Brief

New to NYC, and scammed out of her life-savings, a marriage counselor has to share an office with a divorce lawyer. He seems like an arrogant jerk - but little does she know they are perfect for one another.

What We Liked

- The quintessential rom-com: untamable guy meets a woman who can tame him; woman with an unrequited love finds real love in another man.
- It’s not about “if” - we know it’s going to happen - but rather about “how”, creating investment in the story.
- We get to watch the pair work closely in the same office space; bantering turns into attraction, and love blooms between an unlikely couple.
- Set in NYC using a small group of attractive core characters.
- The counseling sessions and divorce cases could be the basis for narrative structure.

Synopsis

Divorce lawyer Drew Jagger lands back in New York City on New Year’s Eve after a holiday in
Hawaii. He discovers someone has moved into his Park Avenue office space - the same
building as his sprawling New York City penthouse. But rather than a common thief or homeless
squatter, he finds Emerie Rose, a naive, small-town girl who just moved from Oklahoma to
Manhattan, to chase the man of her dreams. Emerie has just been scammed out of her
life-savings by someone pretending to own the building.
Drew takes pity on her — he offers her the chance to work out of his offices for 3 months while
his secretary is away, on the condition she answers phones and takes messages. She’s a
marriage counselor; he’s a divorce attorney. Many conflicts ensue, but a mutual attraction
gradually develops.
Emerie sublets a place right next door to Baldwin, her unrequited love. Baldwin has recently
broken up with his longterm girlfriend. But it’s only when Baldwin sees her hanging out with Drew
that he starts to take an interest, playing with her feelings. Emerie is a romantic at heart,
believing love can move mountains; Drew’s an idealist and believes love is overrated. His ex-wife,
Alexa, left him bitter and resentful. Not only did she cheat on him while he was caring for his sick
father, but she lied to him about the paternity of his son, Beck. As his relationship with Emerie
grows, Drew starts to trust love again. But Alexa announces she wants to take away Drew’s
custody of Beck and move to Atlanta.
Emerie stands by Drew as he fights Alexa for his custody rights. The judge finds in his favor, but
he has to move to Atlanta in order to see his son. Thinking Emerie would never leave New York,
where she is now established, he breaks up with her. Drew’s best friend, Roman, goes back to
tell Emerie what happened. She offers to move with Drew to Atlanta, and they get back together.
A year later, Emerie surprises Drew with papers that show he can adopt Beck as his son, after his
biological father gives him up. At the same celebration, Drew proposes to Emerie.

About The Author

Vi Keeland is a New York Times bestselling author. Her titles have appeared in over one hundred bestseller lists and have been translated into twenty languages. She resides in New York with her husband and three children.