You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
This HaBO request is from Kaitlin, who is looking for this contemporary romance:
This is a romance told in two timelines. She’s a consulting accountant working in Washington, D.C. and runs into her ex boyfriend who she hasn’t seen in years on the streets. They agree to date, but only if he uses a fake name (Andy or Drew?) because their past is too painful for her. He’s a doctor now and works in Baltimore.
The second timeline is a flashback to the first time they dated in college. She’s a freshman (?), but he’s older. He is her best friend’s brother’s roommate. He plays soccer. He comes from money. She spends Christmas with his family at their big fancy house (South Carolina I think) He gets diagnosed with cancer. He’s going to die so he tells her to walk away before he does, setting her free so to speak.
The twist is that the guy in the current timeline isn’t her ex. He’s her ex’s doctor!
The main female character might be named Grace. Maybe.
I read this sometime between 2014 and 2019 via Amazon Kindle. The book had a spice level of 4/5. Memorable scene includes some dance floor grinding at a masquerade gala that leads to a balcony hookup.
I hope we find this book for Kaitlin, but also I cannot imagine a way that any sort of grovel would be enough.
I don’t know this book, but I’m following because the description reminds me in a way of one of my melancholy/angsty favorites: FINDING HIM by Rachel Van Dyken. The heroine’s fiancé died of cancer the previous year. She has retreated to a secluded Vermont mountain house to write a book about him. Cue the mix-up with reservations and an incoming snowstorm and, presto, enforced proximity with the hero who wants to retreat from his own recent distressing events. After initial antagonism, the MCs work together on the heroine’s book about her late fiancé (who becomes more or less a third MC as we read snippets of the book the heroine is writing about him) and grow closer as they do. It was one of my favorite books the year I read it, but I do think you have to read the first book, STEALING HER (the heroes of the two books are twin brothers) to get the full arc of the story.
TL;DR: if the plot of this HABO sounds interesting, you may also like Rachel Van Dyken’s FINDING HIM.
@Amanda: also, unless I’m reading the HABO incorrectly (always a distinct possibility), it’s the heroine who wants the hero to use a fake name not the reverse.
Yep. It’s the guy who uses the fake name which is a variation of the real full name. So in the college timeline his name would be Andrew and in the current timeline he’s changed it to either Andy or Drew. I can’t remember if that was his or her idea to use the fake name to help her adjust to the idea of dating again.
They re meet in the current timeline when she slips and falls on the snow in Washington D.C. He catches her and it’s more of a holy crap you’re here in DC not holy crap you’re alive.
The cancer in the college timeline was a form of bone cancer common in teens and now in the current timeline the doctor specializes in cancer in kids.
The masquerade gala was a fundraiser for cancer or the hospital. She gets invited to it by her rich older boss who sends her a dress/jewelry to wear. Everyone who’s anyone in DC is there including surprise! a masked Andy/Drew.
It’s crazy how many details about this book I remember but not the name or author though I do remember the author ended the book with a note to please not to spoil the twist ending which I found funny reading at the time. Sorry for spoiling it here!
@DiscoDollyDeb: Finding Him by Rachel Van Dyken is a kindle deal at $0.99. The first book in the series is $4.99. I’m sold based on your recommendation.
This sounds like an A.M. Hargrove book. Be back with a title
Yep! It’s Cruel & Beautiful by A.M. Hargrove
It sounds a lot like AM Hargrove & Terri Laine’s Cruel and Beautiful. He’s an ex-college hockey player and an oncologist-to-be.
https://www.amazon.com/Cruel-Beautiful-Book-ebook/dp/B017GFDQPW/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=3B9B7OLMCYVGX&keywords=cruel+and+beautiful+by+a.m.+hargrove&qid=1657647637&sprefix=cruel+and+bea%2Caps%2C75&sr=8-1
Woo hoo! Good job bitchery. That was a pretty quick solve.