CURSED BOYS AND BROKEN HEARTS

Eighteen-year-olds Grant Rossi and Ben McKittrick tackle their complicated history and creative projects in this enemies-to-lovers romance.

Fashion designer Grant is cursed: His relationships never last more than a month, and now he’s going through another breakup. Steeped in depression, he escapes Chicago to help save his aunt’s floundering bed-and-breakfast. Memories of familial grief, history, and lore come flooding back. At 13, Grant made a wish on his family’s legendary rosebush—but that wish became a curse. Now he’s back, trying to return the Vero Roseto Garden Inn & Vineyard to its former glory. The Rose Festival, a walking tour culminating with a stop at Vero Roseto, is just two months away, and the grounds are in tatters. Luckily, Aunt Ro hired a new gardener, who happens to be Ben, Grant’s former best friend. The last time they saw each other, Grant made his ill-fated wish—and Ben stole his boyfriend. As they get into the weeds of their history of heartbreak and "he said, he said" drama, the narrative gets bogged down by backstory. Still, the chance of romance lingers throughout. Ben fixes up the grounds, while Grant designs a living sculpture garden for the Rose Festival. Despite the repetition in the plot, the painterly construction of the characters is a high point of this novel. Through a combination of therapy, medication, and personal accountability, Grant discovers a better way to live. Grant is Italian American; Ben is from Scotland.

A sincere love story that patient readers will appreciate.