by Lucy Score
First published 2025
Hazel faces eviction from her Upper East Side apartment and an ultimatum from her publisher. Submit a manuscript by the next deadline or lose her contract. She makes an impulsive decision to purchase a house in rural Pennsylvania without seeing it first. Her plan is simple: dive into small town living to reconnect with her writing and give her remaining readers the content they crave. The town she lands in appears to be dying, but Hazel discovers unexpected inspiration in Cam, her attractive and temperamental contractor. His family rescues animals and stays deeply involved in community affairs. Hazel tells herself this is all material for her book. She immerses herself in researching small town dynamics while navigating her growing attraction to Cam and his family's local connections. The boundaries between her professional research and personal investment begin to blur as she becomes more entangled in the community's struggles and relationships.
Genres: fiction, romance, contemporary-romance
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Pennsylvania, Upper East Side
Period: 21st-century
512 pages · Paperback · Bloom Books