Lucille Saunders believes in love—the sweeping, all-consuming kind found in Hallmark movies, love songs, and the dog-eared romance novels stashed under her bed. She dreams of glass slippers and grand gestures, but for now, she’s content to wait. At just twenty, her life is already overflowing: juggling college classes, a demanding job as a personal secretary, and playing emotional referee between her bitterly divorced parents, all while helping her younger sister choose a college—usually over frantic FaceTime calls. Romance will have to wait… until it shows up next door. Scott Aberdeen wants nothing to do with love. After a lifetime of cold shoulders, harsh words, and one relationship that left him emotionally wrecked, all he wants is peace. He’s crossed the country for a fresh start, trading a high-paying job and a sleek apartment for a shoebox with peeling paint and silence he can finally call his own. Love, he’s decided, just isn’t worth the cost. Then he meets Lucille. She’s soft where he’s sharp, sunshine to his storm. He’s the sad-eyed guy with a past he won’t talk about. She’s the bright, babbling girl with a heart too big for her own good. When a busted laptop and a broken purse strap throw them together, an unexpected connection sparks—something fragile, tender, and impossible to ignore. But falling in love was never part of the plan. As feelings grow and secrets stir, Lucille and Scott must navigate trauma, trust, and the terrifying possibility that love—real, messy, complicated love—might be worth the risk after all. Mature themes. Recommended for readers 18+. Trigger warnings include emotional/verbal abuse, colorful language, and alcohol use.