Next Door Heartache

Next Door Heartache is a summer romance wrapped in grief, guilt, and the kind of love that refuses to fade even when everything else does.

*****

Hannah Blake returns to her childhood town with one silent goal: survive the summer without falling apart.

But then she sees him.

Adam Carter.
The boy next door.
The boy who kissed her when she was fourteen.
The boy who never said goodbye.

After losing her sister, Hannah wants to disappear. But grief doesn't bargain. And neither does Adam. He's different now. Taller. Louder. A little more broken. But still the only person who's ever known her without needing an explanation.

Suddenly, they're orbiting each other again.
Rooftop silences.
Old swing sets.
Shared playlists that ache like memories.

His friends start calling her by name again.
And for the first time in months.
Hannah feels something that isn't numb.

But Adam's not just a boy from the past.
He's holding something back.
And falling for someone while you're still grieving means, learning how to love with your hands shaking.

As summer burns slowly into fall, the lines between before and after blur.
Secrets unravel.
Time runs out.
And Hannah has to ask herself...

How do you hold on to something
that's already slipping through your hands?

Book One of the Next Door series.

"We accept the love we think we deserve." - The Perks of Being a Wallflower @ Stephen Chbosky

Maybe the bravest kind of love is the kind that stays even when it knows how the story ends.

[[word count: 90,000-100,000 words]]
Cover Note: Artwork not mine. Design, title and all text are original by Lise Niengo. No copyright infringement intended.

#1 quietmoments | 6/7/25