Anna Kramer always has a plan, and college is no exception.
She’s spent the last four years chasing one dream: get into an Ivy League school, become an Alzheimer’s researcher, and make her late grandfather proud.
She’s sacrificed sleep. Friends. Fun. A love life. Basically her entire high school experience.
Then…
Poof!
Every Ivy League school rejects her.
With her carefully mapped-out future suddenly unraveling, Anna begins to question everything she thought she wanted.
Enter Finn—the charming, irreverent son of her college coach, who clearly finds Anna’s obsession with planning equal parts baffling and entertaining. He’s as infuriatingly Team Serendipity as Anna is Team Color-Coded Checklists.
Except…this boy and his impromptu late-night taco truck runs are somehow starting to feel…fun? More than fun?
Maybe he’s onto something.
Falling for Finn definitely wasn’t on the map. So why is it suddenly the one detour she’s tempted to take?
But when a heartbreaking loss changes everything, Anna and Finn must decide whether they’re brave enough to let go of the futures they’d envisioned…and reach for the ones they never imagined.
Filled with laugh-out-loud banter, unforgettable friendships, swoony romance, and hard-won hope, Spinning Into Gold is a heartfelt love story of unimagined paths—and discovering that sometimes the best dreams are the ones you never saw coming.
Praise for Spinning Into Gold
“Spinning Into Gold is a heartfelt coming-of-age romance about learning that life rarely follows the plans we make for it. Anna’s carefully mapped-out future falls apart when every Ivy League school rejects her, forcing her to reconsider what she truly wants. With witty banter, swoony romance, unforgettable friendships, and genuine emotional depth, Michelene Esposito beautifully captures the uncertainty of growing up and the courage it takes to embrace an unexpected path.”
—NewInBooks.com
Perfect for readers who enjoy:
Themes: Letting go of the perfect plan, college-application pressure, serendipity, friendship, self-discovery, finding joy in unexpected detours, Bay Area setting.
Tropes: Opposites attract (planner vs. free spirit), rejection that redirects a life, banter-filled slow-burn romance, “falling for the detour,” best-friend sidekicks, over-the-top comic set pieces.
Read-Alikes: If you loved Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith, or Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter.
Q: What is Spinning Into Gold by Michelene Esposito about?
A: Spinning Into Gold is a contemporary YA romance about Anna, a self-described “Queen Planner” who spent four years working toward an Ivy League future, only to be rejected by every Ivy. Then she meets Finn, a charming, irreverent believer in serendipity, and falling for him is the one detour she never planned. It’s full of laugh-out-loud banter, loyal friendships, and hard-won hope.
Q: Is Spinning Into Gold a romance or a coming-of-age story?
A: Both. It’s a swoony YA romance with a coming-of-age core, and it’s meant to take the pressure off teens who feel their whole future depends on one college decision.
Q: What’s the tone?
A: Warm, funny, and hopeful. Expect witty dialogue, a chaotic princess party, and sweet romance, with an emotional payoff underneath.
Q: Who is it for?
A: Teen and adult readers of YA romance and rom-coms, and anyone who has ever had a detailed plan fall apart and turned out better for it.
Q: Is there an audiobook?
A: Yes, narrated by Maggie Helena.