Too predictable, they say. Too light. Too much knitwear and emotional safety.
Meanwhile, the same people will watch a prestige drama about a tortured man staring at a wall for eight episodes and call it “character-driven.”
Here’s the thing: the cozy life plotline is character-driven. It just doesn’t always need an existential crisis to prove it.
There’s something quietly defiant about a story that insists joy is still worth writing about.
Not perfect joy — the earned kind. The messy, resilient kind that comes after heartbreak or burnout or realizing your dream job mostly involves answering emails.
I like those stories.
The ones where the world slows down long enough for the characters to actually notice it.
Social media has turned “main character energy” into a running joke, but honestly? I love it.
We should all live like we’re in a story worth telling — because we are.
I’ve been single longer than I ever expected to be. And while I still believe love can surprise you, I’m not waiting for it to start the plot.
Life is happening right now — between flights, deadlines, and grocery store flowers that somehow make your kitchen feel like hope.
That’s why I write the kinds of women I do.
They take risks — not just romantic ones, but real ones.
Traveling somewhere new. Leaving the safe job. Hosting the dinner party even when the house isn’t perfect. Saying yes before they feel ready.
They stumble (a lot), but they’re trying.
And trying counts for something.
I guess that’s what I love most about the cozy life plotline: it’s not really about settling down.
It’s about showing up.
It’s about believing that ordinary days can still be extraordinary, that small choices add up to transformation, that maybe the quiet kind of brave is enough.
Sure, there’s usually a kiss at the end. But that’s just the bonus scene.
The real story started long before that — when she decided to live like her life already mattered.
xoxo, Abs
P.S. Countdown’s on: An Unexpected Christmas in Ireland releases in 4 days. Think holiday magic, mild chaos, one emotionally unavailable leading man—and a woman learning she’s already living her story.
