Hey, I’m Kayla.
I’m a writer querying my debut novel, Ordinary Neighbors.
About Ordinary Neighbors
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Three women living in a storied Upper West Side apartment building forge an unexpected friendship through a dinner club, helping each other navigate love, identity, and second chances in the messy, magical chaos of their lives.
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The Balford on Manhattan’s Upper West Side is the kind of building where people casually mention they “summer in Europe” and think it’s normal to have a Monet hanging in their powder room. It’s also where Alice, Eleanor, and Romy first meet—in a somewhat awkward elevator ride that leads to a pact to start a dinner club. What begins as a way to avoid eating alone turns into something much messier, more beautiful, and infinitely harder to explain.
Alice is twenty-seven and officially the family disappointment, which makes inheriting her great-aunt Mabel’s fourth-floor apartment a rare victory. Her parents hate that she’s moving in. She’s thrilled. But the best part isn’t the gleaming hardwood floors or the walk-in closet—it’s Jude, the polished playwright down the hall. Their chance encounters—on the elevator, in the lobby, at 2 a.m. when she’s taking out the trash in pajamas—start to feel less like accidents and more like a rom-com she’s accidentally starring in.
Eleanor resides on the eighth floor, renowned for her incisive essays but reeling from two events: the sudden death of her editor and the announcement of her ex-husband Lionel’s engagement to a woman who looks like she walked out of a J.Crew catalog. After twenty years of marriage, she’s caught between heartbreak and longing. Then Harris, a former flame, appears on her doorstep, his navy suit as sharp as the memories they share. While she wrestles with whether to pursue a new chapter of love, Eleanor confronts the raw emotions of her past in a bold new writing project—one that may expose more than she’s ready to admit.
Romy is the sixth-floor resident with the perfect family. Or at least, that’s what it looks like on social media. In reality, her husband Francis barely speaks to her, and the guilt of a secret she’s been carrying for years is starting to unravel everything. Determined not to let it all fall apart, Romy throws herself into reminding Francis of why they fell in love—if she can still find that version of herself under the mountain of motherhood.
The Balford is full of elite New Yorkers with glittering lives and untouchable facades. But behind one apartment door—or in one elevator ride—you might just find the messy, vulnerable, endlessly fascinating reality. For Alice, Eleanor, and Romy, their dinner club is the one place where they can stop pretending and start figuring out what they actually want from their lives, their loves, and each other.
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Women aged 25–45 who enjoy contemporary fiction with heartfelt, character-driven stories that explore themes of love, friendship, and personal growth.
Fans of Emily Henry, Emma Straub, and Taylor Jenkins Reid will resonate with its blend of humor, emotional depth, and relatable characters. It appeals to readers who crave smart, entertaining stories about complex women navigating their relationships and identities in glamorous, urban settings.
Perfect for book clubs and anyone who enjoys a mix of romance, wit, and meaningful connections.
Get in Touch!
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