Meeting Up with Love Books in Order

This page covers Maddie Evans's contribution to the Meeting Up with Love collection, a collaborative set of short romances built around modern meet-cutes and quick emotional setups. Evans's story was first published as Meeting Up with the Mason and later reissued as A Summer Path, which is useful to know if the title feels unfamiliar.

The premise is simple in the best way.

Alyssa needs landscaping work done at her aunt's vacation home, especially a stone walkway that badly needs rebuilding. The man who answers her video request for a quote seems younger and more interesting than she expected. That man, Chip, is not actually the contractor she thought she had hired. He is a PhD student filling in after his father refuses the job, and suddenly both of them are in deeper than planned, in work and in attraction.

What makes the story appealing is the short timeline. Alyssa is only in town for a few days, so every conversation matters more. There is no endless drifting. The characters have to decide quickly whether they are willing to trust what is happening. The vacation-home setting helps too. A half-finished walkway is a nice image for the whole romance, because both leads are trying to build something they did not exactly plan for.

Then the weather joins in.

A looming hurricane adds urgency without turning the story into melodrama. It pushes the couple closer, highlights practical strengths, and reminds you that Evans likes romances where people solve real problems together. If you enjoy short contemporary stories with a modern setup, a little home-improvement energy, and the feeling of two capable strangers surprising themselves, this is a charming standalone. The wider collection connection is there if you want it, but you do not need anything beyond this one novella to enjoy the story.