They also write notes that they flash to one another through the windows of their homes. January and Gus write with renewed motivation. As part of the agreement, they will help one another lean into the new genres: Gus will take January on research expeditions and help her tap into her inner darkness, and January will take Gus on dates and help him view the world more romantically.
For fun, they make a deal: January will try writing bleak literary fiction, and Gus will try writing a romance novel. January admits to her writer’s block, and Gus admits the same. On the way home, Gus admits to remembering January in college and alludes to the night they spent dancing. They stop for donuts, and she and Gus discuss their writing and hint at having Googled one another. When it’s time to leave, Gus insists on driving January home. January eventually comes out of the bathroom only to learn that Gus is there as well. Sonya is there, so January hides away in the bathroom and drinks wine. January attends a book club meeting at Pete’s house. They share some banter, but January is sure Gus doesn’t remember her. January runs into Gus at a bookstore, and they are introduced by the store’s owner, a woman named Pete. Their writing styles are starkly different: While January writes romance stories and happily-ever-afters, Gus writes cynical and dark fiction that rarely ends positively. There was also one night at a fraternity party when they danced intimately. In college, Gus always made a point to critique January’s work, leading January to believe Gus had something against her works’ happy endings. January’s next-door neighbor is her college rival, Augustus “Gus” Everett. January’s goal is to finish a manuscript and prepare the house for sale by the end of the summer. She received the key along with a letter from her late father from Sonya immediately after the funeral. January now must move into her dad’s secret second home, a lake house he shared with his mistress, Sonya. In the wake of her father’s death, January’s six-year relationship with her ex-boyfriend Jacques fell apart, leaving January homeless and broken. Her entire life had been shaped by the love of her family and the romance she observed between her parents, and now she wonders how much of that was real.
While she used to be able to write romance stories with ease, her view of love has been warped by the discovery of her father’s affair, which she learned of after his death. She is broke, owes a book to her publisher, and has severe writer’s block. January Andrews arrives in North Bear Shores, Michigan, a small tourist town on the shores of Lake Michigan.
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