by Julie Murphy
Part of Meant to Be
First published 2024
Ren Gylden has never used a smartphone or searched the internet, but she has built a wind power system from scratch, taught herself to paint, and read hundreds of books on her family's off-grid homestead. At twenty-two, she finally arrives at Corona College, and the world she has only read about is suddenly real and loud and right in front of her. Fitz has a different relationship with Corona: graduate near the top, get his criminal record expunged, and keep up the image of the wealthy, confident guy everyone assumes he is. He is months from finishing step one when Ren crashes into his life and makes him question the whole map he has drawn for himself. An immunology seminar throws them together, and a road trip follows, pulling both of them far outside anything they planned. Ren is learning how to live in a world she has never navigated. Fitz is trying to hold together a version of himself that may not be worth saving. On the road, something shifts between them, and they each start to see that what they have been chasing was closer than they thought.
Genres: coming-of-age, contemporary, contemporary-romance, new-adult, college-romance, new-adult-romance
Vibes: emotional, intimate, introspective, tender, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family, friends-to-lovers, road-trip
Setting: Corona College
Period: 21st-century
309 pages · Paperback · Hyperion Avenue