Every Beat After

by: Sara B. Larson

She’s guarding a borrowed heart, afraid of her uncertain future. He’s locked his heart away, still haunted by his past. But in this simmering enemies-to-lovers romance, sparks turn to something deeper—and the connection they tried so hard to resist might become the one thing they can’t live without.

“Moving and romantic—a gorgeous debut!” —Sophie Cousens, New York Times best-selling author of This Time Next Year

Years after a life-saving heart transplant, Liv Karlsson lives in the fragile space between gratitude and fear—thankful for every heartbeat and afraid of when they might stop. Running her family’s cozy Swedish bakery gives her purpose, but mounting financial pressures and the shadows of her past leave her wondering: Is she truly living . . . or simply existing?

Then Hunter moves in next door. Guarded, cynical, and annoyingly attractive, he’s everything Liv avoids—and he’s also unfortunately her roommate’s cousin. But when he unexpectedly steps in to help Liv save the bakery with a new marketing plan, their reluctant partnership sparks something neither one is prepared for. He pushes her. Challenges her. Sees her. Suddenly, the girl who’s spent years protecting her heart finds it racing for someone who might just understand her better than anyone ever has.

But just as Liv begins to imagine a future worth fighting for, a devastating revelation threatens to unravel everything. Now Liv must face the ultimate test: Will she find the courage to love, or will fear take it all away?

Meet the Author

Sara B. Larson

Sara B. Larson is the best-selling and critically acclaimed author of multiple YA fantasy books, including A Promised Vengeance, the Defy trilogy, the Dark Breaks the Dawn duology, and the Sisters of Shadow and Light duology. Every Beat After is her adult debut. She can’t remember a time when she didn’t write books—although she now uses a computer instead of a Little Mermaid notebook. Sara lives in Utah with her husband, their four children, and their dogs—Loki, a Maltese, and Bindi, an English cream retriever—where she also runs a commercial preschool. When she’s not mothering, preschooling, or writing, you can often find her at the gym repenting of her sugar addiction.

Books of Sara B. Larson

Every Beat After Jun 2, 2026