiss her again unless she asks properly. She asks.

Their physical relationship escalates when Everly hikes to Wolf's barn apartment at midnight, demanding to know what they are. The encounter leaves both overwhelmed, and Trista advises Everly to enjoy a summer fling rather than prioritizing everyone else. When Everly's uncle Wyatt proposes auctioning single rugby players for her charity event, she delivers a polished presentation to the Grizzlies that wins over the team. On the rainy drive home, Wolf tells Everly she is "exactly enough" when she calls herself "too much," then kisses her beside her broken-down Range Rover. They sleep together, and both sense the connection runs deeper than either expected.

Over the following weeks, Wolf bonds with the youth rugby kids he coaches and earns the Fletcher family's respect. At the local pub one evening, a cyclist aggressively accosts Everly, and Wolf intervenes. Afterward, he confesses the full truth about his years at Trinity: He followed her home after every matchmaking event, arranged for Cliona to be housed in the Rubrics building near Everly, and smashed the phone of the date who posted the one-star review. Everly finds the revelation touching rather than threatening, recognizing that Wolf protected her when she felt invisible. Their intimacy deepens past all remaining barriers, and they agree to a "no-label" summer fling, since Wolf plans to return to Ireland.

Everly secretly flies Cliona to Colorado for the twins' birthday. Wolf, overwhelmed, impulsively kisses Everly in front of the entire Fletcher family. That same day, he receives two career-changing offers: Leinster Rugby wants him as injury cover, and the Grizzlies present an official contract. However, Wolf overhears Everly telling Cliona their relationship is "just sex" and a real relationship would be "a horrible idea." That night, Wolf tells Everly he loves her and asks her to ask him to stay. She refuses, insisting she does not want him to sacrifice his dreams. Wolf tells her she hides behind matchmaking because she is afraid to name what she wants, fearing that naming it makes it vulnerable to loss. He asks her to walk back to her cabin so he can know she is safe, then tells her he will not follow her anymore.

Wolf accepts the Grizzlies contract and declines Leinster, choosing Denver for the team, the coaching job, and the life he has built. He moves off the mountain into his teammate Fergie's apartment, leaving Rugby with Everly. Cliona calls and tells Everly that Wolf is staying in Denver and she needs to fix things.

At the Mountain Men for a Mission charity auction, when it is time to auction Wolf, the audience is silent: Everly's uncles have privately threatened every potential bidder to ensure she would have to bid herself. Everly launches into an impassioned speech about Wolf's character. Mid-speech, she realizes she is confessing her own feelings and turns to him: "I love you." Her uncles bid against her, driving the price up, and Everly wins Wolf for two thousand dollars. They kiss, and the reunion is complete.

Wolf signs with the Grizzlies and takes a youth coaching position. Everly moves to her own apartment in Denver and applies for a brand strategist job at a tech company, with plans to eventually develop her own matchmaking app, PlusOne. At the decisive friendly match on which Wolf's contract depends, the entire Fletcher family fills two rows of seats, the first time anyone has cheered for him in the stands. He scores a try and looks up to find them all celebrating. Months later, they travel to Dublin for the wedding of Finn Murphy, Wolf's childhood best friend, with whom he has reconciled after years of estrangement. Wolf considers proposing to Everly at the Trinity campus where they first met, reflecting that she is the person who made him dream of a future he never dared imagine.