Love. Outside the Box
A series of closed-door romantic comedies featuring characters on the autism spectrum and the people who love them: stories about connection, found family, and getting happily ever after in unexpected places. The stories are told in novel and film formats.
The Love. Outside the Box series is a closed-door romantic comedy series. This means that, while the stories include emotional moments, kissing, and affection, they stop short of the bedroom.
Each story in the series applies familiar rom-com tropes (e.g., meet cute, single parent, rivals to lovers, friends to lovers, second chance romance), while exploring relationships that include autistic characters and the people who love them. The stories focus on romantic relationships, but also explore family and friendship. All of the stories is told in dual point of view.
Each story (and the series together) reflects why autism is called a spectrum: no two characters are the same, and all are written to show emotional depth, including the emotional depth hidden beneath the surface.
Read our Representation and Accessibility Policy.
Love. Outside the Box is about telling uplifting, meaningful stories. While the stories may offer insight into autistic life, they are never meant to lecture or overwhelm with advocacy. The goal is simple: to create fun, inclusive romances that celebrate connection, individuality, and love in its many forms.
The Series
While the below order is the chronological reading order for the series, the stories are written so you can read them in any order you like.
While we are producing short films for several stories in the series (including the completed Happy Haley Daze and the soon-to-be produced Motion to Reconsider), we are currently not planning to produce short films for A Better Tomorrow and Acquaintance-Zoned. The plots of those stories do not translate well to short films. We look forward to future opportunities to produce feature-length films for the series, at which time those stories will likely be the first two turned into feature-length films.
A Better Tomorrow
Novel – E-book April 30, 2026 (pre-order on Amazon by clicking the book cover); Paperback April 16, 2026 | A single mother’s second chance at love.
Autistic Character: Son of female lead
She’s a single mother struggling to survive, not willing to dream of a happily ever after.
He’s mourning the loss of his sister and believes he doesn’t have a right to a happily ever after.
Will they find one together?
Julie
I can’t afford to dream. I’m the single mother of my boy David, who has autism and who I love more than anything. My daily goal is simple, yet challenging: Survive.
Most nights I lay awake on a curb-scavenged pullout couch, the bar pressing into my back, my failures and fears fighting for dominance in my mind.
We have no family, besides each other. We have no support. I work as a waitress and freelance as a writer under a pen name, with the goals of keeping my head down and us sheltered and fed. When David is accused of bullying one of his classmates, I feel utterly lost. David won’t say a word and a mob of parents demands punishment.
That’s when we receive the first break we’ve had in years. The principal offers David the opportunity to volunteer at a food pantry as an alternative to suspension. The program is called “A Better Tomorrow” and it’s run by the charming, successful Trip Taylor. Trip shows me that both David and I are much more than I realized. I have just one problem: I’m starting to dream of a happily ever after with this handsome man who respects us like no one ever has, but who is also way out of my league.
Trip
My teenage sister recently passed away, succumbing to her more than a decade fight with cancer. I will do anything and everything to keep her memory alive and establish her legacy, a program she thought of called “A Better Tomorrow”. Her idea will give at-risk teens a chance to focus their lives in a better direction. When I launch the program, less than two weeks after her passing, our first volunteer is an autistic boy, David Drew. My initial fears about how he will do quickly transform into amazement. He’s the perfect volunteer to launch ABT. But I have two problems. I think David was wrongfully accused. I will help his mother find the truth. That leads me to my other problem. His mother, Julie Drew, is pretty in that understated way that makes her more attractive. She’s also funny and makes me happier than I’ve been in a long time, maybe ever. But do I have a right to happiness, when my sister will never get that chance?
Acquaintance-Zoned
Novel – E-book and paperback later in 2026 (dates to be determined) | Rivals to Lovers; College Romance.
Autistic Character: Male lead (Julie’s son, David, from A Better Tomorrow)
Forget friend-zoned. I never get far enough in a relationship to become friends, let alone to wish for romance. I get acquaintance-zoned every time. But that’s okay. I will focus on my plan: get through this school year, graduate, move back home, and start my career. There is just one problem: Sam Green. Three years ago, she proclaimed herself my academic rival, and she has not let up since. She’s constantly comparing our grades and shooting me nasty looks. When she beat me for the first time last spring, she would not let me forget it. I am not embarrassed to admit that I am a little scared of her, maybe more than a little. Her fiery-red hair and amber eyes only amplify my fear around her. And now we have every class together. How am I going to make it through this year?
Happy Haley Daze
Novel – E-book and paperback in 2027 (dates to be determined); Short Film – completed (currently being submitted to festivals); Art and animation by Kenneth Eckstein-Schoemann featured in the film | Redemption; Childhood crush to lovers.
Autistic Character: Female lead
A former bully (Mike, the lead bully from A Better Tomorrow) devoted to helping at-risk kids must confront his unhealed shame when the sunshiny Haley, an autistic woman he never forgot, returns home and shows him that redemption also means believing he deserves love.
Mike has spent the last decade trying to become the man he never thought he could be. Once a bully, he now runs A Better Tomorrow, a community program helping at-risk kids find new direction. Though admired for his dedication, Mike carries a quiet belief that no matter how much good he does, he’ll never truly deserve happiness. Haley, bright, honest, and known for her contagious optimism, returns to their hometown after years away. Recently diagnosed as autistic, she finally understands herself in a way she never could before. When she is mentored on a project involving Mike’s program, their paths cross again, awakening feelings that neither ever fully let go. As Haley embraces her identity, she sees not the boy Mike used to be, but the man he has worked so hard to become. And as their connection deepens, she challenges his belief that his past defines his worth. Together, they learn that redemption isn’t only about making things right, it’s about allowing yourself to be loved. Happy Haley Daze is a tender, sweet romance that celebrates the beauty of neurodivergence, forgiveness, and the courage it takes to believe you are worthy of love.
Motion to Reconsider
Novel – 2027; Short Film – to be filmed in May 2026 | Second chance romance
Autistic Character: Brother of female lead
She left him so that he could follow his dreams, unburdened by the responsibility she took to care for her autistic brother. When fate brings them back together years later, she will have to answer some difficult questions. Should she have given him a choice back then? Can she let her brother live the independent life she helped him prepare for? Should she give this romance a second chance? Set in a summer clerkship at a law firm, Motion to Reconsider is a second chance romance that explores caregiving tension, questions about independence, and (as always in Love. Outside the Box) found family.
The Spectrum of Attitude
Novel – 2028 | Grump and Sunshine
Autistic Character: Both leads
A grump-sunshine romance. Synopsis to come.
A Fortunate Betrayal
Novel – TBA | Childhood friends to adult lovers
Autistic Character: Female lead (masking / recent diagnosis)
Will a rekindled friendship lead to something more? Synopsis to come.
Teacher and Mentor
TBD | Woman helps wealthy man find meaning
Autistic Character: Autistic student of teacher (female lead) who is also the mentee of male lead
He’s helping out of obligation. She shows him the value in connecting with someone who sees the world differently. Synopsis to come.
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