An Introvert's Guide to Life and Love

An Introvert's Guide to Life and Love by Lauren Appelbaum is a touching romance where inheriting a seaside cottage comes with strings attached. An introverted remote worker must leave her city apartment, learn to connect with others, and find love—in real life.

Mallory Rosen takes her remote tech job seriously. She values routine with predictability and minimal contact with others. So the last thing she wants is any surprises that force her to leave her comfortable Seattle apartment. Surprises like inheriting her late grandmother's seaside cottage in Florida... with the requirement that she keeps her newly widowed grandfather company.

With no vacation days left, Mal will have to quickly check on her grandfather, sell the cottage, and return to her structured life before her boss even knows she left. But when she gets to Gramp's new independent living community, it's not so simple. The cottage needs expensive maintenance fixes with a much too charming property manager. Her grandfather constantly interrupts her Zoom meetings. The WiFi drops at the absolute worst times. It all feels too much like déjà vu—the kind that reminds her of when she was fired from her last remote job and was forced to live with her parents.

But right when she's about to call it quits, she starts finding the unexpected: making friends at the senior citizen yoga, getting to know Gramps as a person (rather than just a stubborn boomer), and exploring the tight-knit small town. It doesn't help that she keeps running into her hot property manager, who seems to know everyone. Just when she finally feels alive, connected to others, and like she has a chance at love, she gets the (almost) worst notice ever: All employees must return to the office.