In the Case of Heartbreak

A queer rom com that combines beach read vacation romances with laugh-out-loud humor and a sweet and steamy love story between two men. For fans of Casey McQuiston and Alexandria Bellefleur. Gorgeous evergreen forests are part of the tourist allure in picturesque Fern Falls—but this summer Ben Parrish is pining harder than any of them. Ben has been baking his grandma’s cinnamon rolls at the family café for years. He’s been quietly in love with Adam Reed, his musician-slash-mechanic neighbor, for just as long. But Ben’s done waiting behind the pastry case. He’s entered a make-or-break competition to show off his own recipes. He’s going to buy his overprotective family out of the business. And he’s going to ask Adam out. TONIGHT. Except his big plans get punched down before they even half-rise. Soon Ben is dashing down the coast to his grandma’s 80th birthday party on the beach, hiding his broken heart in Maywell Bay, California. Sun, sea, and fresh breezes should blow in something new—except they don’t. They blow in Adam Reed, grinning like a pirate and stealing the show as the musical entertainment hired by Grandma for her big bash. Grandma’s signature Heartbreak Tea is the only remedy, and Grandma’s tea could take the paint off a fence. But there’s a burn of truth along with the booze in his bottle, and Ben has a decision to make. Can he take the sweetness in front of him, and brave the bitterness that comes after? Or is a little sea salt just what this cinnamon roll needs? Salty cinnamon rolls? Ew. Ben would never. “[In The Event of Love] made me laugh, weep, and believe in the fairy-lit magic of second chances.” —Rachel Lynn Solomon, bestselling author of The Ex Talk on IN THE EVENT OF LOVE