WINNER of the 2025 Bronze IPPY Award in Romance
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SOMETIMES LOVE IS WRITTEN IN THE STARS. SOMETIMES THE UNIVERSE HAS OTHER PLANS.
Sunny and Dex have been best friends since childhood. But beneath their picture-perfect exteriors lie secrets that could tear them apart—or bring them closer than ever.
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A lifelong people-pleaser, SUNNY can’t tell her demanding mother that she dreams of writing romance novels instead of going to law school. Only Dex knows all her secrets—except that she’s been madly in love with him for years. But her mother doesn’t approve of Dex, and loving him might cost Sunny the only family she's ever known. Plus, what if he doesn’t feel the same?
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OLIVER “Dex” Dexter has it all: looks, talent, and charm. A gifted actor, he’s destined for stardom. Yet behind his dazzling façade, anxiety threatens to unravel everything. Only with Sunny can he truly be himself—but will she still want him if she discovers the truth?
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As their feelings intensify and boundaries blur, Sunny and Dex find themselves caught between the expectations of others and their deepest desires. Will their love be strong enough to withstand the pressure? Or will the masks they wear become the very things that drive them apart?
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LOVE IS SCARY WHEN YOU'RE HELLBENT ON OUTRUNNING YOUR PAST...
Jenna Andersen is the type of woman you might feel threatened by—if you didn’t know all her secrets. She’s gorgeous, charismatic, and a successful entrepreneur. But her polished exterior hides a lifetime of self-doubt. Jenna’s haunted by dyslexia she’s been told makes her “less than,” a family that never understood her, and dreams of becoming an artist she buried long ago. As for love, that’s reserved for the characters in her favorite rom-coms. She thought she’d found it once, but she was wrong.
Why face your troubles, though, when you can flee from them? She’s earned the nickname “Runaway Jenna” for a reason. Launching an interior design business in Chicago should be her fresh start, but the success she’s worked so hard for feels superficial. Then a whim leads her back to her love of painting—and into a friendship with warm, insightful Vanessa, who sees Jenna’s true worth. And when sparks fly the moment she locks eyes with her charming new neighbor, Charlie, she wonders whether she’s finally ready to open her heart.
But love demands courage, and Jenna’s spent years avoiding her pain. Faced with a city that feels like home, a career crossroads, and the guy who’s literally the man of her dreams, she must decide: play it safe, or risk everything for the chance at a happy ending.
