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If you\u2019ve taken away anything from The Everygirl\u2019s book coverage, I would hope that by now I\u2019ve sold you on the fact that fall is the best reading season. If I wasn\u2019t convinced of that before last year, Hannah Bonam-Young\u2019s 2025 fall romance<\/a>, People Watching<\/em>, was the story that confirmed it for me. So, when I found out that not only were we getting another Bonam-Young book this year, People Pleasing<\/em>, but The Everygirl also had an exclusive excerpt of that upcoming novel, I couldn\u2019t have been more excited.<\/p>\n Somehow, that\u2019s not the end of the fabulous news. The Everygirl is also serving as a media partner for An Evening With Hannah Bonam-Young to celebrate the release! Join a virtual conversation on January 6, 2027, with Hannah Bonam-Young and fellow romance superstars Lyla Sage and B.K. Borison<\/a>. You\u2019ll get to listen in on fabulous convos about books and romance tropes, and even have a chance to submit your own question. Below, find an excerpt of People Pleasing<\/em> and all the information on how and where to get tickets to the event.<\/p>\n A sweet and soulful romance from the New York Times bestselling author of Out on a Limb<\/em> and People Watching<\/em> about two childhood friends reconnecting, healing from their past, and falling for the people they\u2019ve become.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n Nadia Kablukov never planned to return home, but when her brother Nik calls her asking for help opening his new brewery, she can\u2019t say no. But going home means she\u2019ll be forced to face her first love, ex-best friend, and former next-door neighbor, Aleks Truss, who also happens to be her brother\u2019s business partner. Now, working together at the brewery, Nadia and Aleks find themselves falling back into old routines, despite the time and distance between them. Nadia quickly realizes that she might not be able to bury her feelings forever.<\/p>\n To join the event, simply buy a ticket here<\/a>. Your purchase will go toward one of the independent bookstore partners. Each ticket includes a copy of People Pleasing<\/em> and access to the virtual event.<\/p>\n Purchase tickets to An Evening with Hannah Bonam-Young<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n I toss my sunglasses onto the dash and begin rolling down my window, ready to greet Nik and his family, when I spot a familiar, entirely unexpected face. Among the chaotic waving and jumping of kids strung across my brother\u2019s front porch is Aleks.<\/p>\n I toss my sunglasses onto the dash and begin rolling down my window, ready to greet Nik and his family, when I spot a familiar, entirely unexpected face. Among the chaotic waving and jumping of kids strung across my brother\u2019s front porch is Aleks.<\/p>\n He\u2019s holding my youngest niece, Quinn, and speaking to her as he points in our direction. Quinn earns a broad, proud smile from him when she begins waving at us. I watch as he turns to do the same, his eyes scanning over his grandmother\u2019s van with a fondness that only further pokes at a long-dormant ache in my chest.<\/p>\n I am not ready for this. For him. Not yet. I thought I\u2019d have more time.<\/p>\n \u201cFuck, shit, fuck,\u201d I mumble, pressing myself into the passenger seat as Milo honks his horn, coincidentally, in unison. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t supposed to be here,\u201d I whisper, shrinking even smaller. \u201cNot now.\u201d I\u2019m not even sure if I spoke out loud that time. If I did, it was most likely in tiny, whimpering, mouselike noises inaudible to humans.<\/p>\n Milo looks at me like I\u2019ve grown an extra set of eyebrows, then back to the windshield as we pass the house and head toward the far end of the driveway where Nik\u2019s truck and Sef\u2019s van are parked. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d My brother lets out a laugh, the short, breathy kind that\u2019s equal parts confused and intrigued.<\/p>\n Ignoring him, I reach for his van\u2019s overhead visor and flip open its mirror. I get to work quickly, zhuzhing my hair that I would have definitely washed before my six A.M. departure from Union Station if I\u2019d known Aleks Truss was going to be here awaiting our arrival.<\/p>\n And because life is typically cruel whenever given the opportunity, Aleks looks good. Extremely good. Though I can\u2019t help but be disappointed by his hair. His chestnut curls are tidier than I\u2019ve ever seen them before, cut tragically short. He used to let them grow long and floppy. I allowed myself to think that was for my benefit. I wasn\u2019t shy about telling him that I liked it better that way.<\/p>\n With that, my mind drifts to the memory of Milo\u2019s fifteenth birthday. Bertie was taking us home after a drive-in movie and Aleks had fallen asleep in my lap. I hadn\u2019t thought twice about playing with his hair, twirling its curly ends around my fingertips and brushing it away from his face before I began tickling his forehead and the bridge of his nose. Things were so comfortable between us then, so inexplicably easy during a time of my life where everything else felt far from it.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s not your puppy,\u201d Nik had teased me from the middle row of seats. Bertie and Milo both laughed in response but it didn\u2019t deter me.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know if I miss the floppy hair or the boy it belonged to more. I think it\u2019s probably more about how I felt at the time\u2014how I always seemed to feel with Bertie or Aleks\u2014safe.<\/p>\n I turn to find Milo looking at me with bemused concern, still waiting on a response.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t\u2014I wasn\u2019t\u2014\u201d I attempt to answer his lingering question but come up short. I wipe my finger under my bottom lashes, trying to clean up the leftover mascara I failed to take off last night. \u201cFuck,\u201d I whine. I wonder if I\u2019m better or worse off, having not cleaned my face since putting on makeup twenty hours ago. I went to a gig last night hoping to . . . I don\u2019t know . . . feel something? Say farewell to civilization? But it turned into a rather long night that did not set me up for a win this morning.<\/p>\n \u201cOhhh.\u201d Milo seems to finally clue in. \u201cWhen\u2019s the last time you saw him?\u201d he asks, earning him the first of what I\u2019m sure will be many scathing stares I grant him before he takes off again, probably before any of us expect him to.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen\u2019s the last time someone punched you in the teeth?\u201d I fire back.<\/p>\n My brother continues to pester me, and strangely, it\u2019s a welcome distraction from the inevitable, incoming reunion that\u2019s about to take place while I\u2019m wearing an oversized black hoodie and yesterday\u2019s hair and makeup.<\/p>\n Milo and I have been going toe-to-toe since puberty and neither of us are the type to pull punches. I like that we\u2019re still comfortable enough to be mean to each other, even after our time apart. It\u2019s freeing, in a way. It\u2019s like we\u2019re saying: Here\u2019s the worst of me and I know you\u2019ll still love me anyway.<\/p>\n Thankfully, that dynamic will probably never change. Unlike the muscular, grown man on the porch who used to be a skinny, long-limbed kid with ears too big for his head.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s Aleks. \u201d Milo looks past me toward the porch, putting the car into park with a grunt of effort. \u201cHe saw you after you cut yourself page-boy bangs in the eighth grade, it cannot get worse than that.\u201d<\/p>\n My eyes go wide. How dare he bring that up right now. \u201cSeriously, drop it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo you think he still doesn\u2019t know how to ride a bike?\u201d \u201cFuck off.\u201d I throw it at him over my shoulder as I attempt to wind up the passenger window. The crank refuses to move. Bertha is decidedly not a girl\u2019s girl.<\/p>\n Milo laughs under his breath, taking off his seatbelt. \u201cMaybe you could teach him. That\u2019d be romantic.\u201d<\/p>\n I finally manage to get the window to close but the effort has created a sheen of sweat across my forehead that I absolutely did not need on top of everything else. \u201cLick rust,\u201d I tell him.<\/p>\n \u201cFine, fine, whatever! Best of luck!\u201d Milo hops out then jogs around the back of his van toward the kids already awaiting him on the front lawn. He\u2019s lucky they\u2019re a mostly extroverted group, starved for new faces.<\/p>\n \u201cShit,\u201d I whisper to myself, letting my eyes shut as my heart begins to tremble against my breastbone. I give myself one last glance in the rearview mirror, tugging at the ends of my hair for a few more pointless seconds until I give up on it. \u201cYou don\u2019t care,\u201d I tell the woman in the mirror, pointing. \u201cGet your shit together.\u201d<\/p>\n With that boost of confidence, I get out of the van.<\/p>\n Excerpted from People Pleasing by Hannah Bonam-Young. Copyright \u00a9 2027 by Hannah Bonam-Young. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.<\/em><\/p>\n A sweet and soulful romance from the New York Times bestselling author of Out on a Limb<\/em> and People Watching<\/em> about two childhood friends reconnecting, healing from their past, and falling for the people they\u2019ve become.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n As an Editor for The Everygirl, Lauren ideates and writes content for every facet of our readers\u2019 lives, from must-read books and behind-the-scenes interviews to beauty products she can\u2019t live without. When she isn\u2019t sitting in an AMC watching the latest buzzy release, she can be found scouring Goodreads for the perfect pick for The Everygirl Book Club<\/a>. There, she co-hosts discussions with members, debating plotlines, fancasting characters, and, of course, tossing in her own recommendations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
\n ![\"People](\"https:\/\/media.theeverygirl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/people-pleasing-hannah-bonam-young-the-everygirl-1.jpg\")
<\/a>\n <\/div>\n\n\nHannah Bonam-Young<\/div>\n\n
\n People Pleasing <\/a>\n <\/div>\n\n\n
\n Shop Now <\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\nWhat is People Pleasing<\/em> about?<\/h2>\n
Get tickets to An Evening with Hannah Bonam-Young<\/h2>\n
Exclusive excerpt from People Pleasing<\/em> by Hannah Bonam-Young<\/h2>\n
Pre-order People Pleasing<\/em>, releasing January 5, 2027<\/h2>\n
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\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n\n\nHannah Bonam-Young<\/div>\n\n
\n People Pleasing <\/a>\n <\/div>\n\n\n
\n Shop Now <\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n ![\"lauren](\"https:\/\/media.theeverygirl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Lauren-Blue-Headshot-TEG.jpeg\")
\n <\/div>\n\nABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/div>\n\nLauren Blue, Editor & Book Club Co-Host<\/h3>\n