The Summer House

Hale’s rich and slow-building romance is enhanced by the allure of the North Carolina coast. Friends since childhood, Callie Weaver and Olivia Dixon pooled their money to buy a beachfront cottage in the small oceanfront village of Waves, N.C., and plan to renovate it into a bed and breakfast. Wounded by her father’s abandonment of her family when she was a child, Callie is reluctant to let people get too close to her. A chance encounter with local playboy Luke Sullivan surprises Callie, as he seems much more genuine than he is portrayed by the media. As the physical and emotional attraction grows between Callie and Luke and they spend more time together, Callie realizes that Luke is unlike any man she has ever met. Their relationship is threatened when Callie reads an old diary she found during the renovation of the cottage and realizes it contains Luke’s family’s secrets. North Carolina’s beautiful Outer Banks are the perfect setting for this sweet, poignant romance, and authentic characters and a riveting story make it a keeper worth savoring. Agent: Claire Bord, Bookouture. (May)