A divorce lawyer with a romantic spirit. A cynical television executive who thinks commitment is for fools. They can’t fight their attraction, or their affection. Can they find a way to reconcile their vastly different needs, or will each walk away from the best thing they’ve ever had? Jordan might be a divorce lawyer, but he’s a hopeless romantic. He doesn’t see the two as incompatible, either. He’s never had a relationship last long enough to be with someone on Valentine’s Day, but he’s still hopeful he’ll find the one out there somewhere. Sam is an executive vice president at a major television network. He spends his days managing programming, much of it centered around romance, and he knows exactly how fake television romances are. His own background of rejection only cements his views on the fleeting nature of affection. They meet by chance, when Sam’s sister and best friend file for divorce. The divorce is messy, and Sam and Jordan are thrown together often enough to try to make a relationship work. When the winter holidays roll around, the difference in their expectations comes to the fore. Can Sam overcome his fear of commitment ... and rejection? Can Jordan get over his need to define their relationship? Or will they both lose the one thing in their lives that makes them happiest?

Paper Hearts

The Mishra story bothered him, on a deep level. They’d met, apparently had children according to Jordan’s notes, and in general had a downright Hollywood love story. If they now had to go their separate ways, what hope was there for Jordan to have a love story of his own? Maybe it was time to get rid of the paper hearts, not just for the season but for good.


Sam put his feet up on the desk and rubbed at his face. “Tell me again why, exactly, we hired this jerk?”


Dinesh flung the paper script up into the air. “Mike Coker is a legacy with a long-term contract. We can’t get rid of him until next season. The last time a show runner tried to kill him off, his psychotic fans mailed ten thousand pounds of blue feathers to the studio. They knew she was allergic and they mailed them to her anyway. They sent them to her home address. They sent them to her child’s day care. And the network fired her, because she ‘didn’t manage it appropriately.’”


Chapter 4