A widowed and grieving young novelist believes her words create realities—both tragic and charmed—in a hopeful and surprising novel about family, newfound love, and moving on.

Four years after her husband Sam’s tragic death mirrored a fatal plotline in her debut novel, Thea Packer hasn’t written another word, afraid that what she writes could come true again. Resigned to raising her young daughter in her in-laws’ guesthouse, Thea is on the verge of abandoning her literary career when inspiration strikes.

Her new book is a fairy-tale romance featuring a long-lost astronaut who miraculously returns home to his family, with the hero loosely drawn from Thea’s memories of Sam. Thea considers the fantasy a harmless way to process her grief.

That is, until a charismatic man walks into her life—and he’s an astronaut.

Thea can’t believe it’s happening again. Or is it? Her mother-in-law doesn’t think so—she sees only a woman increasingly detached from reality. Now, as coincidences between Thea’s writing and reality pile up, Thea must unravel the secrets of her past and tackle her grief head-on before she loses more than she imagined.

Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman have been great friends for more than twenty-five years. Their debut novel, Girls with Bright Futures, was a suspenseful journey into the cutthroat world of college admissions that earned starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal, was named a Book Club Winner by Real Simple, and was selected as an Apple Best Book. Tracy holds an undergraduate degree from Princeton University and a JD from UC Berkeley and worked in biotechnology law and nonprofit leadership. Wendy was a nationally ranked youth tennis player and went on to play at the University of Michigan, where she earned her undergraduate degree before pursuing a career in medical marketing. Tracy and Wendy both live in Seattle with their husbands. They enjoy sports, reading (obviously), civic engagement, and spending time with their amazing families and friends. You can often find them together brainstorming and walking their dogs, Shadow and Josie. Connect with Tracy and Wendy on Instagram at @katzndobs.