Summer Romance by Jana Richards

Photo by Anastasiia Vedmedenko on Unsplash

There’s a giddy feeling of excitement that comes with summer romance. I remember one summer when I was about sixteen and was staying at the lake with my cousin. There was this boy and I was well and truly smitten. There’s something about warm summer nights and falling in love, especially when it’s for the first time. Though that summer love didn’t turn into anything lasting, it’s still a pleasant memory.

These days, one of my favorite things to do on summer vacation is to lose myself in a good book. My idea of fun is sitting poolside with a cold drink in one hand and a hot romance novel in the other. And if it’s a book that evokes that summer love feeling, so much the better.

I’ve also been known to write while on holiday. Actually, it’s one of my favorite things to do while my husband golfs. At the risk of tooting my own horn, I believe some of my books evoke that summer love feeling.

TRUTH AND SOLACE is Maggie and Luke’s story. Their summer romance began when Maggie was fourteen and Luke was eighteen. Though they were deeply in love, they were far too young for their love to last, especially since Maggie’s grandparents actively worked to keep them apart. At the end of the summer, Luke left town, but not before breaking Maggie’s heart and making her doubt he ever loved her. Ten years later, Luke is back and takes a job at Maggie’s family’s inn. Though they discover they have the same old feelings for each other, Maggie doesn’t believe she can trust Luke. And Luke’s guilt over the way he deceived Maggie ten years ago still haunts him. They must come to terms with the past in order to have chance for a future.

In ALWAYS A BRIDESMAID Daniella is the girl all her friends want as a bridesmaid. The first time she meets Zach, she witnesses him get jilted at the altar. A year later she meets him again when they’re paired together at another wedding. This time he asks her to pretend to be his girlfriend to ward off the unwanted attentions of his ex-fiance (a.k.a. the one who jilted him at the altar). Over the course of a weekend, their pretend relationship starts to feel a very real. But Zach’s trust issues cause him to accuse Dani of cheating. When he realizes how wrong he is and how much he wants their fake relationship to be real, can he prove that he’s worthy of her?

My newest release, TO HEAL A HEART, just came out on Monday. Over the course of a long, hot summer, Garrett, a disabled veteran trying to find his new place in the world, and Blair, a woman with painful secrets, work together to rehab her grandfather’s old barn in order to house rescue horses. The work gives Garrett much needed purpose and he falls in love with Blair. But she’s stuck in a place of guilt and shame that she can’t dig her way out of. Is Garrett’s love strong enough to help her overcome her pain?

Here's hoping we have a summer full of summer romance novels!