Unexpectedly Bookish

<p><strong>REED</strong></p><p><span>After years in stifling corporate architecture </span><strong>Reed Berry</strong><span> is chasing his dream in Fairwick Falls: </span><strong>opening a cozy bookstore.</strong></p><p><span>His plan? </span><strong>Design a bookstore that</strong><span> </span><strong>sparks wonder</strong><span> to honor his late grandfather.</span></p><p><strong>The hitch? Pearl Bishop-his new assistant and the human embodiment of a Do Not Touch sign.</strong><span> She's all dark eyeliner piercings and attitude sharp enough to cut glass. His sunny can-do attitude has her threatening to throw him out the nearest window.</span></p><p><span>Good thing he has his </span><strong>anonymous late-night confidant-<em>impossibly_bookish</em>-to escape to.</strong></p><p><strong>His steamy secret online crush gets him in ways Pearl never would.</strong></p><p><span> </span></p><p><strong>PEARL</strong></p><p><strong>Pearl Bishop is nobody's idea of a sweet small-town girl.</strong><span> She's all death metal tattoos piercings and black lipstick-a girl who's perfected the art of keeping people at a distance.</span></p><p><em>Especially</em><span> good guys like Reed Berry.</span></p><p><span>He's her </span><strong>brother's best friend her new boss temporary roommate </strong><span>and the poster boy for annoyingly cheerful. But the way he looks at her? Like she's the only woman who exists? </span><strong>It's messing with her carefully crafted armor.</strong></p><p><strong>But Pearl's got bigger problems like scraping together enough cash to you know live? </strong><span>And her ancient neighbor/mortal enemy who is hell-bent on stopping both the bookstore and Pearl's allergen-free bakery dreams with red tape.</span></p><p><strong>The only person who sees past Pearl's sarcasm and ink-stained armor is her online confidant <em>hemingway_cansuckit</em></strong><span>-a guy she's been swapping filthy flirty messages with for months.</span></p><p><strong>The man she's been falling for text by text.</strong></p><p><strong>The man she's agreed to <em>finally</em> meet in person.</strong></p><p><span> </span></p><p><span>Featuring:</span></p><ul><li><span>Black Cat / Golden Retriever (Opposites Attract)</span></li><li><span>Texting + Hidden Identity</span></li><li>Plus size FMC</li><li><span>Virgin MMC</span></li><li><span>Brother's best friend</span></li><li><span>Roommates (Forced Proximity)</span></li><li>Autism Rep</li></ul>