Ten years ago, Ava Hanson left Cedar Falls — and Owen Fowler — behind.

Now she’s back, grieving her dad, packing up his cabin, and counting the days until she can return to New York and the career she’s sacrificed everything for. Her plan is simple: don’t stay long, don’t reopen old wounds, and definitely don’t fall for Owen again.

But Owen isn’t the boy she left behind.

He’s a devoted single dad, the owner of the town’s beloved coffee shop, and the unlikely buyer of the bed-and-breakfast they once dreamed of building together. Seeing Ava again stirs up everything he thought he’d accepted, including the future he stopped believing was possible.

With grief closing in and sparks that were never truly extinguished, Ava must decide whether ambition is worth the loneliness it costs, or if the life she ran from is the one she’s been searching for all along.

• Small-town vibes like Stars Hollow

• Second-chances

• Single dad (did someone say man bun 👀)

• Found family

• Slow burn

• It was always you