The Fiction of Us (The Paper Hearts) by Shae Roberts

Lilah Rayne knows how to write a love story. Living one is another matter entirely.

After her breakup mirrors the novel she wrote under her secret pen name, Lilah retreats to Wattlewood Ridge—a small mountain town where bookstores matter, friendships run deep, and magic hums quietly beneath the surface. Back in her old apartment above Brew & Bloom Café, she plans to regroup, heal, and stay invisible.

Then she meets Lucas Castle.

Quiet, steady, and rebuilding the beloved Inkwell & Ivy bookstore, Lucas feels like someone Lilah already knows—like a story she once imagined and never meant to live. As their connection deepens through shared silences and slow mornings, the town begins returning pieces of Lilah she thought she’d lost.

But when her past threatens to expose everything she’s been hiding, Lilah must decide whether she’s brave enough to be seen. Not as the woman she writes, but as the one who feels.

The Fiction of Us is a slow-burn, small-town romance about second chances, soft magic, and choosing love that doesn’t need to be loud to be real.