Friends or More? #newrelease #Inkspellpublish

9/8/2025

It's an age-old question- Can you simply be friends with the opposite sex? Most of us have friends who we aren't attracted to, but is there a way to cross that line and move from friends into something more? That's the premise of Author Sydney Scott's latest small town romance.

Being delegated to the friend-zone isn't fun when you are wishing for something more. Poor Henry is tired of it but once he's no longer searching, will the perfect woman fall into his lap?

LOVE BY NUMBERS is the third book in the Sunset Cove series and features the cutest opposites attract romance. Henry is a by-the-book, numbers guy while Jenna is a flighty artsy person who doesn't always think things through. The two of them are adorable together and their chemistry is magnetic.

I love the small town charm and the way that while it's a part of a series, you can read it alone. But why would you want to?? The characters from earlier books like to show up and knowing who they are brings more depth to the story.

Available now, LOVE BY NUMBERS is a great read and a perfect addition for your weekly reading! Pick it up today!

Blurb:
Can one perpetually practical accountant plus one free-spirited artist equal more than friends?

Henry Baker is tired of getting perpetually friend zoned by the women of Sunset Cove. All he wants is to find someone and start a family of his own, but that seems impossible. When he opens his door one morning to find his high school crush on his doorstep, however, Henry may just have a chance after all.

Jenna Morrison is happy-go-lucky artist who never felt like she belonged, but now that she finds herself single and pregnant, she's decided to give her hometown of Sunset Cove a second chance. After answering an online ad for a roommate, she finds herself on the doorstep of the sweet boy from high school she wished she'd gotten to know better.

As Henry and Jenna become friends and bond over all things baby, they start to wonder if second chances are indeed possible. Will Henry and Jenna decide that family is what you make it, or will the impracticality of their circumstances equal disaster?

Sydney Scott brings readers back to Sunset Cove in this opposites attract, baby-love romance. Fans of Josh and Gemma Make a Baby by Sarah Ready and Strictly Business by Carrie Elks will fall in love with Henry and Jenna as they navigate their way from the friend zone to lovers.

EXCERPT
Henry tried to take a deep breath and remember that he was trying to be grateful for all he had, not grieving what he didn’t. That wasn’t easy to do, especially not at a wedding. He wasn’t eternally optimistic like his sister Holly. He was a realist, and right now it looked like his future reality consisted of him, alone in his apartment for the rest of his life.

“I should get a cat,” he heard himself announce to Holly and Ben. Hailey and Louis had moved to the dance floor as had his parents, so luckily, they were the only two at the table to hear his sad admission. “I don’t like cats, but I feel like I should get one. That’s what people do when their lonely right? They get a pet.”

Holly furrowed her brow and grabbed his wine glass. “I think you’ve had enough for one night,” she said knowingly, placing the wine out of his reach. She slid out of Ben’s lap and into the seat next to him. “Are you okay, Hen?”

“I’m great,” he lied. He ran a hand over his now smooth face. He had started to grow out a beard, but Hailey had asked him to shave the scruff for her wedding pictures and he had obliged. It was her day after all, so his foray into facial hair would just have to wait. “I just miss having you around the apartment is all, and I figured a cat would be a good replacement. Of course, cats are far less messy, so maybe a squirrel or guinea pig would be a better fit.”

Holly gave him a meaningful look. “I’m not messy, and anyway we were talking about you.”

“No we weren’t.” Henry polished off his cake slice and made to stand, but Holly stilled him with her hand on his arm, the genuine concern in her eyes causing him to retake his seat.

“I’m not going to make you talk about it now because it’s not really the time or place, but I will make you talk about it,” she said before turning to her husband. “Dance with me?”

Ben smiled and stood up, pulling Holly to her feet. “Anything for you, sunshine.” Before walking away, he looked over at Henry with a thoughtful expression. “If you really don’t like being in the apartment alone, you could always get a roommate,” he offered before sweeping his wife over to the dance floor.

Henry scoffed. “Roommate? I don’t think so.”