Next to You

Informationen zum Autor Hannah Bonam-Young is the author of Next of Kin, Next to You , and Out on a Limb . Hannah writes romances featuring a cast of diverse, disabled, marginalized, and LGBTQIA+ folks wherein swoon-worthy storylines blend with the beautiful, messy, and challenging realities of life. When not reading or writing romance you can find her having living room dance parties with her kids or planning any occasion that warrants a cheese board. Originally from Ontario, Canada, she lives with her childhood friend turned husband, Ben, two kids, and bulldog near Niagara Falls on the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples. Klappentext Two friends battle feelings for each other as they work together to renovate a school bus into a home in this charming romance novel from viral TikTok author of Next of Kin and Out on a Limb Lane is in the middle of an identity crisis. Her friends are all partnered up, her career is leading nowhere, and simply put, she's not happy. So, after a night out celebrating her birthday, she makes one hell of an impulsive purchase: a giant yellow forty-eight passenger school bus that she intends to make a home. With little-to-no renovation experience, but a large sum of inheritance money, Lane enlists the help of her friend Matta mechanic by trade, handyman by practice, and hottie by nature. While their mutual attraction is undeniable, Matt and Lane have silently agreed that a friendship is the only thing that can ever exist between them. Matt's a total family guy with settle down with me tattooed across his forehead, whereas Lane is entirely commitment averse. It could never work . . . right? Zusammenfassung Two friends battle feelings for each other as they work together to renovate a school bus into a home in this charming romance novel from viral TikTok author of Next of Kin and Out on a Limb Lane is in the middle of an identity crisis. Her friends are all partnered up, her career is leading nowhere, and simply put, she's not happy. So, after a night out celebrating her birthday, she makes one hell of an impulsive purchase: a giant yellow forty-eight passenger school bus that she intends to make a home. With little-to-no renovation experience, but a large sum of inheritance money, Lane enlists the help of her friend Matta mechanic by trade, handyman by practice, and hottie by nature. While their mutual attraction is undeniable, Matt and Lane have silently agreed that a friendship is the only thing that can ever exist between them. Matt's a total family guy with settle down with me tattooed across his forehead, whereas Lane is entirely commitment averse. It could never work . . . right?...

Auteur

Hannah Bonam-Young

Résumé
*Two friends battle feelings for each other as they work together to renovate a school bus into a home in this charming romance novel from the viral TikTok author of *Next of Kin and Out on a Limb.

“Warm, sexy, and vulnerable . . . Hannah Bonam-Young needs to be on your romance radar.”—Hannah Grace, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Icebreaker

Lane is in the middle of an identity crisis. Her friends are all partnered up, her career is heading nowhere, and simply put, she’s not happy. So, after a night out celebrating her birthday, she makes one hell of an impulsive purchase: a giant yellow forty-eight-passenger school bus that she intends to make her home.

With little-to-no renovation experience but a large sum of inheritance money, Lane enlists the help of her friend Matt—a mechanic by trade, handyman by practice, and hottie by nature.

While their mutual attraction is undeniable, Matt and Lane have silently agreed that a friendship is the only thing that can ever exist between them. Matt’s a total family guy with “settle down with me” tattooed across his forehead, whereas Lane is entirely commitment averse. It could never work . . . right?

Échantillon de lecture
**One

15 MONTHS LATER

I have been propositioned for a threesome four times this afternoon after being on the lovebite app for only six hours. This has to be some sort of record. People read interested in anyone and take it to mean everyone and all at once.

And while in college, I would have perhaps been more than happy to oblige. The difference now is that it is exclusively couples asking for me to join them. Which just about sums up my life these days.

Emily and Amos are newly engaged, and Chloe and Warren married last summer. When the five of us hang out, I m watched over like a child, talked to like a sweet, innocent newborn on the teat of life. Someday, they all hum merrily into their drinks, it ll be your turn, patronizing me as they feed one another grapes. That last part is an exaggeration, but only slightly.

But today ­the day I signed up for my first ever dating app because I admittedly may be having a hefty dry spell and a crisis about said dry spell ­is my twenty-­seventh birthday. The end of my mid twenties, and the dawning of a new era of full adulthood.

So, in the words of Taylor Alison Swift, this is me trying . . . to get laid (Taylor s Version).

My computer chimes with the sound of another message from my boss ­but I ignore it while on my smoke break.

I don t actually smoke, but in the interest of equality, I take a ten-­minute break every few hours, as my co-­workers might.

This break has been met with an onslaught of incoming notifications, and I ve yet to put my phone down. Other than the threesome requests, I have a few comments on Instagram, a text from Emily about how excited she is for my surprise-­it s-­not-­a-­surprise birthday dinner, and an email from Matt.

Yes, an email. I m insistent there was a mix-­up with Matt s driver s license, which I made him show me, and they incorrectly printed his birth year as 1995 instead of 1959. He emails almost exclusively. The guy actually texts with a single finger and signs his name on each message, so, honestly, email is less painful. That he can type out on his desktop computer at work.

Instead of opening the email, I click on the you have a match notification. Ah, yes, the pretty brunette, Valerie. Twenty-­nine, single, interested in women, Gemini. Her bio reads, here for a good time, not a long time, which makes me wonder if it s a Walk to Remember situation or if she s that cliché.

I message, Stop making a fool out of me. Why don t you come on over, Valerie? and pour one out ­hypothetically, because my coffee is piping hot ­for my girl Amy Winehouse. I screenshot it and send it to my group chat with Em and Chloe.

CHLOE: Make sure to ask if she has a good lawyer.

EMILY: Tell her you miss her ginger hair!

I love them.

LANE: What are you wearing tonight? How fancy do I have to be?

CHLOE: What s tonight???

EMILY: She knows.

CHLOE: What?! Dang it! Ugh . . . I m probably going to wear my yellow dress.

Emily sends a photo of her in a fuchsia two-­piece pantsuit.

LANE: Gotcha. Effort required.

CHLOE: It s your birthday, Lane. If you want to have a sweatpants party, then we can do that.

LANE: Hmm . . . Thoughts, Em?

Emily sends a GIF of a forced smile and a twitching eye.

LANE: Effort is fine. I have that vintage jumpsuit I ve wanted to wear.

CHLOE: Ooh! I love that one!

LANE: I gotta get back to work. See you ladies tonight.

A few hours later, I finish my packaging design idea and send it off to my supervisor. A box that will house the newest, most rugg