Text Appeal

Roberts debuts with an enormously satisfying friends-to-lovers tale with a You’ve Got Mail twist. Coder Lark Taylor has long had romantic feelings for her artist friend Toby Evans, but is too cautious to make the first move. After a tech snafu leads to Lark inadvertently displaying a dick pic at a work presentation, she loses her job—and since Burlington, Vt., isn’t exactly the tech capital of the world, her outrageous bestie, Teagan, convinces her to take on texting-based sex work while she searches for a new position. Lark reluctantly agrees and, between the crass and absurd requests from clients, forms a genuinely sweet text-based relationship with shy repeat customer CosmicKismet. But when Toby and Lark cautiously move toward a romantic relationship IRL, CosmicKismet drops a bombshell revelation that may break the couple apart forever. Roberts makes it easy to fall in love with Lark and Toby through peppy prose and thoughtful conversation. The charming supporting cast (especially sex-positive Teagan) and some moments of awkward hilarity add to the fun. Fans of the two-person love triangle trope will devour this sweet and spicy tale. Agent: Saint Gibson, Spielburg Literary. (Aug.)