The Pining Paradox

Six months ago, Hallie Thatcher’s parents sold The Stone’s Throw Inn, where she’s lived and worked for her entire life. Everything is changing around her, and she’s been trying to adjust. Really. Even when it means navigating her new promotion at the inn. Helping to plan her best friend’s wedding to Hallie’s new boss. And now, there’s an interim manager joining the team, ensuring that Hallie can go visit her family over the holidays. What she’s not expecting is to like the new manager, Brynn Fitzpatrick, as much as she does. Nothing about them should click, but they do. And though Brynn’s time in Stoneport is temporary, Hallie can’t help but lean into her unassuming charm, even when it means getting roped into Brynn’s ridiculous plan to start online dating. Or, more dangerously, when it means wondering why, as Hallie tries to start dating, no one compares to Brynn. Brynn Fitzpatrick thinks helping out at The Stone’s Throw Inn is the right next step after a very public failed engagement. It’s a perfect favor to her ex-fiancé’s sister, whom she’s come to consider a friend. And friends have always been in short supply in Brynn’s life. Plus, she’s not ready to settle back in Boston, under the scrutiny of her parents’ overbearing but well-meaning support, in a city that’s never really felt like home. For someone who was supposed to be getting married a few months ago, Brynn’s never really thought a lot about love, but spending so much time with Hallie is making her think about all kinds of things for the first time. And it’s making her want things that she’s never expected to crave. Including Hallie. This friends-to-lovers sapphic romance can be read as a standalone but also features characters introduced in The Love Lie.