Almost Always

Almost Always
A Hollywood Legacy Novel – Book One
by Laura Carpenter

She played their daughter in the movie. No one knew she already was.

Seven-year-old Lucy never asked to be part of a scandal. All she wanted was to act. To tell stories. To be seen.

When she lands the breakout role of the decade—playing the daughter of two legendary actors in a sweeping romantic drama—Lucy steps into the spotlight. But behind the scenes, the truth is already casting shadows.

Because Lucy isn’t just playing their daughter. She is their daughter.

Years ago, Eliza Quinn and James Steele were the most beloved on-screen pair in Hollywood. Off-screen, they were fire and poetry, secrets and stardust—until it all fell apart. Fame, ambition, betrayal, and the pressures of youth tore them in two. What no one knew was that their last night together changed everything. Eliza gave birth in secret. James was never told. And the child they lost to a web of handlers, press agents, and silence… is the one now standing between them on set.

As cameras roll and old chemistry reignites, long-buried truths begin to surface. Lucy’s presence cracks open memories neither Eliza nor James are ready to face. The world watches as fiction blurs with fact—press interviews, leaked photos, social media storms—and one little girl caught in the middle must decide what kind of story she wants to live.

From whispered secrets to live television confessions, Almost Always is a sweeping, emotionally charged exploration of lost love, hidden parenthood, and the price of rewriting the past. At its heart, it’s about a child who refuses to be anyone’s secret, and two people learning that love—real love—doesn’t disappear. It waits.

Sometimes for years.

Sometimes forever.

For fans of:
✓ Daisy Jones & The Six
✓ This Is Us
✓ Little Fires Everywhere
✓ Slow-burn second chances
✓ Secret child & found family stories
✓ Heartbreaking, healing, cinematic love

📚 Keywords:
secret child, celebrity romance, found family, emotional drama, second chance love, Hollywood fiction, mother-daughter fiction, bittersweet family saga, meta-fiction, coming of age, romantic suspense, film industry novels, heart-wrenching love story