From the Jump

April 1, 2022

Waldon's (The Layover) second novel is a contemporary friends-to-lovers romance with secrets, high drama, and strong elements of found family, proving that relationships, both romantic and platonic, are a choice you never stop making. Liv Bakersfield translated a childhood full of secrets and uncertainty into an adult pursuit of perfection in all things: appearance, career, home design, and relationships. Her rigid adherence to the rules defined in self-help books and blogs has kept her on track, but when she starts saying "no" it feels too good to stop. Soon she's dropping everything to finally go on vacation with her tight-knit group of college friends, throwing her carefully ordered routines to the wind, and growing even closer to her enigmatic friend Lucas Deiss. When Liv returns home, ready for a new career direction, she finds her home and finances in shambles, with Deiss her only option for refuge. VERDICT The love story is satisfying, but Liv's journey (from inflexible, insecure ice queen to confident risk-taker with a strong support network) is the real draw.--Meagan Day

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May 9, 2022
This winning friends-to-lovers romance from Waldon (The Layover) centers on a group of college best friends—Liv, Phoebe, Simone, Mac, and Deiss—who have stayed close for 11 years. Still, Liv feels like the odd one out, envying the others’ self-confidence and money. Having grown up poor and occasionally homeless, she works herself to death at her office job. But just before her friends leave for a safari that Liv’s afraid to splurge on with them, Deiss challenges Liv to get off the corporate treadmill. Impulsively, she starts saying no to the unfair demands of her job and follows her friends to South Africa. There, she winds up sharing a room with Deiss, who has a secret past of his own. The proximity forces Liv to finally admit her ever-present attraction to Deiss—but Phoebe makes her vow not to ruin the group dynamic by sleeping with him. So when Deiss reveals the attraction is mutual, Liv must decide whether their potential relationship is worth the risk. Though the story starts slowly and Liv remains a repressed character for much of it, the romance is charming and believable and the group’s vacation will delight armchair travelers. Fans of Susan Mallery and Jill Shalvis should snap this up. Agent: Claire Friedman, InkWell Management.

May 15, 2022
Waldon follows up the success of The Layover (2021) with an entertaining friends-to-lovers story set in Los Angeles and on a South African safari. Childhood trauma from being unsheltered and poor have made Liv Bakersfield a person who lives strictly by rules. She has cultivated the perfect image and works a safe job at Infinity Designs. Enigmatic and unencumbered by rules, Lucas Deiss is a bit of a cipher to his friends. He runs a popular record store, Studio Sounds, with a lively performance space. Liv and Lucas met as college freshmen, and 11 years later, their group of friends is still tight. For someone for whom a large bank balance is a safety net, leaving a stable job to go freelance after being robbed clean is completely outrageous. Yet, since being with Deiss, Liv decides to pursue her dreams. Under pain of secrecy, Deiss shares his experiences of growing up, only to have Liv share them with their common friend under duress. The betrayal is devastating. How they recapture the magic of their relationship after this is the making of Waldon's latest romance.

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June 1, 2022
An inhibited designer rethinks her paint-by-numbers approach when a leap of faith lands her in closer quarters with a friend. Graphic designer Olivia Bakersfield has carefully cultivated her image as a successful--if somewhat cold--career woman. Raised by a single mother and traumatized by a brief brush with homelessness in her childhood, Liv feverishly clings to advice dished out by self-improvement books and blogs as if they are life rafts that will save her from further harm. But when she is forced to make a hard financial decision quickly, Liv decides to shelve some self-prescribed diktats: Not only does she finally refuse to work on yet another uninspiring assignment at her workplace, but she also impulsively decides to join her friends on their trip to South Africa. Although the holiday bonds her more thickly with her group, it puts her in uncomfortably close proximity with her extremely gorgeous and equally aloof friend Lucas Deiss. As the group prepares to return home, Liv tries to ensure that she and Lucas revert to their old equation. But when a series of crises force her to lean more on him than ever, Liv must reevaluate not only Lucas' place in her life, but her entire attitude toward careers and companionship. Waldon charts Liv's epiphany and eventual transformation with convincing attention to detail. Although Liv and Lucas' gradually blossoming intimacy is the centerpiece, the shifts in Liv's relationships with several other people are also crucial to her coming-of-age story. Liv's friend circle is fun and their dynamic is charming, but owing to their tendency to withhold crucial parts of themselves from each other, they seldom appear as close-knit as they seem to think they are. Liv and Lucas take a tantalizing amount of time to become lovers, and the slow burn makes for delightful reading. But their journey from that point onward feels slightly rushed, especially since Lucas' perspective remains conspicuously absent. A fluffy and comforting romance that bolsters faith in the power of friendship.

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