Cara Bastone

Can love draw them together . . . again? Roz and Vin can't look each other in the eyes anymore, let alone share a bed. It's been a year since they survived a traumatic car accident and their marriage hasn't been the same. But Roz has held out hope that they can fix things . . . until she discovers that Vin has signed a new lease. So she does what any soon-to-be-divorced Manhattanite would do: she signs up for figure drawing class. Ignoring Vin's impending move-out date would be a lot easier if he wasn't her best-friends brother - and if he hadn't just offered to let her draw him. After all, that's known to make a separation easier, right? Focus on every detail of your estranged spouse's body while drawing them in the nude? But after the year they've spent avoiding each other, it feels good to see and be seen by one another again. As Roz works to capture the wholeness of the person she fell in love with, will they both be able to draw upon the feelings they buried deep inside to finally heal together?

It's officially booty o'clock, I'm alone again in my kitchen choking down a slice of terrible chocolate cake...and I'm pretty sure I just got drunk texted by the man I have a ginormous crush on. I've been daydreaming about Eliot Hoffman's dimples for two months, and even though I'm sure this was a mistake on his end, it doesn't mean it's not an opportunity on mine. It's the middle of the night, and I just wanna talk to him. So I text him back. And then somehow we keep talking . . . ALL NIGHT. We're both insomniacs, so talking all night soon turns into talking EVERY night. And talking about nothing soon turns into talking about something. And here we go from in-depth analysis of reality TV to my relationship with my family, to his amazing artwork. There's no topic we don't cover . . . Except for who I really am. It's the only question of his I won't answer. As my crush turns into an avalanche of Eliot, I think of him all the time now. But if he knew who I was, the entire house of cards we've built this relationship on would come toppling down. I want him to be mine, but we might never be more than just a sweet dream . . .

I have exactly 5 hours and 10 minutes to get from Boston to New York City or the professional opportunity of a lifetime disappears. My only travel option? The second to last seat on a discount bus. Across from the bathroom. Wearing last night's clothes (don't ask). All worth it if I can make it in time. My nerves almost get the best of me, but then there he is, sitting down in the seat next to me. Tall. Friendly smile. Bright indigo streak in his brown hair. The perfect distraction. Turns out he's on his way to reconnect with an old flame. The one that got away. We can both make it on time - just barely - if the traffic keeps flowing. Playing road-trip games, avoiding calls from his mother, and effortless conversation keeps us from clockwatching . . . until the bus breaks down. And my seatmate turns into my copilot as we wrangle a ride in a car three decades old. And hit all the traffic. And oh, Lord, the detours. And somehow I end up careening cross-town on the handlebars of a Citi Bike carrying a box of kittens. (Yeah, don't ask.) He's my hero every step of the way . . . and I might be falling for him. But what happens when we reach our final destination? Could my seatmate really be my soulmate?

Paint your toes. Pick up the wrong coffee and bagel order. Drive from Brooklyn to Jersey in traffic so slow you want to tear your hair out. It's amazing all the useless things I can accomplish while on hold for three hours with customer service. Three hours when I should be getting the Date-in-a-Box website ready to launch at the big business expo in a few days. Except my shiny new website is glitching, and my inner rage-monster is ready to scorch some earth...when he finally picks up. Not the robot voice I expected but a real live human named Cal. He's surprisingly helpful and really knows his stuff, even if he's a little awkward...in an adorable way. And suddenly I'm flirting with him? And I think he's flirting back. And suddenly it's been hours, and we're still on the phone talking and ordering each other takeout while he troubleshoots my website. And suddenly we're exchanging numbers and sending texts and DMs every day, leaving voice mails (who even does that anymore?!). And suddenly I'm wondering if it's possible for two people to fall in love at first talk. Because I'm falling...hard.

EGY LÉPÉSRŐL LÉPÉSRE ROMÁNCCÁ ÉRŐ BARÁTSÁG SZÍVMELENGETŐ TÖRTÉNETE. Eve Hatch él-hal a meglepetésekért! Csak vicc: a fiatal nő akkor a leginkább elégedett, ha minden napja az előző szakasztott másaként telik. Szereti az otthonos brooklyni lakását, közel a gyerekkori legjobb barátjához, Willához, és messze a Közép-Nyugaton élő, régi vágású családjától, akik soha nem értették meg igazán. A munkája kényelmes, biztos és jónak mondható, még akkor is, ha a megálmodottal épp csak köszönőviszonyban van. Eve tudja, mit várhat az élettől – mígnem egy tőle szokatlan egyéjszakás kaland a szó szoros értelmében megmásítja ezt az állapotot. Az új helyzet feszültséget teremt Eve és Willa rendíthetetlen barátságában, aztán Willa állhatatos bátyja, Shep lesz az, aki végül Eve segítségére siet. A férfi mindig is kedvesen viszonyult hozzá, most azonban ebédrendeléssel lepi meg, meghallgatja valamennyi panaszát, és egyszeriben olyan szívdöglesztővé válik… Aztán meg ott van a baba apja is, aki (szigorúan véve) támogatónak, mégis (többnyire inkább) ellentmondásosnak hat. Talán csak a felfokozott hormontermelés az oka, vagy talán a pólók, amik Shep vállán mindig annyira feszesnek tűnnek – akárhogy is, de Eve-ben felébred a kíváncsiság. Nem szeretett volna titokban mindig is többet kihozni az életéből? Minden téren?