“Every time I go there it feels magical to me,” Lapekes, who never studied at MSU, said. “It’s a cool place where people are so nice and I feel at home.”

The novel, released in May, follows MSU veterinary medicine student Catherine Sealy, who meets a young musician named Daniel LaMont in the cold snow-covered streets of MSU, right before a football game. After an extemporaneous serenade in an abandoned ballroom, Sealy, who neglects to ask for the young musician’s name, becomes intrigued by LaMont’s mysterious charm. She falls for him as their relationship flourishes but she discovers he has a disheartening secret.

“The name ‘Gingerbread Boy’ came from the main character’s love interest in the story, who always tends to run from his problems, like the old children’s story called ‘The Gingerbread Man,’” she said. “I named it ‘Gingerbread Boy’ because his mother still refers to him as her little boy.”

Lapekes said she developed the plot for the novel after dealing with a loss that haunted her.

“When I was younger, I was engaged to a man who passed away from cancer,” Lapekes said. “This doesn’t happen in the book, but it’s very similar.”

The Grand Rapids author said she dug within herself for the main characters. Sealy is a reflection of her love for animals, and LaMont came from her respect for musicians.

“I grew up on a farm, that’s where my love for animals comes from — that’s how I developed Catherine,” Lapekes said. “I admire musicians because I do not have a musical bone in my body.”

Prior to “The Gingerbread Boy,” Lapekes released two novels, “For a Short Time” and “Secrets of Catalpa Hall,” and both are considered romance novels.

“They have romance, but I don’t call them that,” she said. “They’re more mainstream commercial fiction. Her fourth novel, “The Cinnamon Girl,” released in September, is a sequel to “The Gingerbread Boy,” which Lapekes said is her best novel yet.

“After reading (‘The Gingerbread Boy’), it just didn’t seem finished,” she said. “That gave me the push to write ‘The Cinnamon Girl’ — it was the perfect ending to the story.”

“The Gingerbread Boy” Kindle edition is on Amazon.com.