Flirting with Forever

Mary Trace is in her mid-thirties and dating again. Her friends are all in settled relationships, and she refuses to be left behind. She runs a boutique in Brooklyn, where a regular customer offers to set her up with her son. Mary says yes, and the date goes wrong almost at once when he makes an offhand remark about her age.

The son is John Modesto-Whitford, a public defender. He is working hard not to turn into his politician father, so he chooses honesty over charm. The trouble is that his unfiltered comments keep landing badly with the people around him, Mary included.

His mother does not give up on the match. Her matchmaking keeps putting the two of them in the same room through the summer, until they strike a deal to fake-date so she will stop pushing.

This is a contemporary romance with a fake-dating setup, and it moves from friction to friendship to attraction. Neither of them expects the chemistry. The question is whether two stubborn, mismatched people can build something that lasts after such a rocky start. The tone is light and warm, with plenty of awkward humor.