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The Author Next Door
She constructs perfect crimes. He writes perfect love stories. But the truth is something lost in the coffee grounds.
Bestselling mystery author Vivienne Sterling catalogs the world in the sharp angle of a liar's jaw, the cold draft of an empty room, the bitter tang of an unsolved puzzle. She knows how to decode anything—except the infuriatingly quiet man who edits textbooks at her favorite Green Arbor café.
But when a spilled coffee reveals the manuscript he’s hiding, Viv unearths a secret that doesn't fit into any of her case files. The alluring stranger is actually "Evelyn Rose"—the most celebrated romance author in the country.
Ethan Hayes has spent years retreating behind a female pen name, wrapping himself in fictional happily-ever-afters to escape the ghosts of his own past. His reality is carefully, safely constructed. But when his world collides with a too-perceptive mystery writer, he is forced to face the one thing he fears more than the being truly seen.
There is something about the bruised light of the city afternoons that changes when they are together.
As their professional boundaries blur and their personal walls begin to crumble, Viv and Ethan find themselves processing an emotion neither has successfully mapped into an outline. They must decide if protecting the cold architecture of their solitary lives is worth losing the terrifying, unscripted reality of each other.
Sometimes, the best love stories aren't the ones we publish. They're the ones we live.
Find your next favorite escape. Read The Author Next Door—a contemporary opposites-attract romance filled with atmosphere and heart.
Bestselling mystery author Vivienne Sterling catalogs the world in the sharp angle of a liar's jaw, the cold draft of an empty room, the bitter tang of an unsolved puzzle. She knows how to decode anything—except the infuriatingly quiet man who edits textbooks at her favorite Green Arbor café.
But when a spilled coffee reveals the manuscript he’s hiding, Viv unearths a secret that doesn't fit into any of her case files. The alluring stranger is actually "Evelyn Rose"—the most celebrated romance author in the country.
Ethan Hayes has spent years retreating behind a female pen name, wrapping himself in fictional happily-ever-afters to escape the ghosts of his own past. His reality is carefully, safely constructed. But when his world collides with a too-perceptive mystery writer, he is forced to face the one thing he fears more than the being truly seen.
There is something about the bruised light of the city afternoons that changes when they are together.
As their professional boundaries blur and their personal walls begin to crumble, Viv and Ethan find themselves processing an emotion neither has successfully mapped into an outline. They must decide if protecting the cold architecture of their solitary lives is worth losing the terrifying, unscripted reality of each other.
Sometimes, the best love stories aren't the ones we publish. They're the ones we live.
Find your next favorite escape. Read The Author Next Door—a contemporary opposites-attract romance filled with atmosphere and heart.
181 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 16, 2025
24 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 29, 2025
Did AI Write this?
Oh. My god. Entire sections repeated themselves. People got upset for literally no reason. It's like AI wrote it, but no one read through it before publishing. It should have ended at the halfway mark. This thing is bloated with redundancy and could be reduced by a third from that alone.
Oh. My god. Entire sections repeated themselves. People got upset for literally no reason. It's like AI wrote it, but no one read through it before publishing. It should have ended at the halfway mark. This thing is bloated with redundancy and could be reduced by a third from that alone.
May 29, 2025
I really did not enjoy this one. It was very repetitive and slow. I didn’t feel like I fully understood what was happening a lot of the time and the comparisons of real life to novels got very boring after a while.
May 27, 2025
This was a sweet story of Viv and Ethan reminds me of the one i read before this but swapped. Ethan has a severe anxiety and hates speaking to large groups of people. While Viv is supportive one taking care of Ethan
PG book that anyone can read as it goes no further than hand holding!
- standalone
though I would have hoped that there was a bit more on why he was just up and ready to uproot his entire life because of the media.
Which i guess would make sense but it felt more of a trauma experience that was never explained.
Still i believe it was a cute story and would say anyone wanting a sweet standalone work romance novel that will DEFINITELY make you chuckle this is it.
PG book that anyone can read as it goes no further than hand holding!
- standalone
though I would have hoped that there was a bit more on why he was just up and ready to uproot his entire life because of the media.
Which i guess would make sense but it felt more of a trauma experience that was never explained.
Still i believe it was a cute story and would say anyone wanting a sweet standalone work romance novel that will DEFINITELY make you chuckle this is it.
May 6, 2025
Mystery Writer Blends With Romance Writer
This was a cute story. Despite the cliches and metaphors and repetitive phrases, it took twists and turns unexpected. Kept me reading.
This was a cute story. Despite the cliches and metaphors and repetitive phrases, it took twists and turns unexpected. Kept me reading.
May 29, 2025
Cute!
A very cute read. Has some surprising twists in it. A fun, clean, modern romance that you will want to add to your collection.
A very cute read. Has some surprising twists in it. A fun, clean, modern romance that you will want to add to your collection.
October 11, 2025
At first this story seemed really sweet. But I kept thinking to myself, didn’t I just read this? I thought that several times throughout the book. The specific details catalogued about the characters also repeated themselves.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews