People Pleasing

Nadia Kablukov does not want to go home, and neither does her brother Milo. But when their eldest sibling, Nik, calls in his emergency favor and enlists their help with opening his new brewery, they both head back, dreading the memories of their difficult childhood. For Nadia, this means facing her former next-door neighbor, her once best friend, and first love - Aleks. Nadia knew Aleks was going to be around - he is Nik's business partner, after all - but seeing Aleks standing on her brother's front porch, all handsome and smiley, she realises her feelings for him are not entirely gone. Aleks longs for simpler days, when Nadia was only a stone's throw away and life was less overwhelming. So, when she offers to help him with a project at the brewery, he's eager to accept. Despite the time and distance between them, Nadia and Aleks find themselves falling back into old routines. Aleks is still able to see through Nadia's hardened exterior and she's still able to get him out of his ruminating thoughts like no one else can. As feelings resurface and grow to an unmanageable point, they're faced with reality: Nadia has never considered moving back home and Aleks has never considered leaving. So giving in to anything more between them will only cause more pain when it's time to say goodbye again, right?

Hannah Bonam-Young is NYT and USA Today bestselling author from Ontario, Canada. She lives with her childhood-friend-turned-husband Ben, two kids, and bulldog near Niagara Falls on the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples.