I came to the Hamptons for one reason: to fix my broken manuscript. No distractions. No detours. Just me, my deadline, and a love story I can’t seem to get right.
But I didn’t plan on Tyson Bishop.
My dangerously charming, infuriatingly confident neighbor has a habit of showing up exactly when I should be working—and with a way of looking at me like he knows how to unravel me. Every smirk feels like a dare. Every touch lasts a second too long.
I tell myself I can handle this. Him. That this is just the kind of connection my story is missing. Showing me what it feels like to be wanted. To be consumed.
But somewhere between late nights and heated touches, the things I feel for Tyson stop feeling like inspiration…and start feeling real.
Long story short, I came here to write a love story.
I just didn’t expect to start living one.
(ARC Read)
There is something incredibly attractive about a man who doesn’t need to be loud or overbearing to completely command a room, or a woman’s attention, and Tyson Bishop had mine almost immediately.
There’s something about Tyson that’s magnetic. When he looks at me, it’s like he’s really looking at me.
Tyson is the epitome of control. Work consumes him, he doesn’t make time for fun, and he definitely doesn’t let people get too close. He’s perfectly content with the carefully structured life he’s created for himself. Until a wayward cat wanders onto his property at his new Hamptons home, and its owner comes looking for him…and accidentally flashes Tyson in the process.
Talk about making a memorable first impression.
Josie captivates him from the beginning. At first, Tyson doesn’t entirely understand why he finds his new neighbor so fascinating. He just knows he wants to get to know her. He wants to learn everything about her, from her favorite coffee order to whether she’s remembered to eat while buried in her manuscript. He even slowly works on convincing her cat that maybe he isn’t so bad either.
I’m fascinated by Josie. I can’t exactly explain why, but I know she’s one of the most interesting women I’ve ever met.
And I absolutely loved this side of Tyson.
There’s a calmness about him that drew me in. A patience. He doesn’t rush Josie or push himself into her life. He simply pays attention. He notices what she needs and quietly takes care of her without making a big production out of it. For a woman trying to write a romance hero, she couldn’t have stumbled across better book material if she tried.
Because Josie has a problem.
She came to the Hamptons for one reason: rewrite her romance novel. She has six weeks to fix a manuscript that isn’t working, and distractions, especially ridiculously attractive ones living next door, are definitely not part of the plan.
Josie thought she understood romance. She thought she knew about heat, passion, chemistry, and yearning. She is a romance author, after all. But after one kiss with Tyson, she begins to realize there might be a pretty significant difference between knowing how those things are supposed to feel and actually experiencing them.
Naturally, there’s only one reasonable solution.
Tyson becomes her muse.
“Let me help inspire you.”
And by God, does that man relish the assignment.
This was where their dynamic became so much fun for me. Tyson is patient enough to savor every second with Josie, and when he realizes just how easily he can make her blush, it becomes one of his favorite hobbies. He teases her. He pushes just enough. He deliberately leaves her wanting more and sends her back to her manuscript with all that pent-up tension and yearning to pour onto the page.
“I’m fucking desperate for you, Josie. This is what you do to me. Remember that when you’re writing next time, how fucking gone I am for you. How just the sight of you and the smallest touch makes me this fucking hard. Write about it.”
Meanwhile, Josie is trying desperately to convince herself that this is all for research.
Sure, girl.
What starts as inspiration slowly becomes something neither of them expected, and I loved how naturally that transition happened. There wasn’t one huge moment where everything suddenly changed. Tyson and Josie simply became part of each other’s lives. Coffee, meals, conversations, late nights, teasing, attraction—it all builds into something that feels remarkably easy.
But as much as I enjoyed their chemistry, I think my favorite part of their relationship was how genuinely supportive they are of one another.
Tyson sees Josie’s talent even when she’s struggling to see it herself. He champions her, encourages her, and gives her the confidence she needs without ever trying to take control of something that belongs to her. He wants what is best for her, even when that means stepping back and allowing her to figure things out for herself.
And Josie gives Tyson something he didn’t even realize was missing. She slips past all those carefully constructed walls and shows this workaholic that maybe life can include a little fun, spontaneity, and connection without everything falling apart.
They see the best in each other, and more importantly, they make space for those versions of each other to exist.
“This isn’t just inspiration anymore, Ty. This is everything. You’re everything to me.”
I also cannot say enough about how refreshing it was to watch two adults actually communicate. There are no unnecessary games or hidden agendas between them. When feelings start getting complicated, they talk. When something needs to be said, they say it. There’s no third-act breakup thrown in simply because we’ve reached that point in the book.
And apparently two emotionally mature adults openly communicating about their feelings is incredibly hot. Who knew?
Long Story Short had plenty of heat, teasing, and yearning, but it was the quieter moments that ultimately sold me on Tyson and Josie. The coffee orders. Making sure she eats. Winning over the cat. Tyson believing in her when her confidence starts to falter. Josie slowly pulling him away from the life he thought he was perfectly content living.
Josie went to the Hamptons because she needed to figure out how to write a better love story. She just didn’t expect Tyson to show her exactly what one could look like.
And really, what better inspiration could a romance author ask for?
Release Date: August 25th, 2026
Thank you to Kat Singleton for the ARC read!