Waiting for Sunshine

Waiting for Sunshine opens the Nashville Nights series with Shane Thompson and Max Mullins, two people who have both lost enough to last a lifetime but who process it very differently. Shane has been cheated on, walked away from her dream job, and crossed the country to avoid ending up homeless — and she's determined to stay optimistic anyway. Max, a former Navy SEAL, has spent years closed off, convinced he doesn't need anyone else.

Their meet-awkward — Shane spilling coffee on Max's white sweatshirt — leads to her taking a job at his bar, and the two settle into an uneasy rhythm that slowly turns into something warmer. Told in dual POV, it's a grumpy/sunshine, age-gap slow burn about two guarded people learning to let someone back in.