The Conditions of Will

The Conditions of Will is a contemporary romance novel that centers the romantic arc of Georgia Carter and Sam Penny, tracing the challenges they face while seeking their happily-ever-after ending. True to the parameters of romantic fiction, Georgia and Sam do achieve this happy ending after overcoming a series of conflicts, miscommunications, and obstacles to their love. Hastings’s novel also embraces romance tropes—such as forced proximity, forbidden love, lovers-to-friends, love triangles, and secrets—to build the narrative structure and establish its stakes and themes. From Georgia’s perspective, she and Sam are forced to spend a protracted amount of time together in the same space when they both travel to South Carolina for Will’s funeral, where they have no choice but to interact with one another. Despite their immediate attraction to each other, the characters’ romance is forbidden since Sam is Oliver’s AA sponsor and responsible for Oliver’s well-being. Oliver’s feelings for Sam create a twist on a love triangle that serves as an additional obstacle since Georgia knows that pursuing a relationship with Sam will upset her brother. The two end up in a secret affair that sets up the climactic reveal when Oliver discovers that Sam and Georgia are together.