She’s over her crush...isn’t she?
Luci Monroe is on top of the world. She’s just graduated from journalism school and she’s already landed her dream job in PR. Then Cody Jarvis saunters into her office. Nothing like finding out that your teenage crush, now a gorgeous, globe-trotting, freelance photographer, is going to be your staffer for the summer. Never mind. They’re both professionals. And she’s over him. Kind of. Anyway, he’s not interested. Cody is always waiting to disappear on his next assignment, and Luci needs someone stable. Someone who wants to build a life right here in Willow Beach...
“I’d better get back to my guests.”
“Thanks for coming, Cody, and good luck with your next assignment.”
He laid a hand on her arm. “Don’t say goodbye yet. I’ll be around for a while. In a town as small as Willow Beach, we’re bound to run into each other.”
Just then, Don came around the corner. “There you are, Cody. Been looking for you. Glen Thomas wants a word.”
Cody raised his eyebrows. “The Chamber of Commerce president wants to talk to me? Why?”
Don shrugged. “Don’t know. He didn’t say.”
“Okay,” Cody said. “See you later, Luci.”
“Sure. See you...later.”
Luci hugged herself as she watched Cody and Don head back to the party. She’d thought she was telling the truth when she said she was over Cody. But the moment she’d laid eyes on him tonight, all her old feelings came rushing back.
One reason I love writing a series is that even though a particular book ends, I don’t have to say goodbye to the characters. I can meet them again in the stories that follow.
I met Luci Monroe and Cody Jarvis in Eva’s Deadline, the first book in the Return to Willow Beach series. Luci was a high school senior interning at the Willow Beach Herald. I remember how enthusiastic she was about her chosen profession and also the crush she had on Cody, the Herald’s photographer.
Fast-forward four years to Her Summer Crush. Now a college graduate, Luci returns to Willow Beach to begin her dream job with the Chamber of Commerce. Then she learns Cody will be working with her. That’s okay, though, because she’s over him.
Or is she? Has her crush turned into something more serious?
But what does it matter, because at the end of the summer Cody will leave to follow his dream of traveling the world as a photojournalist.
Getting these two seemingly mismatched people together presented a challenge. I hope you enjoy reading their story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
You can visit my website at lindahopelee.com or email me at [email protected]. I’m also on Facebook and Twitter (@lindahopelee).
Linda
Her Summer Crush
Linda Hope Lee
LINDA HOPE LEE lives in the Pacific Northwest. She likes traveling to new places, especially to small towns that might serve as settings for her novels. In addition to contemporary romance, she writes in the romantic suspense and mystery genres. When she is not writing, she’s busy creating watercolor paintings or drawing in colored pencil or pen and ink. Another pastime is photography, which she uses as inspiration for her art and for her stories. She also collects children’s books and anything to do with wirehaired fox terriers.
To Pearl, the new kid on the block
Many thanks to Harlequin Heartwarming senior editor Victoria Curran and assistant editor Dana Grimaldi for helping to shape Her Summer Crush. Their expertise is invaluable and much appreciated.
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