by Erin Somers
First published 2025
Cora attends baby group in her small town and meets Sam. The chemistry hits immediately. Both are married with two children. Neither considers themselves the cheating type. Their connection deepens as their lives intersect more frequently. The romantic pull between them grows until it consumes their thoughts. Then reality fractures into parallel timelines. In one timeline, they act on their desires. In the other, they hold back. As the timelines unfold, Cora navigates her mundane marketing career, her daughter's newfound interest in death, and her husband's podcast obsession with rope history. The split reality forces her to examine what she truly wants from life and whether fantasies should remain fantasies.
Genres: literary-fiction, speculative-fiction, contemporary, adult, adult-fiction
Vibes: emotionally-complex, intimate, introspective, surreal, thought-provoking
Tropes: dual-timelines, forbidden-attraction, split-reality, what-if-scenario
Setting: small town
304 pages · Paperback · Simon & Schuster
Content warnings: death