First published 2020
Cassidy is a sleep-deprived single mother with a newborn named Sunny and a neighbor named Deacon who keeps her awake for all the wrong reasons. The apartment walls are thin, and Deacon's late-night company makes that very clear. Then one night the situation flips. Sunny won't stop crying, and Deacon shows up at the door. His voice quiets her. His arms put her to sleep. The man Cassidy had written off as a commitment-phobic player turns out to be exactly the person her daughter responds to most. What starts as a reluctant friendship builds into something neither of them planned. Coffee runs become long conversations. Casual visits turn into real closeness. Then they cross a line, and everything gets complicated. Cassidy knows what Deacon is: a man who has ruled out serious relationships and has no interest in raising someone else's child. He is wrong for her on paper, wrong enough that she gives him a name for it. The anti-boyfriend. But knowing that does not stop her from wanting to be the one person who changes his mind. The emotional core of the book lives in that tension between what Deacon says he wants and what his actions keep revealing.
Genres: romance, contemporary, adult, adult-fiction, contemporary-romance
Vibes: character-driven, emotional, heartfelt, intimate, slow-burn, tender
Tropes: forced-proximity, friends-to-lovers, second-chance-romance, slow-burn
Period: Contemporary
329 pages · Paperback · Penelope Ward