The Bright Side of Going Dark Read online

  PRAISE FOR KELLY HARMS

  The Overdue Life of Amy Byler

  “Librarians and booklovers will fall for Amy, and Harms writes a great light read full of tears, laughter, and charming, relatable characters.”

  —Library Journal (starred review)

  “In the easygoing, character-driven style of Liane Moriarty and Barbara Davis, this story of an underappreciated single mom with more freedom than she’s entirely comfortable with mixes the self-assured highs with the guiltiest lows of modern motherhood. Harms’s warm and witty novel will tickle fans of Where’d You Go, Bernadette and Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine.”

  —Booklist

  “A laugh-out-loud funny, pitch-perfect novel that will have readers rooting for this unlikely, relatable, and totally lovable heroine, The Overdue Life of Amy Byler is the ultimate escape—and will leave moms everywhere questioning whether it isn’t time for a #momspringa of their own.”

  —New York Journal of Books

  “Filled with love, self-discovery, and plot twists.”

  —Madison Magazine

  “Kelly Harms tackles modern single motherhood with flair, swoons, and the most perfect date ever written. In The Overdue Life of Amy Byler, readers will connect with the titular character’s unexpected journey of freedom and self-discovery, all told with Harms’s signature humor . . . I’m a fan for life!”

  —Amy E. Reichert, author of The Optimist’s Guide to Letting Go and The Coincidence of Coconut Cake

  “The Overdue Life of Amy Byler is a charming, relatable, and entertaining look at parenthood, divorce, dating, and everything in between. No one cuts right to the heart of life—in all its hilarity and heartbreak—quite like Kelly Harms. This is easily one of my favorite books of the year!”

  —Kristy Woodson Harvey, author of Slightly South of Simple

  “Amy Byler’s life isn’t easy—what with an absentee husband suddenly showing up and reclaiming some getting-to-know-you time with their two teenage kids. But what follows is pure wonder. Kelly Harms brings the mom-makeover story to a whole new level, with twists and turns and dialogue that is so funny you have to put down the book and simply allow yourself to laugh. It’s well written, it’s original, and I fell in love with Amy and all her well-meaning friends on her journey to find out who she really is. So much fun!”

  —Maddie Dawson, Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestselling author of Matchmaking for Beginners

  “Amy Byler’s husband ditched her and their kids three years ago, so when he shows up, full of regret, we can forgive her for being less than welcoming. Still, she could use a break—and a life. What follows is so engaging I had to clear my calendar. Harms dances on the knife edge between snort-your-coffee humor and bull’s-eye insights, often in the same sentence. As a card-carrying curmudgeon, I resist such tactics, but here I never felt played. Instead, I was swept up in Amy’s everymom dilemma, her quest for a full life without sinking into the swamp of selfishness. Whip smart and honest to the core, The Overdue Life of Amy Byler is a thoughtful, nimble charmer. Did I mention the hot librarian?”

  —Sonja Yoerg, #1 Amazon bestselling author of True Places

  The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane

  “A perfect recipe of clever, quirky, poignant, and fun makes this a delightful debut.”

  —Kirkus Reviews

  “Set in small-town Maine, this first novel is a story of rebuilding, recovery, and renewal. Harms has created two incredibly likable heroines, allowing the strengths of one woman to bolster the weaknesses of the other. While the central conflict of the story appears to be resolved fairly early, a succession of plot twists keeps the reader intrigued and invested. In the manner of Mary Kay Andrews and Jennifer Weiner, Harms’s novel is emotionally tender, touching, and witty. Great for book clubs.”

  —Booklist

  “Spunky leading ladies that you can take to the beach.”

  —Fitness magazine

  “The story is funny and heartbreaking throughout.”

  —Melissa Amster, Chick Lit Central

  “Another perfect summer diversion is The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane. Kelly Harms writes with love about a trio of women desperate for a change and smart enough to recognize it may not be exactly what they planned. Delicious.”

  —Angela Matano, Campus Circle

  “The friction between the Janines, along with a few romantic foibles and a lot of delicious meals, results in a sweetly funny and unpredictable story that’s ultimately about making a home where you find it.”

  —Capital Times

  “Kelly Harms’s debut is a delicious concoction of reality and fairy tale—the ideal summer book! You’ll feel lucky for having read it. And after meeting her, I guarantee you will want a great-aunt Midge of your very own.”

  —New York Times bestselling author Sarah Addison Allen

  “Warmhearted and funny, The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane pulls you in with quirky yet relatable characters, intriguing relationships, and the promise of second chances. Harms’s debut is as refreshingly delightful as a bowl of her character Janey’s chilled pea soup with mint on a hot summer day.”

  —Meg Donohue, bestselling author of

  How to Eat a Cupcake: A Novel

  “Funny, original, and delightfully quirky, Kelly Harms’s The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane shows us that sometimes, all we need to make it through one of life’s rough patches is a change of scenery and a home-cooked meal.”

  —Molly Shapiro, author of Point, Click, Love: A Novel

  “The characters are so well drawn that they practically leap from the page, charming dysfunction and all! A poignant, hilarious debut that’s filled with heart, soul, insight, and laugh-out-loud moments. It’ll make you rethink the meaning of what makes a family—and if you’re anything like me, it’ll make you want to pick up and move to 1516 Shipwreck Lane immediately! I’m such a fan of this utterly charming novel.”

  —Kristin Harmel, author of Italian for Beginners and

  The Sweetness of Forgetting

  “Clever and memorable and original.”

  —Samantha Wilde, author of I’ll Take What She Has

  “Janey and Nean each have a common name and uncommon hard luck, and when they suddenly have in common a sweepstakes house, their lives begin to change in ways neither of them could have imagined. Their quirky wit will win you over, even as they fumble through their crazy new life. The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane is alive with warmth and wit; I enjoyed it right through to the satisfying end.”

  —Kristina Riggle, author of Real Life & Liars, The Life You’ve Imagined, Things We Didn’t Say, and Keepsake

  “Kelly Harms’s The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane is a delightful book bursting with good humor, fast action, and delicious food. Aunt Midge is a pure joy, and I loved Harms’s surprising, spirited, and generous slant on what it takes to make a family.”

  —Nancy Thayer, New York Times bestselling author of Summer Breeze

  The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay

  “Kelly Harms writes with such tender insight about change, saying goodbye to her beloved yet troubled city life, and hurtling into the delicious unknown. Her characters sparkle; I loved Lily and wished I could have coffee with her in the enchanted town of Minnow Bay.”

  —Luanne Rice, New York Times bestselling author

  “The temperature in Minnow Bay, Wisconsin, may be cold, but its people are anything but. Kelly Harms has created a world so real and so inviting that you absolutely will not want to leave. The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay proves that a little small-town meddling never hurt anyone and that, sometimes, it takes a village to fall in love. Kelly Harms has done it again!”


  —Kristy Woodson Harvey, author of Dear Carolina and

  Lies and Other Acts of Love

  “The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay is a glorious read, full of heart and humor. Lily is the kind of character you’ll root for to the end, and the delightful residents of Minnow Bay will keep you chuckling with each turn of the page. Kelly Harms is a talented author with a knack for writing a story you’ll want to read again and again.”

  —Darien Gee/Mia King

  “In The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay, Kelly Harms weaves together a small town and big dreams into a delightful and heartfelt tapestry of friendship, love, and getting what you deserve in the way you least expect. I was hooked from page one, then laughed out loud and teared up while reading—exactly what I want from romantic women’s fiction. Kelly Harms is the real deal.”

  —Amy Nathan

  “In The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay, Lily Stewart is Shopaholic’s Becky Bloomwood meets Capote’s Holly Golightly. This charming tale is filled to the brim with eccentric characters, uproarious predicaments, and a charming (if chilly!) setting. Kelly Harms has created the most lovable character in Lily, a starving artist with a penchant for disaster and a completely unbreakable spirit. One for the beach chair!”

  —Kate Moretti, New York Times bestselling author of

  The Vanishing Year

  “Filled with witty dialogue and an unforgettable cast of characters, The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay is a complete charmer. I rooted for Lily from the first page and didn’t want to leave the magical town of Minnow Bay. Kelly Harms delivers another heartwarming novel that lifts the spirit.”

  —Anita Hughes

  “The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay is the perfect feel-good read. An irresistible premise, a charming—though forgetful—heroine, an emotionally involving love story, lovely writing . . . it all adds up to cozy hours in a fictional place you’ll wish you could visit. Don’t miss this delightful novel!”

  —Susan Wiggs

  “Sometimes you read a book that hits all the right notes: funny, charismatic, romantic, and empowering. The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay is that book. Kelly Harms’s enchanting writing lured me into the quiet yet complicated world of Minnow Bay, and I never wanted to leave. I loved it in every way!”

  —Amy E. Reichert

  “Delightful, and sure to captivate readers and gain new fans for author Kelly Harms. With sparkling dialogue and a winning heroine who finds her big-girl panties amid the disaster zone her life has become and heads in a new direction, finding love along the way, it had me turning the pages into the night.”

  —Eileen Goudge

  “I loved this book! Fresh and devastatingly funny, The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay is romantic comedy at its very best. The talented Kelly Harms is one to watch.”

  —Colleen Oakley, author of Before I Go

  “The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay thoroughly entertains as it explores friendship, flings, and finally finding yourself. Harms tells the story in a funny, fresh voice ideal for this charming coming-into-her-age novel.”

  —Christie Ridgway, USA Today bestselling author of the Beach House No. 9 and Cabin Fever series

  OTHER BOOKS BY

  KELLY HARMS

  The Overdue Life of Amy Byler

  The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay

  The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2020 by Kelly Harms

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Lake Union Publishing, Seattle

  www.apub.com

  Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Lake Union Publishing are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.

  ISBN-13: 9781542020916 (hardcover)

  ISBN-10: 1542020913 (hardcover)

  ISBN-13: 9781542014113 (paperback)

  ISBN-10: 1542014115 (paperback)

  Cover design by David Drummond

  First edition

  To all the book influencers who help me find new books and help my books find new readers. Please don’t throw your phones off a cliff.

  CONTENTS

  MIA

  PART I: PAIGE CLICKS

  MIA

  PAIGE

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  PART II: MIA CULPAS

  PAIGE

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  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  MIA

  When it happens, I don’t exactly know what I’m doing. I’m angry; I know that. Angry at a lot of people.

  Like, half a million people.

  And I’m scared. I’m in danger of being exposed as a fraud. And I am a fraud. I know that suddenly, as clearly as I know the mountains are tall and the lake is cold. I’ve lied about something important, to so many people. And for what?

  I’m standing in front of a cliff. I’m ten paces from the edge. I could stop what I’m doing and freeze in position and wait for someone to come and talk me back into reason.

  But I’m not going to.

  I pick up my phone. Look at it as I do five to six hundred times every day. The previews on my lock screen are infuriating. I don’t want to talk to any of these people. They’re either strangers or virtual strangers. They all believe a version of me that is not true. They all want something from me, a piece of me, but not the real me, to make them feel less invisible, less tired and sad or bored and aimless. I don’t want to answer any of these messages or return any of these calls. I have to. I have to chisel away at each of them, thumb through miles of scrolling, catch up on days of missed messages, posts, and photos. Hit Like and Like and Like some more.

  Only I don’t.

  My mom likes to point out that if you take the entire history of humanity and squeeze it onto a football field, the amount of time we’ve had mobile phones is less than the breadth of a human hair.

  A human hair.

  My own hair is slicked back from sweat, and there’s mud in my ponytail, and some of the shorter layers around my face have gotten loose and are stuck to my cheeks. I reach up and feel the grime; it feels human and real and so different from the patented polymer that covers my phone and has protected it from every storm so that nothing real can touch it, so that it is always at the ready, always at my fingertips, no matter where I am.

  And I know: This is not real. Nothing I’ve been doing for the last five years is real. It’s all been zeros and ones, “likes” instead of likes, “friends” instead of friends, “followers” when there is nowhere to lead. I want rid of it. I want to be free of it, not just for twenty-four hours, not just for a week, but forever.

  I stop right at the edge of the mountainside, where the park-service railing rises up to catch me before I plummet over. I can’t think about what I am going to
do, not even for another second. If I do, the brilliant engineering that all these app developers and tech engineers have put into place will win out again. I will put another token of my life into the slot machine. I have to act.

  I clutch my hand tightly around my phone and wind up.

  When I let go, the phone sails through the air, over the cliff edge, out of sight, down, down, and then I hear it hit.

  It makes a small crunch. And then a nice echo.

  And just like that, with no way to tell anyone about it, my real life finally begins.

  PART I

  PAIGE CLICKS

  MIA

  Hey loves, hiking thru the gorgeous woods in one of #Colorado’s amazing #stateparks. Tucker says hi! Check out this view. (No not talking about myself for once, I swear!) I defy you to stand in the soaring Rockies without your heart soaring a little too. QOTD: What makes your spirits soar? How can you get more of it into your everyday life? <3 you! xoxo Mia

  From where I stand, I can see mountains in every direction. Over to the left they are tallest, they stretch, they seem to grow every time I look back, they cast shadows, they tower. To my right they topple, fall down, tumble like hair over Rapunzel’s back: rivers of rock and shrubbery and, probably, if I could see better without all these tears in my eyes, actual waterways. In front of me is a bench, and I sit on it, and from it, when I let my head tip all the way back, back, back, in a position that every yoga teacher knows is unhealthy, I can read the sign above me upside down.

  What Tucker said when he found out I could read upside down: “You’re amazing. Is there anything you can’t do? How did I get so lucky?”

  What Tucker texted when I asked him why he was late to this park bench where I am craning my neck and probably ruining the C1 through C4 vertebrae: I don’t think we should do this. “This” being our wedding.

  My brain flips the letters on the sign around for me, so I don’t see them as upside down. It reads:

  WELCOME TO LANGE STATE PARK

  There is a trail map worn thin from fingers tracing it and a Plexiglas registration-form holder and the words Elevation 8890, which I would have cropped out of the photo of me and Tucker—if Tucker thought we should do this, which he doesn’t—because 8,890 feet above sea level isn’t particularly impressive in Colorado, and those who realize that will know we hiked not at all but just drove here, parked in the parking lot, posed for several photographs, and then drove back to the hotel where we are staying.