Hearts on Deadline

They broke each other's stories. Now they have to write the truth together.

Arden Vale built a career on sharp angles and harder questions. As a rising journalist at MetroVoice, they're known for exposés that cut deep and clean. But when their edited feature on Miramar's Pride Festival twists into clickbait that humiliates its organizer, Arden finally sees the cost of a byline built inside a broken system.

Jules Rivera has been here before. Years ago, she was the uncredited co-author behind the viral "Glass Closet" scandal that made Arden famous and erased her work. Now she's poured her heart into Miramar's Pride-only to watch another story warp her into a headline.

When the fallout hits, Arden walks away from MetroVoice and lands back in Miramar, determined to make it right. Jules is furious, brilliant, and absolutely done being collateral damage. But as the two of them sift through drafts, receipts, and old wounds, they uncover the truth: they were both used, both silenced, and both still impossibly drawn to each other.

Together, Jules and Arden pitch a new story-one they own outright. As they co-write a piece on queer joy, media accountability, and the power of community, late nights at the Quinn Gallery turn into laughter, confessions, and the slow burn of a second chance neither of them expected to want.

Hearts on Deadline is a cinematic contemporary queer romance about authorship, accountability, and falling in love with the person who finally prints your name correctly. Ideal for readers who love messy media drama, sunshine/grump dynamics, and redemption arcs with teeth.

The Electric Summer Girls - Book Two

Interconnected with Under Open Skies, but can be read on its own.