Mickey Chambers Shakes It Up

A widowed bar owner gets a second chance at love with a cash-strapped adjunct professor in this heartfelt opposites-attract romance from Reid (I’ll Come Back for You). Optimist Mickey Chambers, a 33-year-old adjunct professor, grapples with finding her place in the world while trying to keep her head above water. With just one class lined up for the summer and dwindling medication to manage her hyperthyroidism, she needs a side job to make ends meet. Grumpy bar owner Diego Acosta, 42, worries he’s losing a grip on his late wife’s bar. With his recent enrollment in college and the long hours required to manage the bar, Diego needs additional staff. Enter Mickey. Though her sunny disposition seems out of place in the dive and the other employees wager she’ll only last a week, Diego gives her a chance. The pair couldn’t be more different, but their mutual attraction is undeniable. Their dynamic is complicated, however, when Diego realizes that Mickey’s the professor of his summer course. Reid skillfully navigates Diego’s grief for his wife and guilt over finding new love and balances these heavier themes with Mickey’s infectious lightheartedness. The resulting slow burning will-they, won’t-they romance is sure to win fans.Agent: Sarita Hernandez, Andrea Brown Literary. (June)