About Playing with Fire:
A duty-bound, grumpy cowboy accidentally subscribes to his little sister’s best friend’s cam show in this spicy small-town, age gap romance.
Maddox Whittaker has stretched himself way too thin. Between running his family’s thousand-head cattle ranch and taking care of younger siblings perfectly capable of fending for themselves, he rarely has time for himself. Usually, it doesn’t bother him—knowing his late father would be proud of the man he’s become is all of the motivation he needs to keep going most of the time. But when loneliness starts to set in, he ends up on a cam girl site, subscribing to a woman that reminds him of someone he hasn’t been able to get off his mind recently—the local bartender ten years younger than him.
Austin Taylor works behind the only bar in Cedar Creek, desperate to scrape together enough money to escape. At night, she becomes RedRanger, a bratty but confident, anonymous cam girl who takes advantage of men the way they’ve always taken advantage of her. When she gets a new subscriber that drops hundreds a night just to chat, she thinks she’s hit the jackpot. She never expects them to be her best friend’s older brother, a man she’s been crushing on for years.
Realizing they’d be a perfect match in the bedroom, Austin suggests they start something casual, a way to bide time until she saves enough money to leave town. But Maddox doesn’t seem to know what casual means and Austin enjoys his company outside of the bedroom a lot more than she thought she would. When the opportunity to leave finally presents itself, Austin is surprised to find herself hesitating.
Leaving Cedar Creek had always been the plan, but she’d never planned for him.
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Author Bio:
Growing up, Cassie Truett had a book with her at all times—sometimes two, usually three. She was constantly getting in trouble for reading instead of finishing chores, paying attention in school, or going to bed on time.
At 13, her love for reading birthed a passion for storytelling—first through fanfiction and now with the debut of Playing with Fire, releasing March 2026.
Outside of writing, Cassie is the proud mom of two cats, enjoys hand-feeding squirrels in the park, and is a chronic book collector. Her favorite tropes include hockey-playing MMCs, age gaps, and (naturally) cowboys.
For updates on the Whittaker Ranch series and beyond, follow Cassie across platforms at @cassietruettwrites