*WATTYS SHORTLIST 2024* Mateo has a terrible, awful crush on Maia Jefferies, the painfully beautiful best-selling novelist who lives next door, but he promised himself he'd never fall for the kindness of a woman like her. Not again. He's been down that road and was left looking like a fool with a broken heart for someone who only wanted him for fifteen minutes of fame. But God, Maia's sultry brown eyes, thick thighs and infectious laughter has him breaking that promise when she asks him to be her muse. After a bad break-up with the man she thought was her Prince Charming, Maia's novels have lost their magic, at least to her and now she's struggling to bust out her latest book. However, being around her neighbor, Mateo, seems to be doing the trick to break her writing slump. Desperate to do anything to finish her book on time, she hires him as her muse to keep her ideas flowing. As Maia's ideas flow, she and Mateo realize their feelings for each other are growing into something more than just friendship. But when Maia's ex comes crawling back and Mateo's past rears its head, the two will have to face the feelings they've been trying to ignore or risk losing the love they've been looking for all along.