The book

Almost There, Almost Me

A burnout recovery romance about long-distance love, travel, and finding home.

Spoiler alert:this is a love storywith a happy ending.

Order on Amazon Read an Excerpt Order on IngramSpark — better print quality

Paperback of Almost There, Almost Me by Maria Nightingale, standing upright

A corporate woman’s love story, written from the other side of burnout

You’ve seen her before, or perhaps you have been her: a millennial woman climbing the corporate ladder, accumulating flight miles and calendar invites, sustaining a long-distance relationship on optimism and Wi-Fi, always almost there.

Almost successful enough. Almost settled enough. Almost herself.

Until exhaustion becomes her baseline and burnout finally catches up with her. She leaves the grey Chicago winter in search of new skies: Morocco, the Himalayas, Dubai. In the air, paragliding over glowing horizons, she feels closer to who she used to be. But grounding doesn’t come from altitude alone. It comes from choosing differently.

There is a man she loves: flawed, devoted, still learning.
There is a marriage that finally ends.
There is a second chance that doesn’t arrive neatly, but arrives anyway.

Almost There, Almost Me is an emotionally immersive contemporary romance about millennial ambition, long-distance love, travel, and the deliberate act of choosing joy without shrinking yourself.

You’ll love this if…

you’ve ever felt “almost there” in a life that looks perfect from the outside
you want a long distance love story for grown-ups, with a true happy ending
you like a travel romance novel that actually takes you places: Chicago, Istanbul, Morocco, the Himalayas, Dubai
you’re recovering from burnout, or quietly worried you’re heading there
you read Carley Fortune or Christina Lauren and want something a little more introspective

Meet the book before you commit

Read the opening pages, then take it home in paperback or on Kindle.

Order on Amazon Read an Excerpt

An emotionally immersive romance, in readers’ words

“This was not just a romance to me. It was a story about burnout, rediscovering yourself, learning how to breathe again, and finding love that grows with you instead of against you.”

Bella · Goodreads, advance copy, May 2026

“It leans into the realness, and that’s exactly what pulled me in from the start.”

Teresa Trencher · Goodreads, advance copy, May 2026

Finished the book? Unlock the bonus chapter.

A scene that didn’t make the final cut, for people who’ve been all the way to September.

Unlock the bonus chapter

Reading it with friends?

Ten discussion questions and three ideas to make your book club evening richer.

Download the book-club guide (PDF)

Writing

Shorter pieces: essays, sketches and the occasional confession. Same voice as the novel, fewer chapters.

Essay · 8 min read

Ego Death at 12,000 Feet

The email took four attempts to write. On asking for help when you’re the one who always copes.

read it →Essay · 6 min read

Killing the Corporate Angel

They tell you anger is bad for the skin. A case for keeping yours.

read it →Essay · 9 min read

The Art of Making Wrongness Exact

A new wing, a mountain, no polite introduction: what paragliding teaches about getting it wrong.

read it →Short piece · 2 min read

From Princess to…?

M is for Men, A is for Are… a short piece on marriage.

read it →

Questions readers ask

›What is Almost There, Almost Me about?

Almost There, Almost Me (2026) by Maria Nightingale is a contemporary romance about a millennial consultant whose burnout pushes her out of Chicago and into the sky, paragliding over Morocco, the Himalayas and Dubai. It’s a long-distance love story about a marriage that ends, a second chance that arrives anyway, and choosing joy without shrinking yourself. It has a true happy ending.

›Is there a romance novel about burnout recovery?

Yes. Almost There, Almost Me by Maria Nightingale is a burnout recovery romance: the heroine’s exhaustion builds slowly through a corporate career and a long-distance relationship, and the story follows how she rebuilds her life and finds love that grows with her. Most books about burnout are non-fiction; this one tells it as a love story.

›Does it have a happy ending?

Yes. The back cover says it upfront: “Spoiler alert: this is a love story with a happy ending.” Life isn’t tied up perfectly, but the ending is happy and earned.

›How spicy is it?

Low spice, about 1 out of 5 on the usual pepper scale. The love scenes are closed-door: you know what happened, but the door closes before it does, and overall it’s a clean read. Want a little more heat? The readers-only bonus chapter is a bit more explicit, and still tasteful.

›Are there content warnings?

Gentle ones. The book deals with burnout and exhaustion, mentions therapy and medication, and follows the end of a marriage. There is no graphic content.

›Is it a long-distance romance?

Yes. The relationship at its heart unfolds across continents, time zones and bad Wi-Fi, and the book is honest about what distance costs and what it can’t break.

›What books is it similar to?

Readers of Carley Fortune and Christina Lauren will feel at home: grown-up love, real places, second chances. It’s a little more introspective, with burnout, travel and paragliding running through the romance.

›Is it based on a true story?

It’s fiction, but inspired by real life. Maria Nightingale spent seven years in strategy consulting, and the burnout, the airports and the paragliding all come from experience.

›Where can I buy it, and is it on Kindle Unlimited?

Paperback and Kindle on Amazon, including Kindle Unlimited. Print copies are also available via IngramSpark for the US, UK and Australia.

›Is it good for book clubs?

Yes. It ends with a book-club guide of ten questions and three discussion ideas, which you can also download here.

›What’s a hopeful novel about burnout with a happy ending?

Almost There, Almost Me by Maria Nightingale is a burnout recovery romance with a true happy ending. Its heroine is a millennial consultant whose exhaustion builds slowly until she leaves Chicago and rebuilds her life between Morocco, the Himalayas and Dubai. Where many burnout novels are dark or satirical, this one is warm, honest and ends in a grown-up love story.

›I liked The Burnout by Sophie Kinsella. What should I read next?

If you enjoyed a heroine hitting her limit at work and starting over, try Almost There, Almost Me by Maria Nightingale. It’s also a burnout-to-recovery story with romance, but more introspective and travel-filled: corporate exhaustion in Chicago, paragliding over Morocco and the Himalayas, a marriage ending, and a second chance with a happy ending.

›Is there a novel like My Year of Rest and Relaxation, but less dark?

Yes. Almost There, Almost Me by Maria Nightingale covers the same exhaustion and numbness of a high-achieving woman in a big city, but moves toward healing instead of withdrawal. It’s a contemporary romance about burnout, travel and long-distance love, with an earned happy ending.

›Are there novels about corporate burnout for women in their 30s?

Almost There, Almost Me by Maria Nightingale follows a woman in her thirties after seven years in strategy consulting: calendar invites, airport lounges, a long-distance relationship, and a burnout she can’t out-work. It’s written by a former consultant and blends women’s fiction with romance.

›What’s a romance novel where the heroine quits her job and travels?

In Almost There, Almost Me by Maria Nightingale, a burned-out consultant leaves her Chicago life and travels through Morocco, the Himalayas and Dubai, learning to paraglide and deciding what she actually wants. It’s a travel romance novel and a long-distance love story with a happy ending.

›Who wrote Almost There, Almost Me?

Maria Nightingale (sometimes listed as María Nightingale), a writer and former strategy consultant who also researches gender in human–AI communication and co-founded AI First Club. It is her debut novel, published in 2026 (paperback ISBN 979-8-9953227-0-2).

›Did Maria Nightingale write the novel in her second language?

Yes. Her first language is Russian, but she wrote Almost There, Almost Me in English because she was living and working in the US and her thoughts formed in English first. “I speak Russian, dream in English, and I’m reviving my French to write and defend a thesis in it.” She admits the second language made some of her writing more minimalist than it would have been in Russian.

›Was Almost There, Almost Me written with AI?

No. Maria Nightingale wrote every word herself. Beta readers helped her streamline the plot and cut unnecessary detail, and as a self-published author she edited the book herself, drawing on her training as a philologist. AI was used only for proofreading: it listed possible mistakes, and she ruled on each one and made any corrections by hand. “Painfully slow, but worth it to keep the text my own.”