SILENT AFFECTION - BEFORE 30

He thought he had until thirty to figure out his future. He never expected love to change the question.

At twenty-seven, Ryan Hartley has a successful creative company, a close-knit family, and a future that seems almost planned for him. Then one careless promise about getting married before thirty creates expectations he never meant to make.

Rather than correct the misunderstanding, Ryan does what he has always done when things become difficult-he stays quiet and tells himself he can deal with it later.

Alicia Reyes has different priorities. At twenty-five, she works long hours to support her family while saving for the small café she hopes to open one day. Romance is nowhere on her list, especially after a past relationship left her with unanswered questions and trust she is still learning to rebuild.

Then Ryan becomes a familiar face at the café where she works.

At first, he's simply a customer.

Then a familiar face.

Then a friend.

As their friendship grows, Ryan begins noticing the little things about Alicia-the details he remembers, the conversations he looks forward to, and the quiet comfort of having her in his life. Alicia, meanwhile, slowly discovers that trusting someone doesn't mean giving up her independence.

But the past doesn't stay buried forever.

With old relationships resurfacing, family expectations lingering, and feelings neither of them is ready to name, Ryan must confront something he has spent years avoiding: wanting something is not the same as having the courage to say it.

Because sometimes love doesn't arrive all at once.

Sometimes it begins quietly, one ordinary moment at a time.

**SILENT AFFECTION: BEFORE 30**
*Book One of the BEFORE 30 trilogy*