Rylee Lynch is stuck. Still living in the small Minnesota town she swore she'd leave, she spends her days caring for her younger brother and mourning the literary future her late father dreamed for her. California, graduate school, and the Great American Novel? Not even close.

Then Carson Meyers walks back into her life.

He was the high school golden boy who left her behind without a second glance. Now, he's a single dad with a past full of regrets—and the last person Rylee expects to see across the aisle of her graduate writing class.

When they're paired as critique partners, it's like fate is forcing them to confront the story they never finished. But the real plot twist? A secret agreement to become each other's "side project"—a no-strings, no-feelings, keep-it-casual arrangement they both swear won't lead to heartbreak.

Yet with every late-night writing session and stolen moment, buried secrets begin to surface. Old wounds are reopened. And the story they're telling on paper starts to feel a lot like the one they're living.

Because falling in love was never part of the plan... and neither was the truth that could ruin everything.

Perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Annabel Monaghan, The Side Project is a smart, sexy, and emotionally layered novel about second chances, unfinished stories, and the risk it takes to rewrite your life.

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Trigger Warning: cancer, car accident, parent death/grief, mention (not description of) sexual assault