"Does first love, true love, ever really die?"
Andi Martin asks herself that question as she sits on the porch of the Sloane Cottage, her mind flooded with memories of the summer of '65 and a boy, once loved, but never forgotten.
Jake Chambers is also on a collision course with the past as he returns to Cutter Island for the first time in more than a decade. And, as the ferry approaches the wharf, he finds his mind filled with thoughts of a summer long forgotten and a girl destined to haunt him forever.
From award-winning author, Linda Watkins, comes a story of love, loss, survival, and, most of all, hope...SUMMER GIRL, A Novel.
"...take a deep breath; because Summer Girl isn't formula writing about a summer fling, but a deeper story of coming of age, sexual abuse in families, and methods of survival that enter the picture of a blossoming interpersonal relationship, making Summer Girl an unexpectedly complex read." ~ D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
"A heartfelt story of a boy and a girl....it captivated my heart from beginning to end." ~Patricia Bell for READERS FAVORITE
"...a tale of love arisen and somehow - despite vicious betrayal and extended adversity - preserved and growing, creating its own special hope." ~J. Scott Payne, author of Brought to Battle and The Green Hell
Henley agrees to pretend to date millionaire Bennett Calloway for a fee, falling in love as she wonders - how is he involved in her brother's false conviction?
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Henley Linden's brother is in jail for a crime he didn't commit, and she'll take any job to raise the money needed to free him. Soon, she's agreed to pretend to date millionaire Bennett Calloway for ten thousand dollars, so his mother will ease up the pressure on him to find a wife. But once Henley is enmeshed in Bennett's world, he falls for her, and she starts to have feelings for him as well. Despite her romance with Bennett, as she grows closer to the Calloways, Henley realizes they are somehow involved in her brother's conviction. Journeying deeper into a world of wealth and conspiracies, Henley is forced to rely on Bennett, though doing so could cost her everything.
[[word count: 200,000-250,000 words]]