When Happily Ever After Fails

Twentysomething Abigail Gardner has experienced her share of tragedy, so when she gets a teaching job at one of Philadelphia’s most prestigious prep schools and everything in her down-in-the-dumps life starts to turn around, she thinks she’s finally getting the happy ending she’s yearned for. But is “happily ever after” really possible?

"A witty, well-paced, and original story—gimme all the Courtney Deane books with a big glass of rosé, please!” —Lizzy Dent, author of The Summer Job and The Sweetest Revenge

Twentysomething Abigail Gardner’s life is circling the drain. Her parents are dead, her “like a brother” is in love with her, and her nascent career as an art teacher was fully squashed by an unfortunate viral incident involving sophomores and Spanx.

But just as that whirlpool feels poised to suck her down completely, she’s granted a second chance: she lands a teaching job at Excelsior Primm, one of Philadelphia’s oldest and most prestigious preparatory academies. Only problem is, instead of teaching art she’ll be stuck teaching her least favorite subject—literature—and her least favorite theme: tragedy.

Tired of being stuck in her own tragic tale, Abigail starts rewriting every sad ending she can get her hands on, in and out of the classroom. To her surprise, her life soon starts to resemble the fairy tales she adores—great job, hot guy, a career gaining recognition. But when an unexpected plot twist threatens to derail her happy ending, Abigail begins to realize why these conclusions are so hard to come by.