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When a woman who’d rather do anything than read meets a swoon-worthy bookworm, sparks fly, making for one hot-summer fling in New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay's new rom-com. For Samantha Gale, a summer on Martha’s Vineyard at her family’s tiny cottage was supposed to be about resurrecting her career as a chef, until she’s tasked with chaperoning her half-brother, Tyler. The teenage brainiac is spending his summer at the local library in a robotics competition, and there’s no place Sam, who has dyslexia, likes less than the library. And because the universe hates her, the library’s interim director turns out to be the hot-reader guy whose book she accidentally destroyed on the ferry ride to the island. Bennett Reynolds is on a quest to find his father, whose identity he’s never known. He’s taken the temporary job on the island to research the summer his mother spent there when she got pregnant with him. Ben tells himself he isn't interested in a relationship right now. Yet as soon as Sam knocks his book into the ocean, he can’t stop thinking about her. An irresistible attraction blossoms when Ben inspires Sam to create the cookbook she’s always dreamed about and she jumps all in on helping him find his father, and soon they realize their summer fling may heat up into a happily ever after.
When a woman who’d rather do anything than read meets a swoon-worthy bookworm, sparks fly, making for one hot-summer fling in New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay's new rom-com. For Samantha Gale, a summer on Martha’s Vineyard at her family’s tiny cottage was supposed to be about resurrecting her career as a chef, until she’s tasked with chaperoning her half-brother, Tyler. The teenage brainiac is spending his summer at the local library in a robotics competition, and there’s no place Sam, who has dyslexia, likes less than the library. And because the universe hates her, the library’s interim director turns out to be the hot-reader guy whose book she accidentally destroyed on the ferry ride to the island. Bennett Reynolds is on a quest to find his father, whose identity he’s never known. He’s taken the temporary job on the island to research the summer his mother spent there when she got pregnant with him. Ben tells himself he isn't interested in a relationship right now. Yet as soon as Sam knocks his book into the ocean, he can’t stop thinking about her. An irresistible attraction blossoms when Ben inspires Sam to create the cookbook she’s always dreamed about and she jumps all in on helping him find his father, and soon they realize their summer fling may heat up into a happily ever after.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Excerpts-
From the cover
Chapter One
The ferry from Woods Hole to Martha's Vineyard was standing room only. Shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip, the passengers were packed as tight as two coats of paint. I had a rowdy group of college kids at my back, which was fine, as I'd carved out a spot at the rail near the bow of the ship and was taking in big gulps of salty sea air while counting down the seconds of the forty-five-minute ride.
It was the first time I'd returned to the Gale family cottage in Oak Bluffs for an extended stay-I'd only managed quick weekends here and there around my busy work schedule-in ten years, and I was feeling mostly anxious with a flicker of anticipation. Preoccupied with the idea of spending the entire summer on island, I did not hear the commotion at my back until it was almost too late.
"Bruh!" a deep voice yelled.
I turned around to see a gaggle of man-boys in matching T-shirts-it took my neurodivergent brain a moment to decipher the Greek letters on their shirts, identifying them as frat boys-roughhousing.
Is gaggle the right word? I'm sure they'd have preferred something cool like crew, but honestly, with their baggy shorts, sideways ball caps, and sparsely whiskered chins, they looked more like a cackle of hyenas or a parliament of parrots. Either way, one of them was noticeably turning a sickly shade of green, and his cheeks started to swell. When he began to convulse as if a demon was punching its way up from his stomach, his friends scrambled to get away from him.
I realized with horror that he was going to vomit and the only thing between him and the open sea was me, trapped against the railing. In a panic, I looked for a viable exit. Unfortunately, I was penned in by a stalwart woman with headphones on and a hot guy reading a book. I had a split second to decide who would be easier to move. I went with reader guy, simply because I figured he could at least hear me when I yelled, "Move!"
I was wrong. He didn't hear me and he didn't move. In fact, he was so nonresponsive, it was like he was on another planet. As the dude doing the herky-jerky lunged toward me, I gave the man a nudge. He still didn't respond. Desperate, I slapped my hand over the words in his book. He snapped his head in my direction with a peeved expression. Then he looked past me and his eyes went wide. In one motion, he grabbed me and pulled me down and to the side, out of the line of fire.
The puker almost made it to the rail. Almost. I heard the hot splat of vomit on the deck behind me and hoped it didn't land on the backs of my shoes. Mercifully, reader man's quick thinking shielded me from the worst of it. Frat boy was hanging over the railing, and as the vomiting started in earnest, the crowd finally pressed back, way back, and we scuttled out of the blast zone.
My rescuer let go of me and asked, "Are you all right?"
I opened my mouth to answer, when the smell hit me. That distinctive stomach-curling, nose-wrinkling, gag-inducing smell that accompanies undigested food and bile. My mouth pooled with saliva, and I felt my throat convulse. This was an emergency of epic proportions, as I am a sympathy puker. You puke, I puke, we all puke. Truly, if someone hurls near me, it becomes a gastro-geyser of Old Faithful proportions. I spun away from the man in a flurry of arms that slapped his book out of his hands and sent it careening toward the ocean.
He let out a yell and made a grab for it. He missed and leaned over the railing, looking as if he was actually contemplating making a dive for it.
I felt terrible and would have apologized, but I was too busy holding my fist to my mouth while trying not to lose...
Reviews-
February 20, 2023 McKinlay’s charming latest (after It Happened One Christmas Eve) opens with a meet-cute no reader will forget and blooms into a multifaceted story replete with lovable characters, mouthwatering descriptions of food, and a vicarious vacation to Martha’s Vineyard. After up-and-coming Boston chef Samantha Gale is passed over for promotion by a boss who seems more concerned about her gender and her dyslexia than her qualifications, she quits her restaurant job and heads to her family’s summer home to spend a month licking her wounds while chaperoning her teenage half-brother. She’s not looking for romance, but when she meets Ben Reynolds, she can’t ignore their attraction. But Ben is the town’s new library director and books are his life, while Sam’s severe dyslexia has left her with a lifelong hatred of reading. She’s initially worried that this difference will make them incompatible, but Ben’s enthusiasm proves infectious, and he soon encourages her to write a cookbook of her own. McKinlay handles Sam’s dyslexia with sensitivity and heart, and all editions of the book will be published in “a dyslexic friendly font.” The well-developed emotional growth between the protagonists makes their connection feel real. This is a keeper. Agent: Christina Hogrebe, Jane Rotrosen Agency.
Starred review from April 1, 2023 As meet-cutes go, Sam Gale admits her first encounter with Ben Reynolds, aka "hot reading guy," is definitely not one for the books, even if it does involve a book, specifically the one Sam accidentally knocks out of Ben's hands and into the ocean. However, several days later, after dropping her half-brother, Tyler, off at robotics camp at the local library on Martha's Vineyard, Sam gets another chance with Ben when she discovers he is the interim library director. But can someone who struggles to read and so hates books really have a shot at romance with a books-are-my-jam kind of man? Readers will find much to adore in McKinlay's (Wait for It, 2021) latest fetching mix of romance and women's fiction, beginning with the empathic and insightful ways in which she integrates the challenges someone with dyslexia faces into the engaging story line of this comic charmer. Add to this McKinlay's flair for capturing just how family and friends can make us feel both vulnerable and strong, conveyed in breezy writing buoyed by quippy banter and sizzling sexual chemistry, and you have a book that is pure reading bliss in any season.
COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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