Love on the Second Read

A workplace romance between a romance editor and an SFF editor set against the backdrop of the vibrant Philippine book publishing scene.

Emma Morales, tenacious romance book editor and proud cat lady, knows that love stories never come out perfect on the first draft—or the second or the third or the fourth. It's why, when she finds the most challenging romance manuscript of her career by the publishing house's biggest bestselling author in her inbox, she does not back down. Not even if the manuscript is also hardcore science fiction, a genre that her co-editor, SFF nerd Kip Alegre, knows all too well.

Emma and Kip have been in a friendly (ahem, flirty) protracted literary smackdown since her first day. When Emma throws down Jane Austen references, Kip gives her JRR Tolkien. When Kip invokes Emily Henry, Emma floors him with Brandon Sanderson. It's all fun and games until they are forced to work together on the genre-bending manuscript, and suddenly their literary smackdowns become petty shouting matches in the office and in front of the author who threatens to take back her story.

But with the company on the verge of bankruptcy, they will need this bestseller to convince their corporate overlords not to fold the publishing house forever.

Emma is not the kind to forgive and forget so easily, and Kip does not believe in second chances, but maybe, just maybe for this story, they'll give love a second read.