by Evelyn Skye
First published 2025
Chloe Hanako Quinn whispers a note into her pen pal letter in elementary school, and Oliver Jones hears her voice across the distance. Their friendship grows into something deeper until Oliver and his family vanish without warning. Twenty years later, Chloe works as a high school guidance counselor in New York City. She faces a looming layoff, climbing rent, and crushing loneliness. To lift her spirits, she writes encouraging messages on yellow origami paper and folds them into roses. When one rose accidentally reaches a neighbor who needs comfort, Chloe decides to scatter more roses throughout the city. Oliver has rebuilt his life after the circumstances that forced him to abandon everything as a teenager. He now works as a financial analyst, but his past still troubles him. When yellow origami roses begin appearing across New York, one particular rose reaches Oliver and transforms his world. The story explores whether a single act of kindness can redirect the course of a life.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, contemporary, contemporary-romance
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, second-chance-romance
Setting: New York City, New York
Period: 20 years later, Elementary School
256 pages · Kindle Edition · Atria/Emily Bestler Books