Love In Translation

An unexpected living situation leads to love in the charming latest from Wood (The Tycoon’s Diamond Demand). United Nations translator Rheo Whitlock was put on medical leave after she was caught complaining about climate change on a hot mic and, subsequently, dumped by her boyfriend. In the four months since, she’s been squatting in her grandmother Paddy’s vacation home in Gilmartin, Wash., while trying to regain her confidence. Paddy, who doesn’t know Rheo’s there, rents out the property to wilderness lover Fletch Wright, and Rheo gains a surprise roommate when he shows up at her door. Fletch will be staying for two weeks before embarking on a kayaking trip with Rheo’s cousin, Carrie, a travel influencer whose fearlessness and adventurous spirit make homebody Rheo insecure. Fletch, too, is a thrill-seeker. After a serious illness confined him to bed as a teenager, he’s spent his adulthood summiting Mount Everest and hacking through the Amazon. Despite their differences, Rheo and Fletch have white-hot chemistry—and then give into it. But what will happen when Fletch’s two weeks are up and Carrie arrives for the kayaking trip? Woods makes the opposites-attract trope sing with believable leads who must come to realistic compromises and rethink their assumptions about each other. The result is sure to tug on readers’ heartstrings. (Dec.)