“Have you ever thought about marriage?” Mark asked conversationally.
Amelia needs a new place to live—in 2020.
Mark needs a wife.
A legal marriage solves their problems, at least on paper. Bookish Amelia and jaded Mark both agree that feelings would only complicate things.
Lockdown stretches on, deepening their community’s wrestling with what faithfulness to God and neighbors looks like during a pandemic. On top of that, the practical newlyweds have to navigate grief at work, church Zoom gatherings, family tensions, and natural disasters—and that’s only the first few months together. Each new hurdle chips away at the cordial boundaries between them.
They agreed to live together. Now they might just have to figure out how to trust each other.
Scheduled for rerelease October 25, 2026
Convenient is a story I didn’t expect. At the time, I exclusively wrote fantasy and fairy tales. I didn’t even enjoy reading romance (though that’s since changed).
One night I had one of the most vivid dreams of my life—definitely the most awkward. When I woke up, I couldn’t get it out of my mind.
So I did what I always do when my brain can’t let go of something: I decided to jot it down. I started scribbling out the gist of the dream, expecting it to take about half an hour.
A month later, I had a completed manuscript and a whole new genre of writing to explore.
Mark and Amelia are dear to me. Their story reminds me of friends who figured out ways to live out their faith during 2020, who wrestled with what faithfulness looked like when the whole world changed, who showed up and lived as community at a time when so many were isolated.
But their journey isn’t a snapshot of a weird time in our history. It’s a common journey we all have to go through.
Both have difficult relationships with family. Both have exhausting jobs that force them to face trauma and brokenness on a daily basis. Both have deep wounds and deep passions. They just express it in vastly different ways.
Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 lockdown, Amelia and Mark find themselves forced to grow. I hope their journey brings you as much healing as it did me.