First published 2018
Penny Lee coasts through high school with mediocre friends, decent grades, and a boyfriend who barely knows her. She escapes to college in Austin, seventy-nine miles from her old life, determined to become a writer. Sam works at a cafe where he also sleeps on a mattress in the storage room upstairs. With seventeen dollars in his bank account and a failing laptop, he dreams of directing movies someday but struggles to survive each day. When Penny and Sam meet, the encounter goes badly. They exchange phone numbers anyway. Through text messages, they build an unexpected connection. Digital conversations let them share fears and aspirations without face-to-face awkwardness. Their relationship grows through screens and keyboards as they reveal parts of themselves they hide from everyone else.
Genres: contemporary, contemporary-romance, new-adult, new-adult-romance
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, slow-burn
Setting: Austin, Texas
Period: 21st-century
394 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers