by: Jennifer Snow
Series: Blue Moon Bay
Genre: Contemporary Romance/Romantic Comedy
Release Date: June 29, 2021
Publisher: Entangled Amara
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They have different ideas about the fate of an old inn...until it brings them together.
When Sarah Lewis inherits a run-down B&B from her late grandmother in coastal Blue Moon Bay, the logical thing to do is sell it and focus on her life in L.A. But when she learns that interested buyers will only tear it down in its current state, she feels a sense of obligation to her grandmother to get it back to the landmark tourist destination it once was...even if that means hiring the best contractor for the job, who happens to be her old high school crush.
Wes Sharrun’s life has continued to unravel since the death of his wife three years before. Now with a struggling construction company and a nine-year-old daughter, he sees the B&B as an opportunity to get back on his feet. Unfortunately, despite trying to keep his distance, his daughter has taken a liking to Sarah, and his own feelings are tough to deny.
As they spend more time together painting, exploring a forgotten treasure trove of wine in a basement cellar, and arguing over balcony placement, the more the spark between them ignites. But will saving the B&B be enough to convince them both to take a second chance at love?
Age: Twenty-Nine
Physical Description: Five-seven, 130 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes.
Occupation: App Developer turned reluctant B & B owner.
3 likes in no particular order: Working long hours, girl time with my besties, Jess and Whitney, staring out at the ocean.
3 dislikes in no particular order: Arrogant construction workers, interacting with social situations with strangers, putting on makeup.
Drink of choice: Wine-red, white, rose or sparkling…All of the above.
Favorite color: Pink but don’t tell anyone.
Choice of transportation: I love borrowing Whitney’s banana-yellow Miata for cruising along the beautiful California coastline.
Most prized possession: My Funko of Steve Jobs. And more recently, my Grandma’s secret journal.
Favorite way to unwind: Curling up with a book on the new deck I’ve installed off of my room at the B & B.
Favorite way to spend an evening: Catching up with my besties with wine and delicious baked goods from Jess’s bakery.
Best memory to date: A certain evening in the ocean with a certain someone that may or may not have included clothing😉
If you could have a do-over, what would you do differently? Nothing. I believe everything happens for a reason.
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? A month ago I would have said there was nothing I’d rather do or want to do, but now, running a B & B in my small hometown of Blue Moon Bay as an event center doesn’t seem so bad…
Most romantic gesture: A special message hidden in the spiraling staircase of the B & B.
Words to live by: Keep your heart open to the impossible.
This was how she was going to die.
With her lower body dangling below the splintered landing on the spiraling staircase of the B & B, Sarah Lewis supported her weight as best she could on the broken wood around her. She’d fallen through and had been hanging there for almost seven minutes and according to her Fitbit, her heartrate was reaching a dangerous level.
Her inheritance of Dove’s Nest B & B felt more like punishment the longer she was stuck there. The ominous water damage bubble on the ceiling above her head looked ready to pop any second and yellowing of the ceiling tiles in other areas suggested it wasn’t the first warning sign that the place needed a new roof.
She tried pulling herself out of the hole but each upward motion of her body caused spikes of wood to dig into the exposed flesh at her waist. She winced, squirming to get more comfortable as the wood threatened to impale her. She glanced down through the opening in the shards. She couldn’t go up…could she go down? The drop was only about twelve feet…she could survive the fall, but her body was literally trapped. Up or down required significant bravery that she simply did not have right now.
Her cell phone taunted her from a position on the lower step, just out of reach of her fingertips. Her boss’s number lighting up the display for the third call in seven minutes had her freaking out more than her current predicament.
What the hell was she going to do?
Risk a broken ankle or the death of her career?
She closed her eyes tight.
Here goes nothing.
But a knock on the B & B front door saved her from the split second decision of letting go. “It’s open!” she yelled, her voice echoing through the large open foyer. Luckily, she’d left it unlocked.
A slow creaking sound was like something out of a horror flick before heavy footsteps resonated on the hardwood floor below. “Hello?”
Oh no, anyone else but him.
The familiar voice from her past had this situation a million times more mortifying. Maybe she should stay quiet. Maybe he’d leave again without noticing her legs dangling above his head.
“Hello?” Wes Sharrun called out again.
Sarah sighed. He was not her first choice for rescue, but he may be her only one. “Hi…up here,” she called out.
A moment later, she could see Wes’s face looking up at her through the cracks in the shards. “Sarah?”
Was it the sight of someone stuck in a staircase that made his voice rise in surprise or the fact that it was her? “Yep, it’s me,” she said, her cheeks burned. Thank God she wasn’t wearing a skirt.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
He put his hands on his hips as he smirked up at her. “You know, I’m actually not surprised to find you this way.”
Great, her past reputation as…accident prone hadn’t been forgotten when she’d left town. “Do you think you could help? I’m starting to lose feeling in my lower half.” She was also lightheaded as the pressure cut off her air supply. Add to that the racing of her pulse and quickened heartbeat at the presence of an audience and her FitBit was now beeping violently at her.
“How long have you been there?” Wes asked, slowly ascending the staircase.
Long enough to miss three calls from her boss. Gail Woodrow, CEO of Digital Strategies in L.A. didn’t believe in leaving messages. She simply called until Sarah answered. Which was usually immediately. “Too long,” she said. “Be careful.” If he fell too, she would be stuck in a staircase with her high school crush, who looked even better in person than he did in his Facebook photos. In tight, faded, dirty denim, work boots and a black t-shirt with white paint splatters on the chest, he would have caused her heart to race any day, but right now the embarrassment and fear of falling was all she could think about. This was not the way she had envisioned running into him when she’d gotten the call about her grandmother’s passing and had made her plans to return to her hometown of Blue Moon Bay.
She was a successful professional now with an amazing promotion pending and a rent controlled apartment in downtown L.A. Not the gangly, dorky teen her must remember. Yet…here she was falling right back into her old awkward ways.
“Stay still. I’m going to get you out.” He headed back down the stairs and less than thirty seconds later, he returned wearing his tool belt, which would normally be a sight of fantasies, but he was also holding an ominous looking tool in his hands.
Her eyes widened. “What’s that?”
“A skill saw.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“Do you want to live in the stairs?”
“Maybe there’s another way to get me out.” She’d always been deathly afraid of anything sharp. The sight of needles made her feel faint. This saw thing brought an instant rush of sweat, and had her mouth salivating as though she were about to throw up. It was going to require a shit ton of trust on her behalf to let him use that thing so close to her body and trust was not something that came easily to her.
Especially not with him.
“Do you have another idea?”
“How about you stand beneath me and I’ll let go?”
He looked amused by the idea. “Serve as a crashmat?”
“Or more heroically, you could catch me.”
“Tempting, but no. We’ll do it this way.”
With her lower body dangling below the splintered landing on the spiraling staircase of the B & B, Sarah Lewis supported her weight as best she could on the broken wood around her. She’d fallen through and had been hanging there for almost seven minutes and according to her Fitbit, her heartrate was reaching a dangerous level.
Her inheritance of Dove’s Nest B & B felt more like punishment the longer she was stuck there. The ominous water damage bubble on the ceiling above her head looked ready to pop any second and yellowing of the ceiling tiles in other areas suggested it wasn’t the first warning sign that the place needed a new roof.
She tried pulling herself out of the hole but each upward motion of her body caused spikes of wood to dig into the exposed flesh at her waist. She winced, squirming to get more comfortable as the wood threatened to impale her. She glanced down through the opening in the shards. She couldn’t go up…could she go down? The drop was only about twelve feet…she could survive the fall, but her body was literally trapped. Up or down required significant bravery that she simply did not have right now.
Her cell phone taunted her from a position on the lower step, just out of reach of her fingertips. Her boss’s number lighting up the display for the third call in seven minutes had her freaking out more than her current predicament.
What the hell was she going to do?
Risk a broken ankle or the death of her career?
She closed her eyes tight.
Here goes nothing.
But a knock on the B & B front door saved her from the split second decision of letting go. “It’s open!” she yelled, her voice echoing through the large open foyer. Luckily, she’d left it unlocked.
A slow creaking sound was like something out of a horror flick before heavy footsteps resonated on the hardwood floor below. “Hello?”
Oh no, anyone else but him.
The familiar voice from her past had this situation a million times more mortifying. Maybe she should stay quiet. Maybe he’d leave again without noticing her legs dangling above his head.
“Hello?” Wes Sharrun called out again.
Sarah sighed. He was not her first choice for rescue, but he may be her only one. “Hi…up here,” she called out.
A moment later, she could see Wes’s face looking up at her through the cracks in the shards. “Sarah?”
Was it the sight of someone stuck in a staircase that made his voice rise in surprise or the fact that it was her? “Yep, it’s me,” she said, her cheeks burned. Thank God she wasn’t wearing a skirt.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
He put his hands on his hips as he smirked up at her. “You know, I’m actually not surprised to find you this way.”
Great, her past reputation as…accident prone hadn’t been forgotten when she’d left town. “Do you think you could help? I’m starting to lose feeling in my lower half.” She was also lightheaded as the pressure cut off her air supply. Add to that the racing of her pulse and quickened heartbeat at the presence of an audience and her FitBit was now beeping violently at her.
“How long have you been there?” Wes asked, slowly ascending the staircase.
Long enough to miss three calls from her boss. Gail Woodrow, CEO of Digital Strategies in L.A. didn’t believe in leaving messages. She simply called until Sarah answered. Which was usually immediately. “Too long,” she said. “Be careful.” If he fell too, she would be stuck in a staircase with her high school crush, who looked even better in person than he did in his Facebook photos. In tight, faded, dirty denim, work boots and a black t-shirt with white paint splatters on the chest, he would have caused her heart to race any day, but right now the embarrassment and fear of falling was all she could think about. This was not the way she had envisioned running into him when she’d gotten the call about her grandmother’s passing and had made her plans to return to her hometown of Blue Moon Bay.
She was a successful professional now with an amazing promotion pending and a rent controlled apartment in downtown L.A. Not the gangly, dorky teen her must remember. Yet…here she was falling right back into her old awkward ways.
“Stay still. I’m going to get you out.” He headed back down the stairs and less than thirty seconds later, he returned wearing his tool belt, which would normally be a sight of fantasies, but he was also holding an ominous looking tool in his hands.
Her eyes widened. “What’s that?”
“A skill saw.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“Do you want to live in the stairs?”
“Maybe there’s another way to get me out.” She’d always been deathly afraid of anything sharp. The sight of needles made her feel faint. This saw thing brought an instant rush of sweat, and had her mouth salivating as though she were about to throw up. It was going to require a shit ton of trust on her behalf to let him use that thing so close to her body and trust was not something that came easily to her.
Especially not with him.
“Do you have another idea?”
“How about you stand beneath me and I’ll let go?”
He looked amused by the idea. “Serve as a crashmat?”
“Or more heroically, you could catch me.”
“Tempting, but no. We’ll do it this way.”
Purchase A Lot Like Love from:
The Blue Moon Bay Series:
A Lot Like Christmas releases September 28, 2021
Jennifer Snow is an award-winning, USA Today Bestselling author of over 35 romance and thriller novels. Publishing with Grand Central, Harlequin, Berkley and Thomas & Mercer, she has over ten years of experience crafting stories that connect with readers worldwide. Her books have been translated into five different languages and have been optioned for film and television. She has won the Booksellers’ Best Award and has received Starred Reviews from Publishers’ Weekly. She is known for her romantic comedies and female-driven dramas for TV and film. She’s also written true-crime and thriller screenplays as work-for-hire assignments for various production companies. Her film work is represented by Alexia Melocchi at Little Studio Films and her literary work is represented by Jill Marsal at the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.
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I have never stayed at a B&B. I think I would enjoy it because it would be more laid and relaxing than a big hotel.
ReplyDeleteI have stayed at two different B&Bs, one Victorian, and one Colonial. Just love the peace and tranquility of staying in one.
ReplyDeletedenise
I've never stayed at a B&B, but I've always wanted too.
ReplyDeleteTheresa Norris
weceno at yahoo dot com
I have never stayed at a B&B. Don't think I'd like to. Pretty much like feeling invisible. lol
ReplyDeleteJennifer Rote
No I have never stayed at one
ReplyDeleteI stayed in a B&B as a child, unfortunately I can't remember much!
ReplyDeleteJennifer Wheeler
Yes I have and my wife and I enjoyed the special service you receive at B&B's it is usually terrific
ReplyDelete