Misty Hawkins doesn't want to be a black cat. But getting lost in the lives of dead poets has always been easier than managing her own. A passionate historic preservationist, her work decrees that every story is worth saving, from centuries-old love letters to postcards from bygone jazz singers. After catching her fiancé in bed with her best friend, however, she wants nothing more than for her own sordid tale to be erased from the annals. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity opens up at the North Bend Historical Library and Museum, so she takes the first train out of the city and leaves everything behind.
The picturesque streets and hand-pulled maple candies have Misty believing in fresh starts, until she runs smack into Connor Winstrom. Her first love and soul-crushing heartbreak, who chose the same historic New Hampshire town for his own do-over. The troubled-trust-fund-kid turned stern-and-stormy-mountain-man is everywhere: the coffee shop, the local tavern, even the building she works and lives in. Misty can either walk away from her dream job or make nice with the man who carved her heart up like a pumpkin fifteen years ago. And she's not giving up the job.
But history repeats itself, and falling for Connor is no exception. Despite the bond they shared as angsty teens who didn't fit in with their families and classmates, the pair have finally found belonging in the tree-lined town. Misty and Connor will have to unravel the plot holes of their past and sort through the truth and lies between their different versions of history in order to hold on to a second chance at love, the family they chose, and the only place that's felt like home.
FROM NORTH BEND, WITH LOVE blends a then and now Gilmore Girls and Maxton Hall light academia inspired setting within the niche subculture of historic preservation. Readers seeking Emily Henry's humor, banter, and lyrical prose with the angsty emotional stakes from Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren in the lush and nostalgic autumn market will be at home in North Bend. All of Violet’s work is inclusive and welcoming of all sexual orientations and identities. You are safe here.
*This novel is complete, polished, and seeking representation. While it is a standalone, there are outlines for two additional interconnected standalone novels in the world North Bend.
“There is no limit to what my soul can take. It’s expanding, alive and wild, and always searching for more. More mourning. More hope. More secrets and stories scribbled into lost letters. More strength to hold each other fast against the crashing waves of life we can’t control. More, and more, and more.
‘My heart,’ Emily Dickinson wrote, ‘is full of you.’”
From North Bend, With Love
Content Notes:
This work contains neurodivergence representation including both undiagnosed and diagnosed autism and ADHD, a demisexual FMC, and mental health struggles including but not limited to: Grief, depression, coping with terminal illness and loss of loved ones, and recovering from abusive relationships. The spice is open door.
This novel was written in honor of my aunt, whom we lost to MSA and inspired by the lost letters sent between my grandmother and a WW2 soldier that were discovered in an old shoebox after her passing.
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Haight to Love You
The magic is dying in Haight Ashbury, and no one sees the color fading more clearly than sound engineer Abbey James; daughter of the late folk-rock star Rosie Lee James and music producer Robert James. After the loss of Rosie Lee, Abbey and her dad launched the Rosie Lee James Recording studio in the heart of the Summer of Love headquarters, only to be struck with catastrophe after catastrophe. A global pandemic, the rapid evolution of AI generated art, and the escalation of the tech industry pushing artists and small businesses out of her beloved neighborhood. Only five short years after opening, they are so far in the red there may be no way out of it.
In an act of desperation to keep her mother’s legacy alive, she (drunkenly) emails her life story to Peter Chen; a not-quite-billionaire calling on his fellow one-percenters to eliminate the existence of billionaires by bringing back the age of benefactors and invest in the arts, humanities, and safety nets of local communities instead of trying to erase them.
Despite Peter taking on the recovery of the recording studio pro-bono, the climb to save her family business has never been steeper. Betrayal, family secrets, predatory wolves and ruthless tabloids threaten to pull the rug out from under Abbey at every turn. More unsure than ever of who she can trust, her growing chemistry with Peter threatens to strike a match over a growing powder keg. Especially when his position as her greatest ally or her biggest enemy frequently changes on a dime.
In a timely twist on a billionaire romance, HAIGHT TO LOVE YOU doesn’t shy away from the impact our current state of affairs has on art, the wealth gap, and our fight to keep storytelling and human connection in the hands of actual human beings. It has a modern day Daisy Jones and the Six versus The Social Network vibe, with just a dash of Pride and Prejudice.
*This novel is a work in progress. Check back for updates! While it is a standalone, there are 3-4 interconnect novel ideas in the works for this universe. It is also loosely connected to the world of North Bend through small easter eggs.
“I’ve seen my mother on every major stage you could imagine. I’ve seen her perform with pyrotechnics. With a ten piece band. Surrounded by sandstone and rocky mountains. But I always loved when she was singing in the kitchen and thought no one was listening the most. That’s what I want to capture when I’m working with artists. How I want to shape the sound. Like they’re just… singing in the kitchen.”
Content Notes:
This novel represents a demisexual and autistic MMC. Some content warnings include but are not limited to: mentions of suicide, drug overdose, stalking and social media harassment, loss of loved ones, and sexual harassment. The spice is open door.