Built to Belong: A Collins Novel

Stacy Sullivan has always believed soccer is for everyone. As the longtime coach of the Collins girls' team, she loves the game, the structure, and the way a field can turn a group of kids into something stronger together. But after another sign-up night filled with the same families from the same neighborhoods, Stacy is forced to confront a truth she can no longer ignore: the program she loves works beautifully for the people who can already afford its hidden costs. Lucy Jones has no time for polished community promises that fall apart under real-life pressure. She is raising two daughters, working an hourly job, and doing the daily math of money, transportation, childcare, and survival. When her daughter Emma wants to play soccer, Lucy comes face to face with a system that keeps calling itself accessible while quietly shutting families like hers out. What begins as one difficult conversation becomes something neither woman expects. As Stacy starts rethinking the rules of participation, Lucy becomes the person she trusts most to tell the truth about what is broken. Long mornings, hard questions, and the unglamorous work of repair draw them closer, until what began as shared purpose turns into something deeper, steadier, and impossible to ignore. Set in the small town of Collins, Built to Belong is a heartfelt, intelligent romance about community, care, and what happens when love is built not on grand gestures, but on the quiet courage to make room for someone else to stay.

Pagina's: 250, Paperback, Independently published