In this tender-hearted novel, a single mom's fixer-upper may also open a new door to love—from the award-winning author of Someone Else's Bucket List.
Zoe Copeland and her daughter Florence need a new start. The only problem is she can’t really afford one. . .
So when Zoe stumbles across a listing for a charming cottage in Maine that is in their price range, she has no choice but to seize the opportunity. The catch? It’s a treasure house—filled to the brim with junk, and being sold as is.
Eleven-year-old Florence, who’s always longed for a room of her own, loves the old house full of cat figurines and other people’s memories, but Zoe is daunted by the mess and the cost of fixing the place up. Her grumpy new neighbor, Jake, thinks she’s crazy for undertaking this task—though that doesn’t stop him from lending a hand, and it’s not long before Zoe starts daydreaming about the handsome handyman.
As the air turns crisp and fall sets in, Zoe becomes increasingly intrigued by the woman who lived there before them. Who was Marly, and how did her beloved home end up in such disrepair? As she digs for more information, Zoe can’t help but draw parallels between herself and Marly . . . but what does it say about her future if she’s still stuck in the past?
This was supposed to be a fresh start, a chance to give Florence the security she never had. But as Zoe uncovers Marly’s secrets and her own past comes crashing into the present, Zoe’s life is quickly becoming even messier than the coastal house she’s renovating. With her heart and her home on the line, can Zoe put all of the broken pieces of her life back together?
