A chance encounter in a Las Vegas emergency room leads to a second chance at love in Synclair’s romance novel.

At 38, Eden Stuart still hasn’t settled down; she’s the only one among her college girlfriends yet to get married and move out to suburbia. When they invite her on a trip to Las Vegas, she jumps at the opportunity to let loose with her old friends. Upon arriving, she’s horrified to learn that their husbands are there, too (“Who ordered the Ken dolls?”). Eden resigns herself to being the eternal fifth wheel, but after several days of indulging her friends, she plans a solo visit to the Vegas Arts District—until she trips and breaks her foot. At the emergency room, Eden’s rotten luck continues when she bumps into none other than Luke Kostoros, her straitlaced, awkward friend from freshman year of college (only now, he’s hot and covered in tattoos). Unable to travel due to her broken foot, Eden is stuck in Vegas until the injury heals, and so she gladly accepts when Luke invites her to stay with him for the next six weeks. Sparks fly as the couple grow closer in this undeniably sexy romance, and Eden wonders if she’s finally ready to put down roots—first, the couple will have to get past everything that’s happened in the intervening 20 years. Told via alternating perspectives, Synclair’s debut offers a fun, intimate second-chance romance between an interracial couple (Eden is Black, Luke is white) that grapples with real-world issues like racism and grief. Eden and Luke are endearingly relatable as they navigate the complexities of their growing relationship, but the secondary characters seem less fleshed-out. While readers may grow frustrated by the repetitive fights rooted in miscommunication and a plot that takes one step forward to take two steps back, they’re sure to root for Eden and Luke in this spicy, emotionally grounded narrative that ultimately delivers a satisfying payoff.

A steamy debut that delivers a fun, if occasionally frustrating, second-chance romance.