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Please Wait To Cross
Who says you can’t find love in the middle of a midlife crisis?
At 18, Elizabeth “Bitty” Rhinehart leaves her suburban Boston family home, bound for college in the Midwest. Forty years later, her sister in crisis, Bitty returns and ends up rebooting her own life. She quits her high-pressure CFO job, insists that everyone calls her Beth, and becomes a school crossing guard.
Chief Mike Ponce rises quickly through the ranks of his hometown police department on Cape Cod, but being in charge isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Now in his mid-50s, twice divorced, adrift and dissatisfied, he begins to accept the idea that he'll be alone for the rest of his life.
What happens when two successful people who think they have it all figured out learn that, in fact, they don't?
At 18, Elizabeth “Bitty” Rhinehart leaves her suburban Boston family home, bound for college in the Midwest. Forty years later, her sister in crisis, Bitty returns and ends up rebooting her own life. She quits her high-pressure CFO job, insists that everyone calls her Beth, and becomes a school crossing guard.
Chief Mike Ponce rises quickly through the ranks of his hometown police department on Cape Cod, but being in charge isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Now in his mid-50s, twice divorced, adrift and dissatisfied, he begins to accept the idea that he'll be alone for the rest of his life.
What happens when two successful people who think they have it all figured out learn that, in fact, they don't?
282 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 2, 2025
3 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Elissa Bass
4 books22 followersBass’ characters are lovable, complicated and flawed…which is to say, deeply human. Snappy prose and cleverly crafted plot lines elevate the rom-com tropes, striking the perfect balance between the laugh-out-loud funny and the heart-wrenchingly sad. ... In this heartfelt tribute to love and loss, Bass vividly captures aging, fresh starts, and the sort of ride-or-die friendships everyone wishes they had. Readers looking for a good laugh or cry (or both) in this fizzy page-turner won’t be disappointed. Sizzling, sharp, and hilarious.
~ Kirkus Reviews
“HAPPY HOUR is a sparkling novel with one of the bravest, most fascinating heroines you'll ever meet. Elissa Bass has created indelible characters, psychologically rich and true. She writes with wit and irony, with an open heart, and with the ability to make this poignant story in a seductive seaside setting read like a thriller. I couldn't stop turning the pages, and I'll admit that I was beaming through tears more than once. HAPPY HOUR has just become one of my favorite novels!"
~ Luanne Rice, NYT bestselling author
"Effervescent, poignant and full of hard-won humor, Elissa Bass’s HAPPY HOUR is everything you want from a summer (or fall, winter, spring) read. You’ll finish the last page with the warm glow of a 'happy hour' well spent, but not soon forgotten."
~ Megan Abbott, NYT bestselling author of DARE ME and THE TURNOUT
~ Kirkus Reviews
“HAPPY HOUR is a sparkling novel with one of the bravest, most fascinating heroines you'll ever meet. Elissa Bass has created indelible characters, psychologically rich and true. She writes with wit and irony, with an open heart, and with the ability to make this poignant story in a seductive seaside setting read like a thriller. I couldn't stop turning the pages, and I'll admit that I was beaming through tears more than once. HAPPY HOUR has just become one of my favorite novels!"
~ Luanne Rice, NYT bestselling author
"Effervescent, poignant and full of hard-won humor, Elissa Bass’s HAPPY HOUR is everything you want from a summer (or fall, winter, spring) read. You’ll finish the last page with the warm glow of a 'happy hour' well spent, but not soon forgotten."
~ Megan Abbott, NYT bestselling author of DARE ME and THE TURNOUT
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 16, 2025
Calling all readers of romance! If you love Cape Cod (with a little bit of Mystic thrown in), messy lives, and more than one shot at redemption, Elissa Bass's Please Wait to Cross is just what you're looking for. Caution: it's not all flowers and champagne, although the characters do love a cocktail.
September 27, 2025
Who says romance is only for the young? When “Bitty” and Mike, both in their 50s, cross paths, a spark ignites. A little battered by life (aren’t we all?), they discover comfort in each other’s company. And really—how could they not be drawn together when she’s doing yoga in public and he’s sporting a butt that just won’t quit?
Elissa Bass takes us through the full range of emotions with Beth and Mike. I felt wrung out (in the best way) after turning the final page. Fans of Happy Hour will be delighted to return for a visit with KK and Jay, while also falling for her older sister and the town’s police chief.
Elissa Bass takes us through the full range of emotions with Beth and Mike. I felt wrung out (in the best way) after turning the final page. Fans of Happy Hour will be delighted to return for a visit with KK and Jay, while also falling for her older sister and the town’s police chief.
October 26, 2025
I don’t usually write reviews, but for those of you who like later-in-life romances, Please Wait to Cross isn’t your typical one. The characters feel so real — they’ve been through a few rodeos, they’re a little gun-shy about love, and they’ve got plenty of life stuff getting in the way of their emotions.
What I loved is that something big happens that shifts the story away from the romance for a bit — but in the best way. It ends up pulling the characters closer, because honestly, when life gets messy, we need our people.
And can we just take a moment for the old dog- Remy? Such a perfect, quiet metaphor for love, loyalty, and growing older. Elissa Bass totally nails it.
What I loved is that something big happens that shifts the story away from the romance for a bit — but in the best way. It ends up pulling the characters closer, because honestly, when life gets messy, we need our people.
And can we just take a moment for the old dog- Remy? Such a perfect, quiet metaphor for love, loyalty, and growing older. Elissa Bass totally nails it.
September 30, 2025
HEADLINE: No Sophomore Slump for Bass
Please Wait to Cross, author/friend/former newspaper colleague Elissa Bass’ second novel, is a perfect sequel to her debut Happy Hour. As a non-reader of Romance genre fiction I cannot actually authoritatively comment on the status of this novel within the genre. It is well-established by Elissa’s comments, that she used a formula from the genre to create the framework through which the relationship of her protagonists progresses, but what she builds upon that framework is NOT a conventional romance novel, and so unconventional in that as to render categorization problematic at best. I imagine the book store needs a category to make shelving decisions. I also imagine many romance readers will be shocked and dismayed as they find themselves deeply emotionally affected by the story of a part-time school crossing guard and a tourist town police chief, both in the midst of their own “mid-life” crisis and navigating their own emotional baggage like a dysfunctional airport with your vacation suitcase. Elissa takes decades of journalism experience, mixes in her personal influences, adds that dash of romance novel spice, and sends the reader down a winding, treacherous coastal highway in the dead of night, to emerge at the end completely engaged in the “ives” of these fictional characters brought to life on the page. While the book is a direct sequel, chronologically, to Happy Hour, we get to know two new protagonists, one we met briefly and superficially in the first novel, KK’s sister Beth (or Bitty) and the town’s police chief Mike Ponce. The events of Happy Hour influence the setting for this story, and the main characters of that novel are integral to advancing this story, but the knowledge of them that would come from reading Happy Hour is not necessary to enjoy this book (though, given the quality of the novel in question, still highly recommended anyway). I’m not going to recap the story any more than I have. I’m not going to spend much time with any quibbles I might have, except to say that the emotional beating the readers takes from the two main traumatic events of the story does feel like a bit much even if it’s necessary to advance the emotional development of the story and Beth and Mike’s relationship. If you enjoyed Happy Hour it’s possible you may enjoy Please Wait to Cross as much or more, with correlating degrees of response (ie. if you LOVED Happy Hour, you may LOVE this as much or more, etc.), and there is only one way to find out for sure. Run to your favorite local bookstore and buy it! To be clear, the only reason to purchase this book from that massive online retailer is to have the opportunity to post your review on that site, otherwise, go local! Rumor has it Elissa is planning on revisiting this world in future novels, which character she will turn to next remains to be seen. She tells us she waits for them to speak to her. I counsel patience, resist the urge to tell her which way to go. I have no doubt the next story will be a winner regardless!
Please Wait to Cross, author/friend/former newspaper colleague Elissa Bass’ second novel, is a perfect sequel to her debut Happy Hour. As a non-reader of Romance genre fiction I cannot actually authoritatively comment on the status of this novel within the genre. It is well-established by Elissa’s comments, that she used a formula from the genre to create the framework through which the relationship of her protagonists progresses, but what she builds upon that framework is NOT a conventional romance novel, and so unconventional in that as to render categorization problematic at best. I imagine the book store needs a category to make shelving decisions. I also imagine many romance readers will be shocked and dismayed as they find themselves deeply emotionally affected by the story of a part-time school crossing guard and a tourist town police chief, both in the midst of their own “mid-life” crisis and navigating their own emotional baggage like a dysfunctional airport with your vacation suitcase. Elissa takes decades of journalism experience, mixes in her personal influences, adds that dash of romance novel spice, and sends the reader down a winding, treacherous coastal highway in the dead of night, to emerge at the end completely engaged in the “ives” of these fictional characters brought to life on the page. While the book is a direct sequel, chronologically, to Happy Hour, we get to know two new protagonists, one we met briefly and superficially in the first novel, KK’s sister Beth (or Bitty) and the town’s police chief Mike Ponce. The events of Happy Hour influence the setting for this story, and the main characters of that novel are integral to advancing this story, but the knowledge of them that would come from reading Happy Hour is not necessary to enjoy this book (though, given the quality of the novel in question, still highly recommended anyway). I’m not going to recap the story any more than I have. I’m not going to spend much time with any quibbles I might have, except to say that the emotional beating the readers takes from the two main traumatic events of the story does feel like a bit much even if it’s necessary to advance the emotional development of the story and Beth and Mike’s relationship. If you enjoyed Happy Hour it’s possible you may enjoy Please Wait to Cross as much or more, with correlating degrees of response (ie. if you LOVED Happy Hour, you may LOVE this as much or more, etc.), and there is only one way to find out for sure. Run to your favorite local bookstore and buy it! To be clear, the only reason to purchase this book from that massive online retailer is to have the opportunity to post your review on that site, otherwise, go local! Rumor has it Elissa is planning on revisiting this world in future novels, which character she will turn to next remains to be seen. She tells us she waits for them to speak to her. I counsel patience, resist the urge to tell her which way to go. I have no doubt the next story will be a winner regardless!
October 18, 2025
This book is an emotional rollercoaster of a ride, relatable and frustrating and wonderful. Recommend!!!
October 13, 2025
The story of Bitty and Mike kept me company on blustery Sunday night. This romance managed to touch on some current heavy topics without feeling cheesy or cliche. One of those books you couldn’t put down until you finished, even if it means staying up a little too late.
September 29, 2025
Amazing and devastating. I still am reeling from being an early access reader! I loved this book!
November 24, 2025
Please Wait To Cross is a heartfelt, witty, and refreshingly honest exploration of love, reinvention, and second chances later in life. At its core are Elizabeth “Bitty” Rhinehart, who returns home after forty years to reboot her life, and Chief Mike Ponce, a seasoned police officer coming to terms with unfulfilled dreams and personal dissatisfaction.
Bass excels at portraying nuanced, relatable characters whose journeys feel both authentic and deeply human. Bitty’s transformation leaving behind a high-pressure career, embracing her new identity as Beth, and taking on the unglamorous but meaningful role of a school crossing guard is inspiring and relatable. Mike’s midlife reflection and gradual openness to love create a warm, tender counterpoint, giving the story a rich emotional balance.
Please Wait To Cross is perfect for readers who enjoy contemporary romance, character-driven stories, and narratives about personal growth and rediscovery. With humor, heart, and emotional insight, it explores the idea that it’s never too late to find love or embrace change.
Bass excels at portraying nuanced, relatable characters whose journeys feel both authentic and deeply human. Bitty’s transformation leaving behind a high-pressure career, embracing her new identity as Beth, and taking on the unglamorous but meaningful role of a school crossing guard is inspiring and relatable. Mike’s midlife reflection and gradual openness to love create a warm, tender counterpoint, giving the story a rich emotional balance.
Please Wait To Cross is perfect for readers who enjoy contemporary romance, character-driven stories, and narratives about personal growth and rediscovery. With humor, heart, and emotional insight, it explores the idea that it’s never too late to find love or embrace change.
November 20, 2025
Another amazing romantic adventure on Cape Cod! Who knew crossing guards and cops could be such fun?
Elissa captures the ride of emotions of love, loss and hope in a family and community.
I can hardly wait for the next edition of Rhinehart family antics!
Elissa captures the ride of emotions of love, loss and hope in a family and community.
I can hardly wait for the next edition of Rhinehart family antics!
December 5, 2025
Margaret Milnes was by far my favorite character!
September 28, 2025
This book is far more than a romance novel, which is good, because that's not really my thing. But I loved this story of two people in their 50s finding each other as they struggle with the choices they have made. Bitty is a hugely successful former CEO who stepped away from the rat race and found joy in being a school crossing guard who helps kids get into college and leads yoga and dance moves as they wait for the light to change. Mike is a grizzled police chief who has seen it all. Together and apart they try to sum up the life they have, the life they want, and wonder if they can make it together. The story is nuanced and expresses both universal truth and complicated love in a plot that moves forward to the last sentence. The author, Elissa Bass, is a masterful writer of vast talent; I look forward to anything she writes, but I hope it is another book.
September 21, 2025
i absolutely loved this book- made me laugh, made me cry, made me text Elissa and yell at her for making me cry. Loved all the characters and wished they were my friends.
Highly recommend!
Highly recommend!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews