Vibrantly funny, endearingly sweet, and a love letter to all things rom com, Jayne Denker’s The Rom Com Agenda is a story of two people finding love right when they least expect it.
Intrigued? Well read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from The Rom-Com Agenda, which is out January 10th 2023!
You know how the story’s supposed to go…but love makes its own plans.
STEP 1: Find yourself
Leah Keegan is used to being alone, especially after taking care of her sick foster mother for the past year. But now there’s nothing keeping her in the sweet town of Willow Cove. It’s time to move on. Again.
STEP 2: Win back the one who got away
Eli Masterson thought he and Victoria were meant to be together until she decided to jet off to Rome for a year. Eli is determined to win her back. But how?
STEP 3: Become a romantic hero
Changing Eli’s physical appearance is easy, but to turn Eli into the sophisticated-yet-vulnerable ideal man, his girl pals force him to watch classic rom-coms. And take notes.
STEP 4: Fall in love?
Inadvertently drawn into the makeover scheme, Leah ends up being Eli’s guide through the wild world of meet-cutes and grand gestures. Even though she believes Eli doesn’t need to change a thing about himself. Even though she just might be falling for Eli . . . and Eli falling for her.
“Hello?” she said tentatively. “Leah?”
“Yeah?”
“It’s Eli. I got your number from my sister. I hope you don’t mind.”
Leah’s heart surged at the same time her stomach dropped. She had so much going on with her insides, it was like a car crash in her torso. She sat in the nearest chair, felt too restless, and immediately jumped up and started pacing.
“No, it’s fine. What’s up?” “There’s a snowstorm.”
“You don’t say.” Playful sarcasm was her best defense at this point, she was sure of it.
“Ha. I mean, are you okay? Do you need anything?”
And now her core temperature was getting in on the act. She felt her cheeks flame. He was checking up on her. “N-no, no, I’m good. Shut up tight against the storm.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen your house. It’s anything but shut up tight.” “Well, it’s not like there are snowdrifts in the living room.” “You sure? Better check the corners.”
A smile fought its way out, no matter how hard she tried to suppress it. “I am very sure. And your sister and brother-in-law sent over a plow, so I don’t even have to shovel the driveway.”
“They did? Good. If you went out there—” “Don’t tell me. I’d disappear into a snowdrift?” “You get that a lot, do you?”
Now her giddy smile broke free completely, and a pleasant warmth spread through her, making her fingers and toes tingle. “Are you okay out there in the wilderness?”
“I’m always okay out here in the wilderness. It’s really peaceful, actually.”
Leah pictured the cabin in the trees, the snow piling up on the branches of the pines and woodsmoke curling from the chimney,
and she had to admit he was probably right. She also nearly admit- ted to herself—nearly—that she would have rather been there with him than here in this drafty house without even Cathy’s ghost to keep her company.
“So what are you doing on this dark day?” she asked. “Skinning a bear or something?”
“I have all the bearskins I need right now, so no.”
Leah plopped onto the couch, thoroughly enjoying the conversation. “Are you doing your homework, by any chance?”
“Why yes, I am.”
It came out “Woy yiz, oy em.”
Now she laughed outright. “What in the world was that?” “My Cary Grant impression. Pretty good, huh?”
“Uh . . .”
“Pretty good, huh?” he demanded.
“It’s . . . something. What have you watched?” “His Girl Friday and Charade.”
Damn. Leah wished she’d been with him for those. They were two of her favorites.
“And what have you learned?”
“I’ve learned Audrey Hepburn is perfection, double-breasted suits should come back into fashion, and I’ll never be as slick as that guy. Like, never.”
“Well, Cary Grant is more of a state of mind. You can get there if you want to. I agree about Audrey.”
“And . . .”
“And?”
“I watched The Notebook.”
Leah tried to keep the laughter out of her voice. “Go on.”
“I would like to kill myself now, please. Can you point me in the direction of the nearest Ferris wheel?”
She couldn’t keep it in any longer and started laughing again. Eli harrumphed down the line. “I’m glad my pain amuses you.”
He waited while she dialed it down to a giggle, then said, “It’d be more fun if you were here for these.”
Leah quieted immediately.
In the silence, he blurted out, “I mean, I don’t think I’m getting as much out of these movies without someone to point out what I should be paying attention to.”
“Oh. I . . . I’m sure you can figure it out.” “It’s not as much fun, though.”
He had to stop saying things like that. Her heart couldn’t take it. She had a pretty good barbed-wire barricade up, but he’d brought wire cutters, and that wasn’t fair. He didn’t even know what he was doing to her. But talking with Eli couldn’t do any harm, could it? She could separate simple friendship from anything that would get her heart into trouble, couldn’t she?
Her options were to end this call right now, and not allow any others in the future, or get a grip on her emotions and just enjoy Eli’s company. Leah stared out at the snow swirling around as the daylight dimmed. The storm was bringing on an early twilight. She sighed to herself. She was such a sucker.
“Do you have When Harry Met Sally?” she asked him. “I can find it on demand. Why?”
“Well, it’s not on your list for a he-man lesson—I mean, Billy Crystal is anything but suave and smooth—but it’s a classic. I’m sure Victoria would love that you’d seen it.”
Now it was time for Eli to be silent on the other end of the line. Had she said something wrong? She hadn’t bad-mouthed Victoria. Maybe just bringing up her name was painful for him?
Before she could ask, he said, “I don’t know . . .”
“Okay, hang on a minute. There might be a way to make this work for you.”
Leah crossed the room and pawed through Cathy’s collection of movies, apparently making quite the ruckus, because Eli said, “You know, whatever you’re doing would make more sense if we were video chatting so I could see what you’re up to.”
“Not happening, boyo.”
“You’re not wearing pants, are you?”
“Like I’d even tell you if I weren’t.” Finally she fished out the
DVD she knew she’d seen earlier. “All right, here’s the deal. We stay on the phone. When I say hit play, start your movie. I’ve got mine here.”
“Watch the same movie while talking on the phone?” “You bet. And you’ll see why in about half an hour.”
Eli might not appreciate it, but Leah was pretty smug about how meta their movie watching was about to get, what with Harry and Sally watching Casablanca together by phone. And this way she got to spend time with Eli, just not in person, which would feed her addiction in a safe way. If they were in the same room together, she’d feel compelled to lean against him or stare at him all dopey-like or do something else entirely inappropriate. No, this was much, much safer.
Which wasn’t true in the least. But she was willing to lie to herself for a little while longer.
From THE ROM COM AGENDA by Jayne Denker. Copyright © 2022 by the author and reprinted with permission of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.
