One Beside Me: The Real Thing

She lost the fantasy. She didn't know she was about to find something better.Claire comes into this book hollowed out. The man she spent a year building in her head turned out to be nothing. Owen — quiet, steady, imperfect Owen — has been real the entire time.But Owen isn't sure he can trust himself either. He wonders if what he feels is just loneliness in disguise. He stayed in a marriage two years past honest. When he says the right thing, part of him doesn't know if that's a gift — or a habit.They're both wrong about themselves. They choose each other anyway.Adult contemporary romance. Explicit intimacy — consent-forward, emotionally grounded. Dual POV. Series conclusion.⟶ Picks up directly after Book 1: The Illusion