The Wrong Guy Summary, Characters and Themes
The Wrong Guy by Lauren Landish is a small-town second-chance romance filled with witty banter, sizzling chemistry, and emotional depth.
Set in Cold Springs, it centers on Wren, a sharp and guarded city attorney, and Jesse, a rugged construction worker with a complicated past. Years after their relationship ended in heartbreak, they’re thrown back together by a local scandal involving family betrayal and a contentious housing development. As they navigate legal battles, family drama, and their unresolved history, sparks fly once more.
What begins as conflict slowly turns into something deeper—forcing both to reconsider what they thought they knew about love and each other.
Summary
Wren is a dedicated city attorney with a sharp mind and a protective emotional shell.
Jesse is a confident construction worker with a notorious reputation around Cold Springs, but beneath his rugged exterior is a man grappling with old regrets—chief among them, how things ended with Wren.
Their story reignites at a local bar and quickly heats up with a passionate night that stirs up long-buried feelings.
The town’s quiet surface is disturbed when Chrissy, the wife of Jesse’s uncle Jed, announces that Jed is cheating—with a much younger, pregnant woman.
Chrissy hires an outside lawyer, Oliver Laurent, to represent her in a divorce involving valuable real estate and a housing project called Township.
Wren, though not directly involved in the case, is pulled into the legal and familial tension through her connection to Chrissy and her role as city attorney.
Wren and Jesse’s paths continue to cross through their roles in the community.
Their interactions are laced with tension, sarcasm, and chemistry.
While Wren keeps a tight grip on her emotions, Jesse begins showing glimpses of vulnerability.
Their mutual attraction is impossible to ignore, but their shared past—and the pain that comes with it—complicates everything.
As the legal battle escalates, Wren must navigate the ethical boundaries of her job while also dealing with Oliver’s flirtation and Jesse’s growing involvement.
Jesse, who has ties to Ford Construction, a company connected to Jed’s projects, becomes a key figure in uncovering potential corruption.
His loyalty to his community and to Wren puts him at odds with his own family.
Community events, town gossip, and heated public meetings only raise the stakes.
Through these, Wren proves herself to be a strong and principled professional.
Jesse begins to let his guard down, showing that his interest in Wren runs deeper than surface attraction.
Slowly, their old connection begins to shift from unresolved tension to mutual trust and understanding.
A breakthrough comes when Jesse helps Wren uncover suspicious financial activity tied to Jed’s development plans.
This discovery not only gives Wren the leverage she needs but also deepens their emotional bond.
Working together brings clarity to their feelings, and Wren starts to see Jesse as more than just a mistake from her past.
As Jed’s legal and personal empire starts to collapse, Wren and Jesse are forced to face what drove them apart years ago: fear, miscommunication, and pride.
In confronting these issues, they find space for forgiveness and growth.
Their shared history, once a source of pain, becomes the foundation for something new.
In the final chapters, Wren and Jesse have a pivotal emotional moment that solidifies their reconnection.
They openly express what they want from each other—and from life.
The physical chemistry remains, but now it’s paired with emotional honesty and shared goals.
Their relationship transitions from something driven by passion to something built on stability and mutual respect.
The epilogue, told from Jesse’s perspective, offers a look into their new reality.
Jesse reflects on their journey and the changes both of them have gone through.
No longer just the town’s “wrong guy,” he’s found his place beside Wren, supported by a community that has watched them come full circle.
Their future together is hopeful, grounded, and real—a testament to second chances and the strength of love that refuses to be forgotten.
Characters
Wren
Wren is the emotional and intellectual backbone of the novel. As a city attorney, she is sharp, methodical, and unwavering in her ethical standards.
She has worked hard to build a life defined by order and achievement. Beneath her composed, professional exterior lies a complicated emotional history, especially in her relationship with Jesse.
Her guardedness is both a strength and a wound—she is determined not to be vulnerable again after past disappointments. Yet, over the course of the novel, she is drawn back into Jesse’s orbit, and her internal struggle becomes one between control and surrender.
Her development is slow and nuanced. She doesn’t simply fall back into old patterns but reclaims her agency while exploring the possibility of a different future.
Wren’s character arc is deeply tied to themes of forgiveness, rediscovered love, and the courage it takes to be emotionally honest.
Jesse
Jesse is introduced as a confident, rough-around-the-edges construction worker with deep roots in Cold Springs. At first glance, he appears to be the classic “wrong guy”—charming, impulsive, and not entirely reliable.
However, the novel gradually reveals the layers of his character. Jesse is loyal to his family, emotionally intuitive, and, crucially, still deeply in love with Wren.
His bravado masks a wounded heart and a quiet yearning for redemption—not just in Wren’s eyes, but in his own. As the story unfolds, Jesse demonstrates emotional growth, vulnerability, and surprising self-awareness.
He challenges Wren’s guarded nature, not with force but with persistence and tenderness. His journey from a flirtatious ex to a man willing to rebuild trust and embrace a shared future with Wren adds heart to the narrative.
Jesse becomes the emotional center of The Wrong Guy, showing that being the “wrong” person once doesn’t mean you can’t become the right one later.
Chrissy
Chrissy, Wren’s aunt by marriage, is a key supporting character whose own crisis sets off the novel’s central legal and emotional conflicts. Initially portrayed as a scorned woman uncovering her husband Jed’s betrayal, Chrissy quickly proves she is not a passive victim.
Her decision to pursue a high-stakes divorce, hire an out-of-town lawyer, and confront the community’s patriarchal structures shows her resilience and sharp strategic thinking. Chrissy is both a source of familial tension and a catalyst for Wren’s professional challenges.
Her character provides insight into the generational dynamics of women navigating betrayal, loyalty, and reinvention in small-town life. She’s a woman scorned, yes, but also one reinventing herself with power and clarity.
Jed
Jed, Chrissy’s estranged husband and a central antagonist in the town’s drama, represents the archetype of corrupt power cloaked in community standing. As a developer and influential figure in Cold Springs, he is used to getting what he wants—often through manipulation, intimidation, and backroom deals.
His affair with a much younger woman and the possibility of a secret child make him both morally and publicly compromised. But more than just being unfaithful, Jed is shown to be unscrupulous in business, creating legal and ethical minefields that Wren must navigate.
He serves as a foil not only to Chrissy but to Jesse as well. Both men have complicated relationships with power, but only Jesse is capable of change.
Jed’s downfall is both satisfying and symbolic. It marks the collapse of an old guard that relied on secrecy and control.
Oliver Laurent
Oliver is the flashy out-of-town lawyer brought in by Chrissy, and his presence immediately introduces tension—not just professionally, but romantically. He is polished, eloquent, and clearly used to dominating a courtroom.
While initially he seems like a viable romantic alternative to Jesse, his role is more that of a catalyst than a true competitor. His interest in Wren is more flirtatious than meaningful, and he lacks the depth and emotional connection that Jesse shares with her.
Oliver’s purpose is to challenge Wren’s emotional compass. He represents what seems like the right choice on paper but lacks soul.
In the end, he underscores the novel’s central truth. Love isn’t about appearances or convenience; it’s about history, depth, and emotional honesty.
Aunt Etta
Aunt Etta, Jesse’s aunt and a minor but memorable figure, offers warmth, wisdom, and humor throughout the book. She’s a grounding presence in Jesse’s life and one of the few people who sees the full picture of both Jesse and Wren.
Etta plays the role of an informal matchmaker and emotional guide. She often nudges Jesse toward growth and accountability.
Her involvement in the unfolding family drama also gives her character added emotional weight. She’s someone who has lived through enough to understand that life is messy and love is rarely perfect.
Her insights and emotional support serve as a quiet but steady force behind Jesse’s transformation. In many ways, she is the emotional glue holding generations together in The Wrong Guy.
Themes
Second Chances in Love
One of the most prominent themes in The Wrong Guy is the idea of second chances in love. Jesse and Wren’s journey is marked by a shared romantic past that initially appears to be little more than a passionate fling.
However, as the narrative unfolds, it becomes evident that their bond once held emotional depth that neither of them has fully recovered from. The story spends considerable time examining what it means to reconnect with someone who once mattered deeply but from whom time, mistakes, or fear created distance.
Jesse and Wren do not merely rekindle a romance; they are forced to confront how miscommunication, personal pride, and emotional walls contributed to their initial separation. The arc from lustful tension to emotional reconciliation is gradual and grounded.
Wren has spent years becoming guarded and goal-oriented, while Jesse has matured in his own way, learning to show vulnerability and care. Their relationship evolves from flirtation to introspection, building toward a mature love built on understanding and mutual respect.
This theme resonates particularly well because the second chance is earned—through growth, through honesty, and through the willingness to acknowledge past failures. The novel suggests that second chances are not about forgetting the past, but learning from it and doing better in the present.
This emotional realism adds authenticity to their romantic reconciliation and gives readers a satisfying and heartfelt conclusion.
Personal Growth and Emotional Maturity
The theme of personal growth and emotional maturity is threaded throughout the arcs of both Jesse and Wren. Initially, both characters display traits of defensiveness and guardedness.
Wren, in particular, is portrayed as a woman who has chosen career precision and emotional restraint over vulnerability. Her role as the city attorney requires her to be composed and shrewd, often hiding her personal turmoil beneath a professional exterior.
Jesse, by contrast, presents himself as a rugged, easy-going man comfortable in his environment, but his deeper emotions show a man wrestling with regret and longing. Over the course of the novel, both characters evolve by confronting the emotional consequences of their past and learning how to navigate complex relationships and professional obligations with integrity.
Jesse learns to be emotionally expressive in a way he perhaps never was before. Wren, meanwhile, discovers the strength in softness, in letting go of rigid expectations, and in embracing emotional risk.
The book doesn’t rush this transformation; instead, it allows it to unfold through difficult conversations, community pressures, and personal introspection. This development makes their eventual romantic reunion not just a matter of passion, but of earned trust and compatibility.
The novel presents emotional maturity as not just the ability to feel, but the willingness to communicate, to forgive, and to remain present despite fear. It’s a deeply resonant message about the human capacity to grow and heal, especially when given space and time.
Integrity and Moral Responsibility
A critical theme explored through Wren’s role in the story is the importance of integrity and moral responsibility. As the city attorney caught in the middle of a messy legal situation involving her family and a powerful real estate development, Wren is forced to make difficult ethical decisions.
She is not only navigating romantic emotions but is also carrying the weight of public trust and familial loyalty. The novel uses her character to explore what it means to stand firm in one’s principles, especially when under pressure from multiple sides.
Wren is tested repeatedly—by the legal complications of Chrissy and Jed’s divorce, by her growing feelings for Jesse, and by the implications of potential corruption in the Township development. Despite the emotional and social turmoil, Wren chooses to uphold the law and fight for what is right, even if that means going against those close to her.
Her unwavering moral compass becomes one of her most admirable qualities, adding depth to her character beyond the romantic subplot. Similarly, Jesse, though not in a formal position of power, also shows integrity in how he supports Wren and distances himself from shady dealings tied to his family’s business.
The theme serves as a reminder that true strength often lies not in physical prowess or loud declarations, but in quiet, consistent actions rooted in fairness and conscience. The story presents integrity not as a static trait, but as something cultivated through hard choices and emotional resilience.
Family Complications and Loyalty
Family, with all its messiness and nuance, plays a significant role in the thematic structure of the novel. The story introduces readers to a network of familial relationships that are strained, supportive, and sometimes toxic.
Wren and Jesse are both tied to people who force them to question the balance between familial loyalty and self-preservation. Jed’s betrayal of Chrissy not only creates legal and emotional ripples but also raises larger questions about the extent to which loyalty should be maintained when family members act unethically.
Wren’s position is particularly complicated—she is emotionally connected to Chrissy but professionally obligated to do her job with objectivity. Jesse, similarly, must wrestle with his personal dislike for Jed while navigating his role in the community and his connection to Ford Construction.
What the novel does well is show that loyalty does not require blind allegiance. Instead, it portrays loyalty as a choice to support the people who align with your values, even when that support means challenging them.
It acknowledges that family can be both a source of comfort and a cause of deep conflict. Ultimately, Wren and Jesse each find clarity in recognizing that real loyalty is grounded in mutual respect and honesty, not in obligation or fear.
The resolution of family conflicts in the story reinforces the idea that true belonging comes from people who respect your boundaries, not just those who share your bloodline.