Until It Gets Real

By: Carolyn Brown

Published by Sourcebooks, Incorporated, 2026

Caution: Fake relationship in progress. Try not to fall in love.

Charlotte "Lottie" Johnston, the only woman on her construction crew, has had enough or the catcalls, teasing, and flirting from the men on her team. So when she spots Knox Callahan on the job site, she hatches a plan: a fake boyfriend arrangement to keep the guys in line.

Knox agrees. After all, pretending to date Lottie might also keep his meddling Aunt Bernie from setting him up with a date every weekend. What starts as a simple arrangement soon is anything but as the crew looks for signs to prove Lottie and Knox are pretending.

Between long workdays, shared lunches, and stolen laughs, their make-believe romance begins to feel dangerously real. But while Knox's roots are planted deep in small-town soil, Lottie's work will send her hours and miles away. Settling down in one place might be scary, but that's what it will take to build a life together.