The Hardest Fall

Zoe and Dylan's history starts with an embarrassing dare at a college party — a kiss neither of them planned, followed by an offhand pact: if they're ever single at the same time down the road, they'll try it again for real. Two years pass, circumstances collide, and the pair end up living together as roommates, with the old pact hanging over every ordinary interaction.

Maise builds the book around the tension of enforced closeness between two people who have history but no clear label for what they are to each other — sports-adjacent college-romance energy with a slow-burn, will-they-won't-they core. The football backdrop is present but secondary to the character dynamic.

The Hardest Fall is a contemporary New Adult romance in Maise's catalog, aimed at readers who want banter-driven tension building toward an inevitable payoff.