Ashley Winstead burst onto the literary scene last year with a highly regarded thriller, IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE. She also has another suspense title coming out later this year, but sandwiched in between is FOOL ME ONCE, a delightful novel that’s thrilling in a different way.

Near the beginning of the book, our heroine, Lee Stone (or “Stoner” to her friends), asks her heartbroken sister, as the two of them sit down for a cathartic movie marathon, “[W]hen do we get to watch a rom-com about a woman with actual character flaws?.... I want the woman who stole money from her dead grandma, or did something unforgivable to her childhood best friend, or, like, screwed over everyone who trusted her to get a promotion at work. Serious emotional issues. I want to watch those women find love.”

"It's clear that Winstead is a hugely talented and versatile novelist, and readers shouldn’t think twice about picking up this thoroughly delightful romance that makes the case for everyone --- even the messiest among us --- deserving true love."

Stoner might not have done any of those exact things, but she’d be the first to admit that she’s kind of a mess. Perpetually cynical about love ever since her dad abandoned a seemingly ideal marriage and family life to have an affair, Stoner has spent every single relationship bracing herself for the inevitable collapse: the cheating, the betrayal, the heartbreak. She’s always been so busy looking for signs of infidelity that the one time she came closest to finding real love, she fulfilled her own prophecy by cheating on him. So these days she avoids the whole problem by refusing to develop feelings for anyone and instead having meaningless sex.

Fortunately, at work, Lee can distract herself from any romantic or emotional shortcomings. She loves her job running communications for a female-owned electric vehicle company, and she’s good at it. Now that a left-leaning governor has finally been elected in Texas, Lee and her team have a shot at passing a bill that he supports, which they’ve dubbed the “Green Machine.” To get it through, Lee must convince three key state legislators. She will have to work closely with the governor’s hotshot new policy chief, who just happens to be Ben Laderman, the guy whose heart she broke and who she truly might have loved.

FOOL ME ONCE is a second-chance romance that also has elements of the rivals-to-lovers trope. It’s filled with vivid and often hilarious scenes (the whole novel is worth reading just for its opening scenes, in which Lee and her best friend are caught doing a walk of shame while dressed as Disney characters), as well as real moments of emotional vulnerability and honesty. The slow burn of Stoner and Ben’s journey back to each other is escalated by the political stakes of the project they’re both passionate about.

It's clear that Winstead is a hugely talented and versatile novelist, and readers shouldn’t think twice about picking up this thoroughly delightful romance that makes the case for everyone --- even the messiest among us --- deserving true love.