Next Time
Book 2 of the Maddie and Nate Series
Two strangers. One bar. Bad timing?
The night Maddie Cole and Nate Jacobs find themselves in the same place, at the same moment, with an hour to kill...a spark ignites. Engineer Maddie’s determination to conquer a male-dominated industry captivates Nate’s imagination, even as his steadfast loyalty starts a glow in Maddie’s heart.
But with marriages and children in tow, anything more than friendship would mean social and emotional carnage.
As Maddie and Nate’s paths continue to cross professionally, their affections blossom into a force that can’t be ignored. And one night, when nature conspires to force them together, their resolve unravels completely.
The question is, will imploding their personal lives end in heartache, or a soulmate?
This is the second iteration of Maddie and Nate’s love story, set in the midst of the 1970’s where the constraints of the era and their responsibilities change this love’s trajectory forever
Next Time
Special Edition Hardcover
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Next Time
Paperback
Next Time
Ebook
Next Time FAQs
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Maddie Cole and Nate Jacobs meet during a blackout in a Toronto bar in 1976, both married with families of their own. As their professional lives keep bringing them back into contact, the connection between them grows into something neither can ignore, forcing both to confront what they’re willing to risk.
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Maddie is 38 and Nate is 43. This is the middle book in the series, set roughly forty years before Out of Time.
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The titles refer to the order the stories were written and published, not the chronological order of the events. Out of Time was the first book I wrote, exploring Maddie and Nate at the end of their lives. Next Time imagines an earlier version of their connection, asking what if they’d met decades sooner, while both were already living full lives with families.
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No. Each book stands alone, though I’d recommend reading them in publication order (Out of Time, then Next Time, then Our Time) for the richest experience.
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Yes. This is the book in the series that deals most directly with infidelity, and it includes open-door sex scenes. The moral complexity of two married people falling for each other is central to the story, not a side element, and it’s written with the intent of portraying the realities of human relationships honestly rather than judging them.
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If infidelity as a storyline is a hard limit for you, this book may not be for you, and that’s completely fair. If you’re open to a story that takes the emotional complexity seriously rather than treating it lightly, readers have told me Next Time sparked some of their most thoughtful book club conversations.
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As with the rest of the series, hope is the throughline, though getting there in this book is more complicated than in Out of Time.
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Very much so. I researched everything from period fashion and restaurant menus to the actual score of a 1976 Maple Leafs game that appears in the book. If you lived through that era in Toronto, I hope you’ll recognize it.
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Yes. Next Time is set during a period when women in engineering were exceedingly rare, especially in senior roles, and Maddie’s determination to succeed in that environment is woven through the story alongside the romance.
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A discussion guide for Next Time is available on my website. Scroll up and you’ll find a button!