By a Thread
By a Thread
Two people who can't stand each other are forced together and discover that tension and attraction aren't mutually exclusive. Their banter is sharp, their chemistry is undeniable, and falling in love feels like losing a game. A contemporary romance about enemies who become lovers when the real threat arrives.
Everything You Need to Know About By a Thread
Ally is broke, working three jobs, and raising her teenage daughter alone after a divorce that shredded her life. She's pragmatic, tired, and trying to keep her head above water. Dominic is the newly promoted CEO of a luxury magazine, successful, powerful, and emotionally closed off from a lifetime of high-pressure expectations. When Dominic hires Ally as his executive assistant, their dynamic is immediate friction. He's gruff. She's competent but doesn't coddle him. They're thrown into constant proximity , late nights, high-stakes business decisions, vulnerability that neither expected to find.
It's grumpy/sunshine romance anchored in real life: bills, custody schedules, career risk.
Ally is a single mother written as a fully realized person, not as a plot complication. Her financial stress is real and doesn't magically disappear; solving it together is part of the intimacy. Dominic's grumpiness has depth, it stems from genuine loneliness and control issues, not just a personality trait. The banter has teeth. The age gap (he's older) is acknowledged without being fetishized. The sex scenes are explicit (S3 spice) but the emotional core , what they need from each other , is why they work.
Explicit sexual content (S3 spice). Divorce, financial stress, parental conflict. Alcohol use. Brief panic attacks.
Dominic's previous relationship was with someone who used him for status; learning to trust Ally's genuine interest in him is the emotional arc. Ally's ex fights her custody arrangement early on, creating external pressure that forces her and Dominic to be honest about what they want. A business rival at the magazine tries to sabotage Dominic; Ally's loyalty during that crisis is where they cross from flirtation to real commitment. They don't marry by book's end but do commit to building something together, with Ally negotiating her job responsibilities around her daughter's needs.
If you want contemporary romance with substance and chemistry, grab this. Comp titles: *Kulti* by Mariana Zapata (grumpy lead, slow burn), *Beautiful Bastard* by Christina Lauren (workplace romance with bite). This is for readers who want forced proximity to feel organic and who appreciate romance that coexists with real-world stakes. Not for readers who want fantasy or escape.
This is part of Lucy Score's interconnected contemporary romance series set in the same world as her other books, but it reads as a standalone. You don't need to read others to understand this one.
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