The Pining Paradox
Monica McCallan
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars
4.46
· Steam/Spice level: 4 of 5
Explicit open door [?]
· 11 ratings · 422 pages · Published: 16 Dec 2025
What she’s not expecting is to like the new manager, Brynn Fitzpatrick, as much as she does. Nothing about them should click, but they do. And though Brynn’s time in Stoneport is temporary, Hallie can’t help but lean into her unassuming charm, even when it means getting roped into Brynn’s ridiculous plan to start online dating. Or, more dangerously, when it means wondering why, as Hallie tries to start dating, no one compares to Brynn.
Brynn Fitzpatrick thinks helping out at The Stone’s Throw Inn is the right next step after a very public failed engagement. It’s a perfect favor to her ex-fiancé’s sister, whom she’s come to consider a friend. And friends have always been in short supply in Brynn’s life. Plus, she’s not ready to settle back in Boston, under the scrutiny of her parents’ overbearing but well-meaning support, in a city that’s never really felt like home.
For someone who was supposed to be getting married a few months ago, Brynn’s never really thought a lot about love, but spending so much time with Hallie is making her think about all kinds of things for the first time. And it’s making her want things that she’s never expected to crave. Including Hallie.
This friends-to-lovers sapphic romance can be read as a standalone but also features characters introduced in The Love Lie.
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Tagged as:
- contemporary 4
- lesbian romance 3
- queer romance 3
- funny 2
- queer awakening 2
- bisexuality 2
- class difference 2
- caretaking 2
- forced proximity 2
- friends to lovers 2
- slow burn 2
- found family 2
- neurodivergent mc 2
- small town 2
- workplace/office 2
- cheerful/happy heroine 2
- competent heroine 2
- sweet/gentle heroine 2
- shy heroine 2
- demisexual heroine 2
- rich heroine 2
- working class heroine 2
- independent heroine 1
- fem-dom 1
- Add topics
- content warnings
- past child neglect 2
- Format
- dual pov 1
- third person pov 1
romance tags
