The Yes Year: A Romantic Novel

At fifty-five, Lida Hadley has perfected the art of living quietly.

Her days are comfortably predictable: writing historical novels, walking her two Great Danes, and keeping the rest of the world at a manageable distance. After years of grief, depression, and slowly withdrawing from life, she has convinced herself that peace and routine are enough.

Then she reads a magazine article containing one sentence she cannot stop thinking about:

I wasn't afraid of failing. I was afraid of finding out I'd already quit.

On impulse, Lida makes herself a promise:

For one year, she will say yes.

Yes to ballroom dance classes at the community center.
Yes to volunteering at the local Historical Society.
Yes to awkward conversations, new friendships, and experiences that push her far outside the carefully protected life she has built.

What she does not expect is Sam Fletcher.

A widower with a quiet sense of humor and wounds of his own, Sam understands grief, loneliness, and starting over better than most people ever could. What begins as friendship slowly becomes something deeper - built not on grand gestures, but on shared silences, small kindnesses, and the fragile courage of letting someone matter again.

Set in a charming coastal Maine town filled with autumn festivals, old archives, community dances, string lights, and two deeply opinionated Great Danes, The Yes Year is an emotionally rich novel about depression, grief, second chances, and the small brave choices that slowly bring us back to life.

Perfect for readers who love emotionally layered women's fiction, mature slow-burn romance, and stories about rediscovering yourself after loss.