Serendipity

Prolific bestseller Phillips (the Bachelor Blog series) kicks off a trilogy with this sexy, thought-provoking contemporary romance. The tide turned for spoiled rich girl Faith Harrington when her father pleaded guilty to massive financial fraud. Everything the family owned was sold to pay back investors, and Faith's philandering husband abandoned her. Shadowed by her father's crime, Faith heads home to Serendipity, N.Y., and finds one person willing to give her new interior design business a chance: Ethan Barron, local bad boy turned successful entrepreneur. But the house Ethan wants Faith to redecorate is her childhood home, which he purchased. As the two explore the sexual tension lingering from high school, family dramas threaten to split them apart. Phillips creates likable characters with realistic problems and conflicts that don't smother them in angst, and readers will root for the happy ending that Faith and Ethan have earned. (Sept.)