The Groundwork. Romance novels, #5

Richard Chen has been the steadiest presence at Waverly Development for fifteen years. He has managed projects and people and crises with the reliable competence of someone who has made himself indispensable by never requiring anything in return. He is everyone's first call when something goes wrong and nobody's first thought when something goes right. He has built a career on being essential and a life on being alone, and he has made his peace with both.
Dr. Amara Osei is a community development researcher at Columbia University whose work on the long-term impact of urban development on neighborhood communities has made her both celebrated in academic circles and deeply inconvenient to developers who prefer their impact unmeasured. When her research brings her into direct professional conflict with Waverly Development over a proposed Harlem project, she expects resistance.
She does not expect Richard Chen. Richard is the first person at Waverly who reads her research carefully and responds to its findings honestly rather than defensively. Amara is the first person in Richard's professional life who asks him what he thinks rather than what he can do. In the space between accountability and possibility, between what development has been and what it could be, something neither of them planned begins to grow.
A contemporary romance about visibility, accountability, and the courage to be seen by someone who is paying the right kind of attention. Perfect for readers who love:- Quiet, steady heroes finally getting their story- Academic and professional world romance- Social justice themes woven into romance- Slow-burn connection with genuine intellectual depth- Harlem and upper Manhattan settings- Diverse characters and authentic representation- Series romance with beloved returning characters Book 5 in the Waverly Development Series.
Can be read as a standalone but is richest when read alongside the earlier books in the series.