Architect Nadia Torres has survived everything life has thrown at her through sheer determination and an absolute refusal to need anyone. After building her career from nothing in the most competitive city in the world, she knows one truth above all others: depending on people leads to disappointment. When Waverly Development hires her firm to design a landmark community arts center in Brooklyn, Nadia expects the project to be the career-defining opportunity she has worked toward for a decade.
What she does not expect is Daniel Okafor, Waverly's head of community relations, who believes that every building tells a story and that Nadia has been telling the wrong one about herself for years. Daniel is patient, principled, and quietly certain in ways that Nadia finds both infuriating and irresistible. He does not chase. He does not pressure. He simply shows up, consistently and completely, until Nadia's carefully maintained independence begins to feel less like strength and more like loneliness.
As the arts center project pushes them together and their connection deepens into something neither planned, Nadia must face the most frightening question of her life: Is the person you become when you stop running worth the risk of standing still?A contemporary romance about independence, consistency, and discovering that needing someone is not the same as losing yourself. Perfect for readers who love:- Strong independent heroines finding unexpected love- Slow-burn romance with genuine emotional depth- Diverse characters and authentic representation- Workplace settings and professional tension- Brooklyn and Manhattan urban settings- Character-driven contemporary fiction- Series romance with interconnected stories Book 3 in the Waverly Development Series.
Can be read as a standalone but is best enjoyed after Measured Risk and The Outlier.
Architect Nadia Torres has survived everything life has thrown at her through sheer determination and an absolute refusal to need anyone. After building her career from nothing in the most competitive city in the world, she knows one truth above all others: depending on people leads to disappointment. When Waverly Development hires her firm to design a landmark community arts center in Brooklyn, Nadia expects the project to be the career-defining opportunity she has worked toward for a decade.
What she does not expect is Daniel Okafor, Waverly's head of community relations, who believes that every building tells a story and that Nadia has been telling the wrong one about herself for years. Daniel is patient, principled, and quietly certain in ways that Nadia finds both infuriating and irresistible. He does not chase. He does not pressure. He simply shows up, consistently and completely, until Nadia's carefully maintained independence begins to feel less like strength and more like loneliness.
As the arts center project pushes them together and their connection deepens into something neither planned, Nadia must face the most frightening question of her life: Is the person you become when you stop running worth the risk of standing still?A contemporary romance about independence, consistency, and discovering that needing someone is not the same as losing yourself. Perfect for readers who love:- Strong independent heroines finding unexpected love- Slow-burn romance with genuine emotional depth- Diverse characters and authentic representation- Workplace settings and professional tension- Brooklyn and Manhattan urban settings- Character-driven contemporary fiction- Series romance with interconnected stories Book 3 in the Waverly Development Series.
Can be read as a standalone but is best enjoyed after Measured Risk and The Outlier.
