Leaving Paradise Book Cover

Leaving Paradise


A Young Adult Romance Novel


Book 1 of the Leaving Paradise Series


Subgenres & Tropes:

  • Contemporary Romance,
  • Small Town,
  • Trauma Recovery,
  • Outcasts,
  • Forbidden Love
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This book is for you if you're into...

  • Romances where both leads are outcasts after a life-altering event
  • Stories about facing small-town judgment and rebuilding after tragedy
Publisher Description

Nothing has been the same since Caleb Becker left a party drunk, got behind the wheel, and hit Maggie Armstrong. Even after months of painful physical therapy, Maggie walks with a limp. Her social life is nil and a scholarship to study abroad—her chance to escape everyone and their pitying stares—has been canceled.

After a year in juvenile jail, Caleb's free . . . if freedom means endless nagging from a transition coach and the prying eyes of the entire town. Coming home should feel good, but his family and ex-girlfriend seem like strangers.

Caleb and Maggie are outsiders, pigeon-holed as "criminal" and "freak." Then the truth emerges about what really happened the night of the accident and, once again, everything changes. It's a bleak and tortuous journey for Caleb and Maggie, yet they end up finding comfort and strength from a surprising source: each other.

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