Your free book is waiting

A Larkhaven Cove Prequel

The Square Before You

by Harper Quinnell

Mara Monroe runs the Cove Cup Café on the square, keeps her entire operation together with sticky notes, and hasn't seen the inside of her own apartment before 8 p.m. in longer than she'd like to admit. Her latte art could hang in a gallery. Her work-life balance could not.

Julian Hart plans weddings for people who keep changing their minds about butterflies. He also writes the town's anonymous community bulletin, monitors the council filings like a man with a security clearance, and has been quietly steering Larkhaven's opinions for two years without anyone noticing. The scarf is armor. The charm is strategy.

Cal Rivera is the lieutenant at Station 2. He checks the truck, checks the exits, checks the fire extinguisher through the bookshop window every time he walks past. He eats standing at the counter. He goes to the marina to sand a boat that never gets finished. He doesn't have a thing he'd go back into a burning building for — apart from the job itself — and lately, that's starting to bother him.

The bookshop on the square has been empty for five months. Two people want it. One has a business plan, a sound system, and shoes that have never touched cobblestone. The other has a dog and excellent timing.

This is the week before everything changes — and the town that was already fighting for her before she arrived.

A standalone Larkhaven Cove prequel. No cliffhanger. No required reading. Just coffee, cobblestones, and a community board with opinions.