Lily Writes

Every book begins with a question.

For LOVE OOPS, the question wasn’t Will these two fall in love?

It was something much smaller.

Much harder.

What if someone has never felt safe?

Ty Dostoevsky arrives in Pinkerton Falls carrying more than physical scars. After years of systematic abuse, he doesn’t believe in soulmates, happily ever afters, or even tomorrow. Love isn’t on his list of goals because survival has always come first.

All Ty wants is a place where he can finally exhale.

Then Chef Lysander “Sander” Lockhart makes one very impulsive decision.

He looks in the dumpster behind his restaurant.

Oops.

Finding Ty changes everything.

Sander is the kind of man who solves problems with food, enthusiasm, and an alarming inability to mind his own business. His instinct is to protect, to fix, to make things better—but Ty doesn’t need fixing. He needs patience. Choice. Kindness without expectations.

So Sander learns to wait.

He offers Ty a job.

A kitchen where everyone asks before they touch him.

Friends who slowly become family.

A place where healing isn’t measured in grand gestures, but in ordinary moments.

A shared meal.

A laugh.

The first time someone reaches for your hand… and you don’t flinch.

For me, LOVE OOPS isn’t really a story just about falling in love.

It’s a story about discovering that safety can exist.

And once someone finally feels safe…

Love has room to grow.

Writing Ty’s journey challenged me in ways I didn’t expect. His healing isn’t quick, neat, or magical. Recovery happens one decision at a time. One person at a time. One quiet act of kindness after another. Watching Sander learn that loving someone sometimes means simply sitting beside them—and waiting until they’re ready—became one of my favorite romances I’ve ever written.

There’s still plenty of humor (this is Pinkerton Falls after all), meddling friends, kitchen chaos, first kisses, and Sander’s wonderfully impulsive personality.

But at its heart, this story is about hope.

About reclaiming your future.

About learning that your past doesn’t get to decide who you become.

If you enjoy:

• 🩵 MM Romance
• 🍞 Protective chef heroes
• 🫂 Hurt/comfort
• ❤️ Found family
• 💋 First kisses
• 🔥 Slow-burn romance
• 🌈 Healing after trauma
• ✨ Happily Ever Afters

…I hope you’ll love spending time with Ty and Sander as much as I loved writing them.

Thank you, as always, for reading my books, sharing them with friends, leaving reviews, and making it possible for me to keep telling stories about hope, healing, and happily ever afters.

Happy reading!

LOVE OOPS is available now in paperback, Kindle Unlimited and ebook! 💙

Oh and just so you know–the self-defense class scene? That actually happened. 🙂 I was there.