Quirky Dr. Lacey Sturm, a salmon scientist in Seattle, is having the worst day: a leak forces her lab to shut down, she’s evicted from her apartment, and she discovers her boyfriend is up to something shady. She ends up crashing with her cousin—a reunion ten years in the making.
Amid the chaos, Lacey must mend their fractured friendship, unravel the mystery at her lab, and make sense of vivid dreams about a mysterious man she’s never met. As the pieces of her life collide, Lacey embarks on a journey of self-discovery, tangled with a sweet romance and the realization of what she truly wants.
Good in Theory is a heartfelt and funny exploration of family, love, and the unexpected turns that shape our lives.
Tropes
Outdoorsy
Cousins Reunited
Scientist + Musician Love Story
Small Town
Shady Ex
No Spice
Reader Review
“The story grabbed my attention from the beginning. The way this mystery unfolds kept me guessing, and I felt so connected to the main character throughout the story. The author’s shares the story with humor and wit, along with thought provoking pieces that stopped me in my tracks. Excellent book!”
~SLF
Behind the Story
The idea for Good in Theory started when I recalled something a chemistry professor said over twenty years ago. The memory floated into my head as I was thinking how cool it would be to write a story about a female scientist.
My professor was actually fun and candid with us. One day she started talking about how everyone has a price. I don’t remember what triggered the conversation, but it was funny to think about. How much would someone have to pay you to quit your job? Would it have to be enough to set up a lab in your basement so you could keep doing what you love and not really get paid for it? She might have been talking about winning the lottery, but whatever the trigger, that idea stayed with me. And it became a major driver for this book.
Then, the rest of the story came at me in layers, and the last one that dropped into my head almost didn’t get to be part of it!
When I first set out to tell the story of a scientist who was thrown back into her cousin’s world after a decade of estrangement, I meant to entwine that storyline and the one where something sinister was happening at the lab. But, for a few years, I had also wanted to write about someone who dreamed about her soulmate and then actually met him.
I had read a post where a friend said that she had experienced the dreaming part but hadn’t met him in real life yet. It was like he kept coming to her and saying hi in her dreams, but then never showed up in person. Of course, I was intrigued by this and wanted the happy ending for her, so I decided to give it to Lacey.
Once I had the main plot of the book laid out, I played with the soulmate idea until I finally felt like it would work. The final result was a story that I was so excited to write because it not only had that “trudging into the unknown” quality with the lab story and the reconnection with her cousin, but it also had the beautiful rush of new romance.
And, funny enough, some of my favorite scenes to write were about Colin playing his guitar. I grew up as a musician, playing trumpet in marching band, clear through college, so I loved being able to describe the way the music feels and how a room changes with a live performance. It gives me chills!