Harper Ross has enjoyed a lifelong love affair with the dramatic story worlds in books and movies. After leaving her legal practice to raise her kids, she discovered her own creative side and began writing novels that explore friendship, family, and forgiveness. Because she also appreciates the magic in everyday life―from the spark of attraction to those serendipitous moments we all experience―you’ll find a dash of that in her work too. When she’s not at the keyboard, she’s likely to be singing badly in her car, dancing in her kitchen, or walking her adorable dog, Mo. She’s also a lucky wife and mother to a very patient and supportive family.

When a journalist acquires the power to hear lies, the real test isn’t exposing the truth, but living with it in the next striking novel from Harper Ross, author of The Unwritten Rules of Magic.

Rowan Winslow built her career exposing liars, no matter the consequences. That conviction cost her a job at a prestigious Boston paper, as well as her reputation. At 28, she’s back in her hometown of Pinebridge, Vermont, navigating the wreckage of her relationship with her sister and trying not to suffocate in a town where everyone knows her past. Then a birthday wish during a meteor shower grants her what seems like the perfect gift: the power to hear when people lie.

At first, it’s intoxicating. Seductive, even, as she uses her ability to uncover secrets for stories that could relaunch her career. But the deeper she leans into her power, the more her choices begin to strain the fragile relationships she has been trying to rebuild.

When a shocking family secret comes to light, Rowan’s world grinds to a halt, forcing her to question everything she thought she knew about the people she loves and the truths she has built her life around. The truth has always been Rowan’s creed, but now it’s demanding a sacrifice she’s not sure she can make. Because not all truths set you free. Some leave you trapped in an impossible choice.

For fans of The Midnight Library and In Five Years, The Unwritten Rules of Magic is a spellbinding novel that blends magic and memory in an unforgettable journey through love, grief, and the hidden cost of perfection across three generations of women.

Emerson Clarke can’t remember a time when she felt in control of her life. Her father―a celebrated author―blew in and out of her childhood like a hurricane until he got Alzheimer’s. Her mother numbed loneliness with gin. And recently, her teen daughter has shut her out without explanation. The only place Emerson has ever been in charge is in front of the keyboard where, as a ghostwriter, she dictates everything that happens on the page. If only she could arrange reality the same way, life could be perfect. An impossible fantasy―or so she believes until she makes a startling discovery.

After her father’s wake, Emerson steals her father’s vintage typewriter―the very one he’d forbidden anyone to touch―and tests its keys by typing out a frivolous wish. After it comes true the very next day, she tries another. When those words also spring to life, she becomes obsessed with using the typewriter to engineer happiness for herself and her daughter. Easier said than done.

As Emerson shapes her real-life circumstances, she uncovers disturbing truths about her family’s history and the unexpected cost for each story-come-true. She should destroy the typewriter, but when her daughter’s secret finally emerges, Emerson is torn between paying the price for bending fate and embracing the uncertainty of an unscripted life.