Bea Sawyer is too old to feel this young. At 32 years old, she did everything right and it paid off—so she thought. But the good job and decent apartment go the same way as her seemingly sweet fiancé when she discovers he took the only thing that actually mattered to Bea: her words. With no choice but to return to the small coastal town where she grew up, Bea is forced to reckon with everything she thought she wanted. Making matters worse, Ant, her childhood best friend and the first man to break her heart, has moved home just in time to witness Bea attempting to piece herself together while figuring out what she wants in life. Turns out, despite everything, she might want Ant. Can she have him while reclaiming herself?

Ant, at 34 years old, has everything he ever wanted—except for Bea. He runs a successful research program and might finally be established enough to deserve her. He walked away from her ten years ago, knowing he couldn’t stand in the way of her ambitions. Now, that decision haunts Ant as he tries his best to convince Bea she deserves love, and that he deserves a second chance to be the one to give it to her. Grumpy Bea finds Ant’s cheerful outlook on, well, everything, suspicious and concerning. Meanwhile, Ant takes pride in making Bea show her teeth, stripping back the sticky-sweet insulation Bea wove around her insecurities to make herself more palatable. 

Told in dual point-of-view over the course of a decade, this story will appeal to fans of second-chance romance centered on the individual growth and coupled strength found in Olivia Dade’s SHIP WRECKED and the he-falls-first-and-hard burn of Talia Hibbert’s THE ROOMMATE RISK. The manuscript contains a few open door scenes, which act to enhance—rather than drive—the story. BEES IN THE SMOKE is intended as a stand-alone story in a duology set in the same town and focused on the same friend group.