Vivian Storm, the 36-year-old owner of Under the Covers, the bookshop on Main Street, has been quietly in love with the same man since she was fourteen. She's perfectly content living between the pages with her trusted cat, Penelope, curled up beside her while she picks out the next read for her Spice Girls Book Club.
Asher Barrigan, the 45-year-old woodworker and owner of Knotty Pine Custom Carpentry, is one of the original Main Men of Hawthorne Springs. He's the sturdy one, the one everyone else leans on... Until his childhood trauma resurfaces in a very big way.
Confronting your issues is hard, but it brings them together, so they roll with it. Having the girl of his dreams finally in his arms? Things could be worse, for sure. But as old wounds reopen and Asher's carefully guarded heart shatters, a few shocking revelations threaten to undo everything he thought he knew about himself.
As Vivian learns exactly what she's signing up for and Asher fights the voice in his head telling him he's not worth staying for, these two must decide if two decades of quiet longing can survive what life is going to throw at them. Sometimes the bravest thing two people can do is let each other in, even when it's terrifying.