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

Morrison’s was an older type of place, the kind of place people insisted didn’t exist in New York anymore. It lurked in the basement of an old brownstone on a side street, which might have had something to do with its longevity, and specialized in serving old-school cocktails in a “classic” environment.


Sam tended to think of a “classic” environment as the seedy dive bar on the corner where his dad used to hang out, but Morrison’s wasn’t like that. It was an upscale kind of place, one that tried to evoke the better parts of the Gilded Age. It called to mind elegance and opulence, without the misogyny, racism, and homophobia.


Sam grabbed a seat, one of the few available, and waited for Jordan to show up. He didn’t have to wait long, only a couple of minutes. Apparently, Jordan liked to be punctual. Sam liked that in a guy. He liked a lot of other things about Jordan too, like his tan, his little smirk, and his impeccable hair.


Chapter 5