6 stars ⭐️ This is the most sincere I’ve ever been probably: no author makes me feel like Cara Bastone does. I feel warm and safe in her stories and I'm constantly smiling even when it hurts because the way she writes is so interesting and real it makes my heart explode. It’s conversational and always funny and still cuts me wide open. I’m also crying my eyes out with a smile on my face.

I love Roz and Vin (and ofc Raff) so much. I really took my time savouring this story, having to put it down often because it was impossible to read while my chest was glowing with emotion or whatever the ecstasy of finding a 6 star book does to your body. There. are. no. words. I needed this book, the quotes about art and life, the big strong devoted MMC, the patchwork of amazing side characters. AND THE SHEP AND ETHAN CAMEO???? CARA. I threw my kindle. I hope you’re already writing another book because I need it like oxygen. Thank you so much for the ARC 💛

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

This is, without question, Cara Bastone’s most breathtaking novel yet—a literary gem that shattered my heart and gently pieced it back together.

Roz and Vin, once inseparable, have spent the past year navigating the silent aftershocks of a traumatic accident. The weight of unspoken trauma has pulled their marriage to its breaking point. Vin has even signed a lease for a new place, while Roz is left gasping for air, wondering how love that once felt so sure slipped through their fingers.

What unfolds is a tender, deeply romantic exploration of how easily two people can lose each other—not through lack of love, but through pain left unshared. It’s a story about rediscovery, about finding your way back to the person you adore, and finding yourself again after tragedy reshapes your world.

When Roz stumbles upon a still-life art class, a small, flickering spark returns to her. And in the quiet way only he can, Vin offers himself as her life model—an act of vulnerability and devotion that becomes the first stroke in the portrait of their healing. Artist and muse, husband and wife, they begin to reassemble what was broken.

This book is rich with emotion, beautifully crafted moments, and scenes that ache in the best possible way.

Vin is an absolute sweetheart; I adored every single chapter told from his POV.

And Cara Bastone absolutely owes Ethan his own story—and his well-deserved happily-ever-after!