In My Defense, I Was Single

At thirty-two, I'm excellent at making other people feel wanted. My own love life could use the same level of service.

I'm Nell Merritt: New York event producer, unpaid-invoice chaser, and the woman who says "no worries" while privately developing several worries.

When my birthday dinner starts falling apart, I find an idea worth keeping: a table where nobody needs a plus-one to belong. Soon I'm building Come Anyway, a supper club that might become a business I actually love.

My dating life is also expanding. This is less straightforward to invoice.

Adrian Shaw makes actual plans, keeps them, and makes being dependable look unfairly attractive. Rory Bell makes me laugh, forget the time, and wish keeping things casual were as easy as enjoying his company. Both know I'm seeing other people. Neither knows quite how much space he's taking up in my head.

Between a growing business, rent that keeps happening, and friends whose milestones come with gift lists, I'm running out of room to keep everyone happy. Especially myself.

If I want more than a good evening, I'll have to ask for it. Preferably before I turn another perfectly reasonable need into an apology.

In My Defense, I Was Single is the first novel in Lacy May's In My Defense series, a warm, witty romantic comedy about dating in your thirties, an inconvenient love triangle, and the friends who remind you that wanting more is allowed.