Perfectly Charming

A newly divorced woman gets a second chance at love in the sweet, understated second Morning Glory contemporary (after Charmingly Yours). Jess Culpepper moves from her small Mississippi hometown to Pensacola, Fla., in order to get away from her ex-husband and a lifetime of memories. As she settles into her new life at the beach, she unexpectedly runs into an old friend: Ryan Reyes, whom she remembers as a socially inept child genius. He’s reinvented himself as an easygoing ladies’ man with a fishing charter service. Now he finally has a shot at getting together with the cheerleader he yearned for all those years ago. At first Jess is reluctant to leap into a new relationship, but she soon gives in to Ryan’s charms and her own desires, and they discover an explosive chemistry in the bedroom. Before they can reach a happily ever after, they have to confront their insecurities and preconceived notions of what love truly is. Talley’s characters play well against each other in a classic “beauty and brains” contrast, both possessing hidden depths, and their developing relationship is tender and vibrant. Agent: Michelle Grajkowski, 3 Seas Literary Agency. (Oct.)