The Year I Kept Your Name

By Aria Vale

One year after choosing herself, can she choose him again-without losing who she's become?

Mara left her high-school sweetheart to see who she was off the map of "us." Now she's rooted in the harbor town of Hartwell-pouring lattes at a warm-lit caf , making zines with friends, and learning the quiet art of keeping without owning. Across state lines, Evan has learned other kinds of courage-ladders, sirens, and the discipline of not calling.

When family pulls Evan back to Hartwell and a chapbook ties Mara closer to the place she swore she wouldn't romanticize, the town becomes a map of near-misses: shared rooms, borrowed spines, the same shoreline walked at different hours. Old love hums under new rituals. Kindness replaces rescue. And two people who once chose distance have to decide whether the selves they've built can stand side by side.

Harbor Romances - Book One is a low-angst, slow-burn second-chance love story-tender, contemporary, and full of everyday bravery.

You'll find:

Second-chance, small-town coastal romance

Slow burn, yearning, mutual respect (consent-first)

Found family, caf s, makers, and community workshops

Closed-door intimacy; emotions forward, language mild

A soft, hopeful ending that opens the door to Book Two

For readers who like heart-forward contemporary romances that trade grand gestures for honest ones-and towns that quietly teach you how to stay.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FNKDTPK4
• ISBN13: 9798299329391
• Release Date: August 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.67 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"