This Never Should Have Happened: Lived-In Love, #2

Three hearts. Two coasts. One night he swore would never happen again.

Sixty years ago, Aaron Ben-Ami fell for Elyse Krieger and lost her. He wrote a bestselling novel about it. He never expected to fall again — for her granddaughter.

A widowed psychotherapist turned successful novelist, Aaron returns to the Catskills expecting a nostalgic celebration of the movie based on his book. Instead, he finds himself caught between two women — and two versions of the life he thought he understood.

Monica Stuart offers the promise of a future built on trust, passion, and hard-earned companionship. Then there's Izzy Sandler, the young actress with Elyse's face, Elyse's laugh, and a hold on him he's spent years refusing to name.

One night, at the hotel where it all began, he stopped refusing it.

As old wounds reopen, family secrets surface, and those closest to him begin asking impossible questions, Aaron must face what he's spent a lifetime helping other people do — and never quite managed himself: tell the difference between love and the ghost of it.

Set between the legendary Catskills and the California coast, This Never Should Have Happened is an emotionally rich contemporary novel about second chances, hidden secrets, family, aging, and the complicated ways adults find one another when life refuses to follow the rules.

Step behind the scenes of a love story built on beautiful illusions.

Perfect for readers who enjoy emotionally intelligent relationship fiction, morally complex love stories, and unforgettable characters whose choices linger long after the final page.

This Never Should Have Happened is Book Two in the Lived-In Love series — unflinching, morally complex fiction about grief, desire, family, and what adults owe their hearts when there are no clean choices left. It can be enjoyed as a standalone, though it hits hardest after That Catskill Summer.