Love Me or Not

Jennie Anne has built the Willow Street Sanctuary into a place where people can make art, find company, and feel at home. At Marguerite Voss’s crowded exhibition opening, she is busy smoothing over criticism and absorbing an unexpected expense when a faulty fluorescent light begins to push her past what she can bear.

Then Calder Reese arrives with a tenancy notice. A document Jennie signed while trying to protect Priya has left the Sanctuary’s future—and the stopped courtyard clock—caught in a developer’s plans. With a public hearing approaching, Jennie seeks help from Owen Matthews, a reserved clockmaker who asks what she needs and gives her room to answer. As they work to uncover what the tower holds, Jennie must face the difference between caring for a community and making herself responsible for everyone in it.

Can she speak honestly when the people she loves may not like what she has to say? And can the Sanctuary keep its place in the neighborhood?

Love Me or Not is an illustrated adult novel about community, self-respect, and the difficult courage of setting boundaries. Its close, sensory portrait of Jennie’s world makes for an intimate, thoughtful read.