What if the life you ran from was the one that always knew you best?

Mara Calloway makes a living writing perfect lives—clean arcs, neat endings, dreams that make sense on paper. But when burnout sends her back to Maple Crescent, the quiet street she swore she’d never return to, she collides with the one thing she never rewrote out of her past: Eli Hart.

The boy next door.

The almost.

The constant.

She expects distance. Politeness. Time to have changed them.

Instead, she finds ease. Laughter that feels familiar. The kind of comfort that slips in quietly—during sunset basketball games, late-night grocery runs, and a handwritten wish list taped to the fridge, filled with dreams she forgot she was allowed to want.

But when the life she built comes calling—bright, impressive, and just familiar enough—Mara is forced to face the question she’s been circling for years:

Do you choose the future you chased…

or the love that never asked you to leave?

The Softest Kind of Want is a tender, slow-burn small-town romance about second chances, emotional honesty, and the love that doesn’t crash into your life—but waits for you to come back. Perfect for readers who love lyrical, character-driven stories about longing, memory, and the quiet realization that some loves don’t end—they just go quiet.

⭐ Key Features

• Genre: Contemporary Romance / Women’s Fiction

• Tone: Soft, emotional, slow-burn

• Setting: Small-town suburban neighborhood

• Spice Level: Light / Fade-to-black

• Perfect for readers who enjoyed Every Summer After, Book Lovers, or Things We Hide from the Light

• Themes: coming home, rediscovering self, healing from burnout, choosing a softer life, friends-to-lovers energy

⭐ Specifications (Edit as Needed)

• Format: Paperback (insert trim size)

• Pages: (insert)

• ISBN: (insert)

• Publisher: Ember & Ink

• Publication Date: 2026

• Printed on demand / ships worldwide