Small, Boring Promises

Three couples. One southbound train. A lost ring, an old letter-and a wedding that needs saving.

On the Paris‑to‑Sorrento night train, six strangers are squeezed into the same moving village: a photographer and the boatbuilder she once loved, a pastry chef drafted into a fake‑dating scheme, and a linguist with a very practical Brit in pursuit of a swapped bag. When a simple gold ring and a 1966 letter go missing, Carriage Seven bands together to deliver both to a waiting grandmother-and to keep a lemon‑bright Italian wedding from falling apart.

• Lena & Rafa (second‑chance): the photographer and the craftsman who once talked in time zones now have to talk in person.
• Anaïs & Enzo (fake‑dating): a pastry chef with rules and a charming chaos machine rehearse being a couple to outwit Nonna-and rescue dessert.
• Maya & Tom (opposites‑attract): a linguist who believes in verbs and an engineer who respects voltage learn the art of being late but never absent.

From Paris to Sorrento-with dining‑car strategy sessions, lemon‑torte diplomacy, and a kitchen‑table found family-Small, Boring Promises is a feel‑good, closed‑door ensemble romance about choosing each other in the small ways that last. First in the Carriage Seven series; each book follows a different couple toward a hopeful HEA.

Perfect for readers who love: destination romance, found family, multiple POVs, witty banter, "fake dating," second chances, and Italian sunshine without the jet lag.

Heat level: closed‑door (PG‑13; no on‑page sex).
Tropes: second chance · fake dating · forced proximity · mistaken luggage · found family · wedding‑week chaos · slow burn.