The Love She Left Behind
Paperback
Publisher: Hope Smith
Published: Sep 4 2026
Pages: 128
Weight: 0.29
Height: 0.27 Width: 5.00 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
A Slow-Burn Workplace Romance About Second Chances, Self-Worth, and Choosing Love on Your Own Terms
Description:
Rima Hale spent six years disappearing inside a marriage that asked her to be smaller. Two years after her divorce, she's finally rebuilt something that belongs entirely to her - a career she's proud of, an apartment with an unapologetically ugly orange sofa, and a life with no one left to answer to but herself.
Then North & Finch hires a new managing director with a reputation for ruthless turnarounds - and Rima walks into a boardroom to challenge him on his very first day.
Adam Reyes isn't what she expects. He's honest when easy reassurance would serve him better. He listens when he doesn't have to. And when Rima proves him wrong in front of the entire company, he doesn't punish her for it - he hands her the account and gets out of her way.
What starts as professional friction becomes something neither of them planned for: a slow, careful falling - built on forced proximity, hard-won respect, and the terrifying discovery that being fully seen doesn't have to mean being controlled.
But old wounds don't disappear just because a relationship is good. Rima built her independence as a wall against ever losing herself again. Adam built his ambition trying to outrun the fear of being left behind. And when their pasts collide with their present - an ex-husband who remembers exactly how to make her small, a career opportunity that threatens to take her away, a future Adam wants so badly he forgets to ask if she wants it too - the love between them isn't tested by whether it's real.
It's tested by whether either of them can love without disappearing into it.
THE LOVE SHE LEFT BEHIND is a heartfelt, emotionally rich romance about the courage it takes to choose someone without losing yourself - and the deeper courage it takes to choose yourself first. Perfect for readers who love workplace slow-burns, green-flag heroes, found family, and love stories that respect a woman's independence as much as her heart.
Moderate heat. Emotionally immersive. HEA guaranteed.
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