How long should you hold onto dreams that just won’t become realities? Can you really have a great love and a fulfilling career? In Lily King’s new novel, we meet our protagonist, Casey Peabody, at a moment in life when she must face her future head-on—and finally answer these questions.

After the unexpected death of her beloved mother, Casey moves back to her college stomping grounds in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She’s an unpublished writer, barely making ends meet in her waitressing job—admittedly not where she wanted to be in her early thirties. As if that all wasn’t enough, she also finds herself struggling romantically as she ends up in a love triangle between a writing professor and his student. Which partner, if either, will encourage her to find her voice as a partner and a writer?

Casey is smart and driven, and despite her tremendous grief and feelings of inadequacy, she never stops trying to discover who she is. In the end, though I won’t tell you how, it isn’t the men in her life that lift her up but her self-confidence that makes a difference. It’s been a whole year since I started picking books for my Read With Jenna book club, and I think this one is particularly special. I hope you will read with us in March and fall in love with Casey Peabody just like I did.