First published 2026
Waldo sits in creative writing class, watching Mr. Korgy discuss novels she's never read. She studies his expanding waistline, his fading looks, his passion for books and films. She knows about his wife, his child, his mortgage payments. She knows his dreams have died somewhere along the way. None of this stops her from wanting him desperately. Waldo can't explain her obsession. Maybe she craves his experience, his knowledge of things beyond her reach. Maybe she sees something deeper, a connection between kindred spirits who view the world through similar eyes. Or maybe it's simpler than that. He notices her when everyone else looks through her. Waldo is seventeen, hungry for everything, angry at the world, and determined to get what she wants. She doesn't care about obstacles. She'll find ways around them or through them. What she needs most is to be seen, desired, loved. The story follows her relentless pursuit of her teacher, exploring the messy intersection of sex, power, loneliness, and the internet age.
Genres: fiction, romance, contemporary, contemporary-romance
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: forbidden-love, obsession, unreliable-narrator
288 pages · Hardcover · Ballantine Books
Content warnings: explicit-sexual-content, sexual-content