The Plus-One Clause

by Alia Smith

A friends-with-benefits, forced proximity romance with undeniable chemistry.

His muse is missing. His manuscript is a mess. And his only hope? The woman who doesn't believe in happily-ever-afters.

Lara Yates fixes love stories for a living—but she stopped believing in them a long time ago. As a sharp-tongued editor, she knows romance follows a formula, and real life rarely delivers the perfect ending.

Bestselling author Rory Keane, on the other hand, has built his career on happily-ever-afters—until he hits a creative wall. With a deadline looming and his book falling apart, he needs help, and Lara is the only one who can whip his manuscript (and him) into shape.

Their deal? She keeps him on track. He makes sure she has a little fun. No emotions, no complications—just late-night brainstorming sessions and strictly professional tension. But as the lines between fiction and reality blur, Lara and Rory are forced to ask themselves: is this just another story… or the start of something real?

A closed door/low-spice romance novella

134 pages, ebook

Published May 23, 2025

About the author

Alia Smith writes heart-warming romantic comedies filled with wit, charm, and just the right amount of chaos. When she's not crafting love stories, she can usually be found curled up with a book, getting emotionally invested in reality TV, or attempting to keep Galaxy—her cat and chief muse—from sitting on her keyboard. She lives in a cosy Oxfordshire home, where she firmly believes that every great romance starts with a good cup of tea.

Reviews

[Nicole ၄၃ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Plus One Clause novella by Alia Smith

I loved this book. Emma being dragged to a gala invited by Ben playing as hi finance to schmooze a CEO just hit me with all the right tropes! Fake dating, grumpy vs sunshine, forced proximity are all faves!

Once the gala is over they are forced to work on a case together. Now tell me nothing will happen. I dare you!!! 😂 Emma is honestly in for it! The banter they share is just too cute and one amazing kiss creates momentum!

The book just jumped straight in and took me the first chapter to realise what was happening.
I did love the storyline though. Worth it for a fun, quick read.

[Lynda Malone · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Plus-One Clause

Wow, this was super sweet. Trying to navigate a "relationship contract" was never going to be easy. Ben and Emma are trying their hardest but feelings will ALWAYS win over logic.

This novella (available through Alia's newsletter) was perfect and a great addition to her books. Great characters, well written with wit and charm. A low spice, romantic escape. Perfect with a warm cuppa and a quiet corner so you can get lost in their world for a few hours.

Well done again Alia.

[Yasmin Mendoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a sweet novella to read 😍 whenever there is a love contract, there is always something that goes wrong, in the best way possible 😉 I loved the fact that Emma and Ben were forced to work together and have to navigate their emotions at the same time 🙂‍↕️ this was a cute love story with one of my favorite tropes of all time, grumpy/sunshine and forced proximity 🔥🤭

Rating: 5/5
Steamy scenes: 🔥🔥🔥

[Nina Smart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very easy to read! I will be reading more by Alia, fast pace and had me routing for them both!l
Lovely short read!

[Nakia · Rating 2 out of 5]

First of all this book being described as spicy is a lie. It’s a fade to black romance—not a problem but it’s definitely not an open door romance. You get some medium heat kisses but that’s it.

Secondly, this novella was kinda boring. I understand it was a novella so storylines wouldn’t be as in depth as a full length novel but I really didn’t care about any of the characters because I didn’t know them. We knew Emma had her walls up but we didn’t know why & we knew Ben was maddeningly stoic & maddeningly handsome (I should have counted how many times maddeningly was used) but that’s it.

And Emma is my least favorite type of FMC pathetic & dickmatized. Not only did she KNOW she wasn’t a casual type of girl & still went along with the plan after they started sleeping together & Ben treated her like shit she continued to sleep with him. She also forgave him way too easy. Like girl stand up!

Finally, where was Emma’s friend during all this? I can’t remember her name but she popped in once outside of initial introduction & I would have rather her just not been a character at all.

[Kylie Anaya · Rating 1 out of 5]

I personally did not enjoy this book. It didn’t grasp my attention or interest at all, I felt it was very cliche and pretty self explanatory. I have high hopes for her next book, but this one just didn’t hit the spot for me

[Erin Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first time reading a romance novella, but I loved the pace of it! And I loved Emma and Ben!

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the dichotomy of Ben and Emma’s personalities. Quick and enjoyable read.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Delightfully short and spicy - a good old-fashioned workplace romance with some fake dating and casual sex sprinkled in.