Erie Shelbourne spent twenty-two years perfecting the art of not kissing Seth Mattingly. Now she has less than a year to make up for lost time.
Seth Mattingly-barefoot, brilliant, and quietly unmoored-has always been the center of Erie's world: the boy she dared, the artist she believed in, the friend who painted Civil War tragedies into something unexpectedly beautiful. When his terminal cancer diagnosis shatters their careful distance, Erie abandons her dream job in Chicago and returns to their shared Kentucky bourbon country-armed with a star sapphire ring and the most dangerous dare she's ever made.
Set against the backdrop of Rockland Springs' 1992 holiday season, this novel follows two childhood friends learning what it means to love someone when time becomes the most precious thing you have. Seth faces his mortality with dark humor and gentle defiance. Erie, an archivist who preserves what matters, matches his wit while refusing to let either of them look away from what's coming.
In a town stitched together by bourbon, family recipes, and Christmas lights, their story balances devastating tenderness with laugh-out-loud moments as they navigate illness with fierce honesty, art, and an unshakeable love.
Shelbourne & Mattingly is a love letter to the messy middle, where tenderness and humor live alongside grief, where family secrets and bourbon flow freely, and where showing up bravely for each other becomes its own kind of courage. Perfect for readers who want a deeply emotional winter read that celebrates hope, family, and the beautiful choice to love fully in the time you have.
