Hopeless
Elsie Silver, 2023
A small-town romance about a man everyone sees as fine and a woman who sees the fracture underneath—and refuses to let him hide it. Warm, plain-spoken and close-up, with a slow-burn pull of longing underneath; the voice stays tender even when the mood turns raw.
Feels like longing and tenderness. About love, identity and power.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you go for small-town romance where the emotional work matters more than the plot mechanics, and you don't mind a hero who is hard on himself. It's the fifth Chestnut Springs book, though, so familiar couples from earlier novels keep appearing in the background.
Why read it
Beau's quiet struggle to be seen is the draw: a romance about letting one person witness the parts of yourself you would rather hide.
A page from the book
Loving someone who has spent years editing himself down.
There’s something fractured about Beau. About his spirit. Like he’s torn between so many versions of himself and doesn’t know which one to pick.I wish he knew it’s okay to be all of them with me. Elsie Silver.Elsie Silver is a Canadian author; her Chestnut Springs romances, set in Alberta, grew from self-published ebooks into a BookTok favourite.
Books that feel like this
More by Elsie Silver
Wild Eyes
Elsie Silver, 2024
A small-town romance for readers who want banter, heat, and a man who sees a woman’s fire and steps back to watch it burn.
Flawless
Elsie Silver, 2023
A bull rider one bad headline away from losing everything, and the woman hired to keep him in line for a single hot summer.
Wild Side
Elsie Silver, 2025
A romance about the person who makes silence feel like conversation, and the marriage that turns a guarded man’s certainty into something like obsession.
Where to get it
Some of these links earn us a small commission, at no cost to you. It keeps BookFeed free.
Questions readers ask
- Is Hopeless for me?
- You may like it if you go for small-town romance where the emotional work matters more than the plot mechanics, and you don't mind a hero who is hard on himself. It's the fifth Chestnut Springs book, though, so familiar couples from earlier novels keep appearing in the background.
- What is Hopeless like?
- Warm, plain-spoken and close-up, with a slow-burn pull of longing underneath; the voice stays tender even when the mood turns raw. Feels like longing and tenderness. About love, identity and power.
- What should I read after Hopeless?
- If you liked Hopeless, try Point of Retreat (Colleen Hoover), It Happened One Summer (Tessa Bailey) and Everything, Everything (Nicola Yoon).
A taste of the feed
The difference between wanting someone and being certain about them.
My heart pounds against my chest. Not because I’m nervous. Not even because I want her worse that I’ve ever wanted her before. It’s pounding against my chest because I realize I’ve never been so sure about the rest of my life than I am in this moment. This girl is the rest of my life.
Point of Retreat · Colleen Hoover
The one day a year when everything you're missing becomes impossible to ignore.
My birthday is the one day of the year that we’re both most acutely aware of my illness. It’s the acknowledging of the passage of time that does it. Another whole year of being sick, no hope for a cure on the horizon. Another year of missing all the normal teenagery things—learner’s permit, first kiss, prom, first heartbreak, first fender bender. Another year of my mom doing nothing but working and taking care of me. Every other day these omissions are easy—easier, at least—to ignore.
Everything, Everything · Nicola Yoon
When everything else is material, what is the one thing that truly matters?
You can have anything you want. A big church wedding. A backyard barbecue. A five-figure wedding dress. But I have one demand.” Of course it was a demand and not a request. “What’s that?” “I want daisies in your hair.
Things We Never Got Over · Lucy Score
Read pages from books like this, one at a time
Keep reading in the feed