Description:
"A romantic, lighthearted ode to human imperfection." - Publisher's Weekly
"A brilliant, true love tale" - Booklist
In this delightfully hilarious romance, a scientist's quiet world is completely turned upside-down when the AI program she designed creates a human body for himself--just to ask her out on a date.
As a top scientist in her field, Ava Green doesn't spend much time outside of the lab. But when her best friend Rani suggests she present her innovative work in AI at a big competition to win a funding prize, Ava finds herself attending a ceremony in a ridiculously fancy castle--wearing an equally ridiculous dress--as one of the four finalists chosen.
For the next three weeks, Ava will live at the castle (which is totally haunted, by the way) with the other contestants for the prize. Even though all Ava wants is to continue working on her AI program, FreeThought, in peace, she'll have to do things like attend dinners and actually interact with people. To make matters worse, one of the other contestants is the surly and aloof poet, Forrest Faulkner, who's had a huge chip on his shoulder since the moment they met. What's so great about poems that don't even rhyme, anyway?
When a handsome stranger--who literally looks like he's stepped out of one of Ava's pre-pubescent dreams--arrives at the competition, suddenly socializing doesn't sound so bad anymore. He seems too good to be real... and maybe that's not so far from the truth. As the competition progresses, Ava is suddenly confronted with a monster problem of her own creation, causing her to reconsider her life and work in a new light. She might also need to rethink some bad first impressions she's been holding on to as well. Maybe Ava's idea of perfection isn't what's perfect for her, after all?
TROPES:
- enemies-to-lovers
- opposites attract
- slow burn
- STEM romance
- single dad
Brief description:
Stella Hayward is a pseudonym for Rowan Coleman, the internationally bestselling and award-winning author and screenwriter of sixteen novels, including The Memory Book, The Summer of Impossible Things, and The Girl at the Window. A lifelong Bronte fan, under the Bronte inspired pen name Bella Ellis, Rowan also writes the Bronte Mysteries--a carefully researched series of novels that imagine that before they were famous the Bronte Sisters were amateur detectives.
Review Quotes:
"A tender look at humanity and love. The endearing heroine is the beating heart of this quirky, outlandish, earnestly optimistic romance." - Kirkus
"Hayward's (The Good Boy, 2025) latest is a brilliant, true love tale involving a totally impossible character made real... This romance is a heartwarming story of sweet romance, with characters who are all sincerely trying to do and be good-- whether they are human, AI, or ghostly." - Booklist
"This fanciful and quirky novel from Hayward (The Good Boy)... [is] a romantic, lighthearted ode to human imperfection." - Publisher's Weekly
"This book hooked me in right from the beginning and never let go." - The Gloss Book Club
"This magical, slow-burn romance from Hayward (We Are All Made of Stars as Rowan Coleman) is filled with humor, witty banter, and quirky characters." - Library Journal on The Good Boy
"In this adorable romp from Hayward (The Memory Book, written as Rowan Coleman), a woman learns valuable life lessons from man's best friend." - Publishers Weekly on The Good Boy
"Incredibly funny and utterly adorable." - Jenny Colgan, bestselling author, on The Good Boy