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Build your Hotlist lens💬 Mentioned in 10+ Reddit threads
📖 160k+ Goodreads ratings
📚 Book 1 of a completed 2-book series
When Hallie gets hired to garden at the sprawling Vos estate, she's secretly thrilled to finally reconnect with Julian, the brooding professor who's returned to their small town—the same guy she's had a crush on since she was fourteen. But the grumpy, buttoned-up version of Julian is nothing like the boy she remembers, and their clashing personalities spark fireworks at every turn. Then one wine-fueled night changes everything: Hallie drunkenly leaves him an anonymous admirer letter, and suddenly she's watching from the sidelines as Julian becomes intrigued by this mysterious woman from his past—not realizing it's her. As Julian and Hallie navigate stolen glances, witty banter, and the undeniable chemistry sizzling between them, this starchy professor discovers that maybe his opposite really does attract, and that sometimes the person who drives you crazy is exactly who you need.
Reading soundtrack
Indie pop and folk-tinged romance with witty banter energy—think boygenius, Phoebe Bridgers, and The Lumineers. Mix in sultry indie R&B moments, acoustic vulnerability, and those butterflies-in-stomach indie tracks. Layered with small-town charm and slow-burn tension that builds into genuine heat.
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