by Avery Flynn
Part of The Hartigans
First published 2025
It's 1982, and when her sister's cheating boyfriend breaks her heart, she decides to act. The plan is simple: fill his DeLorean with buttered popcorn, a half-melted Snickers, and a shaken can of Tab. The execution goes sideways. The car belongs to Frank Hartigan, six feet six inches of trouble she already knows too well from one unforgettable night at Marino's Bar. Now she owes him a drive to Harbor City. She tells herself she finds him annoying. She is lying. Frank has a reputation in Waterbury. Women fall for him. Women get hurt. The wreckage is not hard to find. She has watched it happen and she has no intention of becoming another cautionary tale. So the rules are clear: drive him across town, keep her hands to herself, and walk away with her heart intact. The problem is Frank, and the longer they spend in a car together, the harder those rules are to follow. Avery Flynn sets this rom-com in a specific, affectionate version of the early eighties, where the details are sharp and the feelings are sharper.
Genres: fiction, american-fiction, comedy, contemporary-romance, romantic-comedy
Vibes: charming, lighthearted, nostalgic, romantic-tension, witty
Tropes: bad-boy-romance, enemies-to-lovers, forced-proximity, slow-burn
Setting: Waterbury, Harbor City, Marino's Bar
Period: 1982
163 pages · Paperback · Meet Cute LLC