[2025 Wattys Shortlist]
After getting cut off by her wealthy, business-obsessed parents, Emily Grayson finds herself broke, stranded in a small town, and working at a boba café, something she never imagined in her wildest dreams. Her first days on the job are a disaster, her patience (and Jake Sherlind's) running thinner than the tapioca pearls she keeps burning.
Jake, the charming yet hardworking guy with big dreams, has no patience for entitled rich girls who don't know how to hold a job. But when Emily starts proving him wrong, their tension brews into something neither of them expected.
Between spilled drinks, late-night confessions, and an orange stray cat that won't leave the back door, Emily begins to wonder... maybe losing everything was exactly what she needed to find herself.
A small-town rom-com about growth, second chances, and love that's better steeped with time.
(Final Edits underway. Chapters and some of the story will be changing!)
Emma Walker was the new girl in a small town. She was shy, small, and had no interest in making friends. After a difficult time at her last school she just wanted to keep to herself and finish out school, but in a school not used to new people that never work out. When she catches the eye of the one guy in the school that could destroy all of her plans completely, everything she thought she wanted changes.
Jake Averitt was a rebel with a complicated history. After spending some time away from school, he comes back to find not much has changed. Except for one thing. A new girl that avoids him at all costs and tries to keep to herself. But he will not accept that. He is determined to get to know this small and private new girl. All while struggling to handle the difficult situation he finds himself in at home.
Word Count: 71,371
Some mature content.