A Novel Proposal

by Denise Hunter

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Escape with this light-hearted romance where a romance writer wonders if there is love for her in real life too. Will she get a happy ending?

When western novelist Sadie Goodwin must pen a romance novel to rescue her lackluster sales, there’s only one tiny problem: she’s never been in love.

Desperate to salvage her career, Sadie accepts an invitation to hole up at her friend’s beach duplex for the summer and devote herself to this confounding genre. After all, where better to witness love than on the beautiful South Carolina shore?

But Sadie soon finds many ways to procrastinate the dreaded task—like getting to know the beach regulars and installing a Little Free Library on the property. She even attempts conversation with Sam Ford, the frustratingly stubborn neighbor on the other side of the duplex. But things take an unexpected turn when Sadie finds inside her library an abandoned novel with a secret compartment—and a beautiful engage­ment ring tucked inside.

Suddenly, locating the ring’s owner becomes the perfect way to put off writing that romance. Sadie draws a reluctant Sam into her mission. And as the two close in on an answer to the mysterious proposal, she discovers a tender side to him. She begins to wonder if he just might make the perfect hero for her romance novel—or maybe even her heart.

From the bestselling author of The Convenient Groom (now a beloved Hallmark Original movie) comes a sweet and sizzling story of a romance writer surprised by her own happily ever after.

• Sweet and thoughtful contemporary read
• Stand-alone novel
• Book length: 80,000 words
• Includes discussion questions for book clubs

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780840716590
Publisher:	Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
Publication date:	03/21/2023
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	79,191
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Denise Hunter is the internationally published, bestselling author of more than forty books, three of which have been adapted into original Hallmark Channel movies. She has won the Holt Medallion Award, the Reader’s Choice Award, the Carol Award, the Foreword Book of the Year Award, and is a RITA finalist. When Denise isn’t orchestrating love lives on the written page, she enjoys traveling with her family, drinking chai lattes, and playing drums. Denise makes her home in Indiana, where she and her husband raised three boys and are now enjoying an empty nest and three beautiful grandchildren. Follow Denise at DeniseHunterBooks.com; Facebook: @AuthorDeniseHunter; X: @DeniseAHunter; Instagram: @deniseahunter.

Editorial Reviews

01/09/2023

Hunter (Bookshop by the Sea) opens this heartwarming romance with Queens, N.Y., western writer Sadie Goodwin learning that her publisher wants her to switch genres to romance. Luckily, her best friend offers Sadie the use of her mother’s South Carolina beach duplex for a summer of writing. There, Sadie meets grouchy Sam Ford, the duplex’s other tenant, and sets up a Little Free Library for the community. When someone leaves a book in the library containing a secret compartment hiding a beautiful engagement ring, Sadie’s determined to get the book back to its proper owner—whoever the bookish proposal was meant for. To succeed, however, she’ll need Sam to use his connections as a local. In exchange for helping, Sam asks Sadie to be his plus one at the wedding of his former girlfriend and his cousin, though he doesn’t explain just how fraught the situation is. Working together leads Sam to warm to Sadie’s endlessly cheerful nature and Sadie to see behind Sam’s gruff exterior, but Sam struggles to open his heart to love after having been burned before. Hunter's charismatic and complex characters effortlessly propel the story. Readers won’t want to put this down. Agent: Karen Solem, Spencerhill Associates. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

'A heartwarming tale written by an undisputed queen of the genre, A NOVEL PROPOSALl is a love letter to readers, to writers and, above all, to romance. As Sadie and Sam were forced out of their comfort zones, I sank deeper and deeper into my reading happy place. This cozy, clever, captivating love story is the perfect beach read and an absolute must for fans of happily ever afters. Denise Hunter charmed my socks right off with this one!'

author of PLOT TWIST and THE DO-OVER Bethany Turner