Love in Common

Tessa Lin, a driven honor student from elite Crestwood Academy, is thrust into a community service project at the neglected Monroe Garden, where she's paired with Jude Mercer, a carefree skateboarder from working-class East Haven High. Initially clashing over their stark differences—Tessa's rigid plans versus Jude's laid-back chaos—their shared labor in restoring the overgrown space unearths unexpected common ground, blooming into a tentative friendship and undeniable attraction.

As they transform the garden through weeding, planting, and heartfelt conversations, Tessa confronts her family's pressure for perfection and Jude grapples with his own insecurities about ambition and belonging. External conflicts arise, including judgmental peers, a viral video exposing their budding romance, and Tessa's opportunity for a prestigious year-long program in London, threatening to uproot their fragile connection. In a poignant farewell amid a storm, they vow to remember their growth together.

Six months later, Tessa returns home, and their reunion in the now-thriving garden reignites their love, proving that distance and differences can't stifle what they've cultivated.

Love in Common is a sweet young adult romance exploring opposites attract, class divides, personal growth through community and vulnerability, and the metaphor of gardening as love's nurturing process. It features banter-filled slow-burn tension, emotional depth, and an uplifting happily-ever-after emphasizing resilience and choice.

$1.00