
Ratings link to their original sources; spice is sourced from romance.io, Hotlist readers, or clearly marked estimates.
Save this to your reading shelf and teach Hotlist what your kind of hot looks like.
Before reading
After reading
Trying to decide?
Save this book to a Hotlist to weigh ratings, spice, tropes, and reader reactions next to your other contenders.
Your Hotlist lens
Build your lens once, then Hotlist can judge whether books like this are your kind of hot.
Build your Hotlist lens📖 20k+ readers on Goodreads
Bailey Flanigan's dreams are finally within reach—she's landed an audition for a Broadway musical ensemble and has the chance to make it big in New York City. But leaving Bloomington means saying goodbye to everything familiar, including the man she loves, Cody Coleman, whose sudden distance has her questioning whether their relationship can survive the miles between them. As Bailey chases her big-city adventure and Cody takes a coaching job closer to his struggling mother, both discover that sometimes the greatest test of love isn't about holding on—it's about deciding what you're willing to risk for happiness. This first book in the Bailey Flanigan series beautifully explores the bittersweet reality of following your dreams while navigating the pull of the people you love most.
Reading soundtrack
Soft acoustic guitar, gentle indie folk, and tender pop ballads about distance, longing, and holding on. Think Bon Iver, The Lumineers, and City and Colour—wistful melodies that capture the ache of choosing dreams while missing home. Sweet, hopeful, bittersweet.
Alternate vibes
Reviews - Leaving - The StoryGraph
Couple is Divorced/Separated and rekindle their romance years later
Book Review: Leaving (Bailey Flanigan #1) by Karen Kingsbury
'Leaving': Book One in Karen Kingsbury's New Adult Romance
Get this book