People Like Us

Ronnie Thuney has spent the last six years perfecting the art of being invisible.

As a brilliant but completely overlooked data analyst on the twelfth floor of the Mercer Building, he believes his only value is his utility. To survive the crushing silence of his meticulously organized, lonely life, Ronnie fixates on Klaire-the sharp, formidable, entirely unattainable executive across the aisle who he secretly believes is the only person who can fix him.

But you can't logic someone into loving you, and you can't put self-worth into a spreadsheet.

When the architecture of Ronnie's carefully managed life violently collapses under the weight of corporate burnout and an unrequited confession, he realizes he isn't just broken-he's fading away entirely.

Enter Ella.

With her messy red canvas sneakers, her chaotic, warm apartment, and a fierce, unapologetic demand for honesty, Ella refuses to let Ronnie be a ghost. While he was busy looking across the aisle for salvation, she was the one noticing his pain. She doesn't want the perfect, efficient machine he tries to be; she just wants him to finally wake up and live.

People Like Us is a deeply emotional, slow-burn story about dismantling the walls we build to protect ourselves. It's a novel about the terrifying difference between surviving and occupying space, the profound gravity of true friendships, and learning how to be loved in the loud, messy, beautiful chaos of reality.