Burnt out and grieving her grandmother's passing, 29-year-old Lina leaves the city to return to her hometown and her grandmother's closed bakery. With no baking skills and a weary heart, she struggles at first, but the townsfolk who step through her doors soon offer more than support-they give her genuine connection and hope.
Through their warmth, Lina rediscovers a life beyond ambition, learning that sometimes the heart only needs to rest, remember, and be still. And one morning, she pulls a tray from the oven and sees it-the bread has finally turned golden.
Love was nowhere to be found. For her, she'll never find love quite as good as the first time. A kind of love that wasn't questionable to the palate even if it wasn't hers to begin with-nothing would ever compare.
For him, love can only happen once. A heart that stopped beating is as good as dead. If he couldn't make it right the first time, there's no sense trying for a second. Because no one and nothing would ever come close to how good he once had it.
And yet, a universal truth pulls them together, a magnetic force so strong they couldn't fight it no matter how hard they try. Because somewhere between here and now, love has favored their side. Perhaps they were looking at the wrong places when love was always near.
Nearly Theirs - a novel
Ongoing (2025).
Book Cover art by: kathanikath (on X/Twitter)