Almost Us: A Spicy Second-Chance Romance with Childhood Friends and a Kiss He Never Forgot

by Brooke Hartwell

At eighteen, Nora Larkin kissed her best friend goodbye while he slept and left before dawn. She has spent ten years building a life without Gray Vance. But the only roses that can put her tea in forty-two stores grow on his family's land, and the boy she left behind is gone. The man who replaced him is calm, controlled, and very good at getting what he wants. What he wants is Nora back in his life.

Ten years haven't cured Nora of wanting him. Gray makes his way into her business and her days, and he doesn't let her run. The heat between them is instant. Gray takes her into his his apartment, his bed, his grandmother's necklace. He takes care of her with the same precision he uses to control everything else, and Nora starts to believe that this time, she is his choice.

He gives her everything she asks for.

He never tells her why.

And by the time Nora finds out what he's been waiting for, it may already be too late to walk away.

Almost Us is a spicy, angsty second-chance romance about childhood friends, a goodbye neither of them got over, and a grovel he'll have to earn. Complete standalone. No cliffhanger. Guaranteed HEA.

414 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 30, 2026

About the author

Most of my best lines come from standing in line at the grocery store, listening to strangers. I have also personally typed out a very honest message and then deleted it, so I know what I'm doing.