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Forever and a Game

by Jason J HerneAuthor · status: Open

Releases Oct. 1, 2026 · 4 days left

🗓 Review by Oct. 9, 2026 · 12 days left

eBook · 280 pages · Mature · No spice

📣 Reviews requested on: Amazon, Goodreads, BookBub

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He was denied his childhood. Hers was slipping away.

A deck of cards brought them together.


When Sam meets Felicity—his boss's eleven-year-old daughter—he recognizes what everyone else has missed. Beneath the nonstop chatter and the endless questions is a bright, lonely kid the whole world has quietly given up on. Even her own parents.


Sam knows that feeling, so he does what none of the adults in her life will. He looks out for her. They bond over Mystic Forest, a whimsical trading card game that gives them both something they've been missing. A chance to feel like kids again.


But outside their games, Sam's obsession with a problem at work could cost him his job. He stumbles onto a malfunction that shouldn't be possible, and he can't let it go. Then a new danger surfaces, closer to home. Felicity's home. Her family is falling apart, and she's the one who'll suffer. No one has her back.


"I wish you were my dad."


Sam has spent a lifetime learning to look away. Not this time.

Looking for

ARC reader: An ARC (Advance Reader Copy) is essentially ready to publish. It is fine to flag the occasional small typo or grammar slip, but the author is not looking for developmental feedback at this stage. Authors cannot require a review, but it is customary for ARC readers to post an honest review on release day or shortly after.

Contemporary Fiction

Tropes (readers vote on how well each fits)
Character Driven no votes yet Finding Your Voice no votes yet Found Family no votes yet Growth and Self-Discovery no votes yet Reluctant Hero no votes yet Tearjerker no votes yet

⚠ Content warnings: Abuse & Control