ABANDONED. Contemporary Romance heroine is in Applied Sciences and was a debutante about 20 years earlier. The hero was supposed to be her escort at the ball but ran away days earlier with an older female photographer.

[Gabby]

Both the hero and heroine are about 35 years old. The heroine is in Applied Sciences and was a debutante about 20 years earlier. She lives with her bipolar step-mother in NYC. The step-mother has a mental health episode early in the book while the heroine is housesitting in Connecticut, so she goes for a long walk in the rain. The hero knows who she is and rescues her from the rain. He had seen her at a wedding in Central Park and was struck by love at first sight, but he had already had his great love, so he didn't contact her. Then, he saw a portrait of her being sold in the park, and continued to ignore her until he saw her in the rain in Connecticut.

His parents are friends with the heroine's stepmother, and he would have been her escort to the Paris debutante ball 20 years earlier, but he ran away with an older female photographer. His parents cut off all contact with him. He makes a fortune in the computer science and then becomes a doctor. He decides to move back to NYC to reconnect with his parents and convinces the heroine to be his "fake girlfriend" to get back into his parents' good graces.

The book primarily takes place in NYC, but has some scenes in Connecticut and in Italy. It was published in the USA and is written in English. I think the author primarily writes historical romance, but this book is a contemporary romance. I read it around 2016-2017. It was probably a few years old then.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Gabby, please add some plot details to your header, since thousands of group members are looking for contemporary romance. Your thread needs to stand out.

[Kate]

Gabby ~~
You can "bump" your thread every month or so. This pushes your thread back to the top of the folder instead of languishing here on page 176 where fewer eyes will see it. Get back in the game! Bump!
You can do this by typing a new comment at the end of the thread, or even by typing the word "bump."
Good luck!

[Kris]

No response, moving to Abandoned folder.

Gabby (OP) last posted in the group in February 2019.