What’s more, Henry never falls into the easy trap of vilifying either small towns or big cities, allowing her characters the room to follow their dreams, wherever they lead. High-maintenance, high-strung Nora shows that uptight, goal-oriented women deserve romance, too, and Charlie is a perfect grumpy hero with a secret soft side. Can Nora get her happily-ever-after even if she doesn’t want to ride off into the small-town sunset with a lumberjack? As in People We Meet on Vacation (2021), Henry creates a warm, sparkling romance brimming with laugh-out-loud banter, lovable characters, and tons of sexual tension. But Nora’s also concerned about her relationship with Libby-they’ve been close all their lives, but now something seems off. As Nora and Charlie get to know each other, she learns that there may be more to him than she suspected. He and Nora met years before when he brusquely rejected one of her books, and now he’s here in Sunshine Falls for some reason, terrorizing her by having the nerve to be both good-looking and funny. But there’s one brooding, annoying wrench in her plans: editor Charlie Lastra. Trying to make her sister happy, Nora throws herself into Libby’s checklist of classic small-town experiences. When Libby suggests they take a girls’ trip to Sunshine Falls, a picture-perfect North Carolina town, Nora agrees.

But Nora has no interest in slowing down-she embraces the hustle of her life, enjoying the city and spending her time either negotiating for her clients or helping her pregnant sister, Libby. With her Peloton obsession, high-powered job at a literary agency, and expensive shoes, she’s the villainous girlfriend who gets dumped when the hero realizes he really wants to leave New York City and embrace the simple life in a small town. She’s not sweet or unassuming, and she definitely doesn’t own a Christmas tree farm or a quaint B&B. Nora Stephens knows she isn’t anything like the heroines in small-town love stories.

A cutthroat literary agent finds herself stuck in a small town with the grumpy editor she despises.

Charlie lastra