Heavens to Murgatroyd, but it’s hot! (And in case you’re wondering, “where did that crazy expression come from?” I don’t know. I look it up, and then I promptly forget again; both the expression and the forgetting are sadly age-related!) And since it’s hot just about everywhere (I heard Australia finally got a bit of cold weather, but even their winter’s been unseasonably warm), I’m safe in suggesting we all just stay inside with a good book. Fortunately, there are SO MANY wonderful books to choose from!
First off, another winner from the incomparable duo, Christina Lauren. THE PARADISE PROBLEM will whisk you out of your cranky summer doldrums and plant you in the middle of an island paradise where the days are warm, the nights cool, the sand shimmering white and smooth, and every delicacy imaginable at hand in the resort kitchens. And yes, you have your choice of every conceivable variety of massage in the spa, as well. Darn those talented writers for making me so jealous! (And did they have to do field research to write the book?!) But we’re obliged to forgive them because their story is so good. THE PARADISE PROBLEM is chock-full of tropes: billionaires, marriage of convenience, forced proximity, and a bit of rags-to-riches, but it’s the wonderful characters that will grab your heart. Liam’s the (secret) millionaire, Anna’s the starving artist conveniently married to him, and Liam’s sister is getting married on the island paradise. And while there’s plenty of tension and conflict in the plot, the relationship between our two main characters grows organically and beautifully, with no annoying miscommunications or misunderstandings.
Curiously, another book that recently grabbed my attention and refused to let go also featured an island paradise. FATED, by Sarah Ready, takes place by day in posh, elegant Geneva, and by night on an island a world away where Swiss watch-maker Fiona has an entirely different life with a family her day self has never met. Many of Sarah Ready’s books include a touch of magic, but it’s the kind of cleverly constructed and presented magic that has you tilting your head and thinking, maybe? Yet even though I’ve come to love and trust this author’s work, she had me sweating to the very last minute (and repeatedly checking to make sure this book was classified as “romance”) over how in the world she was going to pull this one off. Every character in this story is terrific, and I’m hoping that Fiona’s best friend Max will find love in a future volume. Sarah Ready has an impressive and varied backlist of books, but FATED is by far my favorite.
Still stuck in the sun, I devoured and adored Annabel Monaghan’s latest offering: SUMMER ROMANCE. Monaghan is great at setting up a relationship between two terrific characters that very clearly cannot work. In this book, Ali’s an overwhelmed and emotionally defeated mother of three trying to ditch a cad of a husband, and Ethan’s her childhood bestie’s skate-boarding younger brother, who is resentfully in town for only a short time. No way in the world can they have a happily-ever-after, right? The author once again has created characters we quickly come to know and care about with plotlines that are both realistic and challenging. And I even picked up some much-appreciated decluttering tips!
But if you need to escape the heat, I recommend LOVE, HOLLY by Emily Stone. Not a Christmas story per se, there are plenty of holiday references as Holly struggles to find equilibrium after a car crash that alters her relationship with her sister. As (bad?) luck would have it, she meets a remarkably attractive and interesting man just minutes before her accident and loses the phone number he jotted down for her. Emily Stone is good at setting up stories that keep the main characters apart for far too long, but this book is more approachable as the author allows Holly and Jack to come to know each other while keeping them unaware of the concealed (and complicated!) plot lines she has so skillfully hidden. Emily and Jack, Jack’s grandmother, and several secondary figures are all characters we quickly come to love, and you’ll find yourself desperately rooting for a happy resolution in this lovely novel.
And finally, if you want to escape not only the heat but our entire contemporary world, Christina Dodd has provided the perfect venue. A DAUGHTER OF FAIR VERONA is a fun serving of Romeo and Juliet fanfic, with a murder mystery and a touch of youthful romance thrown in for good measure. Not possible, you say; Romeo and Juliet died. Well . . . what if they didn’t? Those two were certainly hot and heavy for each other right from the get-go, and in this version of the story, thanks to the friar’s timely medical interventions, they’re still at it some two decades on as the parents of six, going on seven children. Rosie’s their oldest and the object of societal scorn as a still unmarried virgin at the advanced age of almost twenty! Settle back and immerse yourself in the customs and costumes of yesteryear with a spunky heroine who’s not about to let the sons of Verona steal all the fun and attention.
And if you only have time for a quick read, grab a copy of the bursting with romance anthology, CRAVING MY ROOMMATE, out next week. My story “Second Chance at Forever” will grab your heart and leave you with a spring to your step and a smile on your face. Happy reading!
Meg's friends during her high school years all expected her romance novels to hit the shelves decades ago, but she foolishly allowed "serious pursuits" to get in her way. Now that her beloved children can feed, clothe, and most importantly, support themselves, she's free to turn her attention to her first passion - putting words to paper that capture your attention and make your heart sing in quiet joy. Her stories tell most frequently of second chances--in life, love, and sometimes even at rediscovering a soul-mate from a previous life.
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