THE ART OF LOVING YOU

Former lovers embark on a bucket-list road trip to honor their late mentor’s memory, reigniting their own connection in the process.

Dani Jenkins made a name for herself after pivoting from model to influencer, but creating the videos that made her an online it girl doesn’t hold her interest the way it used to. When Tanya Holden, her longtime mentor, dies, having kept her cancer a secret, it’s a shock for Dani—and it brings her face to face with the man who broke her heart years ago. Micah Wright is a talented artist who credits Tanya with steering him away from a criminal path; he’s nursing his own regrets for how things ended with Dani the first time around. A meeting with Tanya’s attorney reveals her dying wish for Dani and Micah: To complete a scavenger hunt that will take them through her past. Traveling all over the country is the last thing either Dani or Micah wants to be doing, but they’re willing to honor Tanya’s memory through a surprisingly illuminating road trip—and, despite the risk of aggravating old wounds, find themselves warming to the possibility of picking up where they once left off. Bishop’s latest expands on characters previously introduced in supporting roles in Only for the Week (2024); it was clear then that Dani and Micah had a complicated history. Unlike Janelle and Rome’s lust-to-love trajectory in that first installment, Dani and Micah have an undeniable slow burn, with Dani reluctant to lower the walls she’s built around her heart and Micah endearingly cautious in his attempts to win her back. While the lingering angst from their shared past would have been better served through more flashbacks to that period, and the road-trip conceit introduces a revolving door of characters who occasionally distract from the irresistible love story, the book’s most tender moments evince Bishop’s strengths as a writer.

A deep examination of grief, love, and the power of art.