Publisher: Putnam Books, July 21, 2026

Format: ebook

Pages: 384

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary (From Goodreads):

“I’ll devour anything Ellie Palmer writes.” —Jessica Joyce, USA Today bestselling author of The Ex Vows

A trope-filled delight of a rom com about two strangers who enter into a marriage of convenience that becomes anything but convenient.

For better or worse is just the beginning.

Lainey Davis can’t wait for the day she’ll be able to escape her tiny Wisconsin town. But she’s not even close to covering her health insurance premiums and pricey migraine medication, let alone saving up enough to start over some place new. That is, until Lainey learns that through the archaic legal doctrine of adverse possession, she’s inadvertently squatted her way into owning a marvel of modern architecture.

But Lainey owns only the house. The surrounding property, a lakeside money pit the previous owner used as a front to deal illegal reptiles, has been willed to Elliot Hodges, a D.C. architect who wants to rent out the place to fellow architecture lovers. Their assets are tied together, but neither can move forward without the other.

Desperate, Elliot proposes an unconventional arrangement: marry him for health insurance and in exchange, Lainey will allow him to buy her out. Win-win: Lainey will finally have a way out of town, and he’ll own the house designed by his idol. Married in name only and living together while fixing up the property, Lainey and Elliot find themselves unable to keep their hopes, dreams, or bedsheets from getting entwined. And as their connection grows, Lainey’s no longer sure what’s more terrifying: leaving Elliot behind or letting him in.

My Review:

Thank you Putnam Books for the copy of this book.
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Read if you like: close proximity, fake relationships, marriage of convenience.
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Lainey was struggling to make ends meet and cover the cost of her migraine meds when Elliot comes to town after inheriting his uncles resort. Lainey’s house is on this land, so the two of them butt heads on how to handle the situation. They decide to join forces and get married so that Lainey can use his insurance for her migraine meds and they can figure out how to solve the house situation.
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This was a fun marriage of convenience story and I liked the build up of tension between Lainey and Elliot and I loved how Elliot and I loved how Elliot took care of Lainey. They were cute together.