Last Kiss of Summer

In this charming contemporary, first in Adair’s Destiny Bay series, a woman looking for a fresh start finds new purpose when she buys a small-town pie shop and the apple orchard that supplies it. Kennedy Sinclair is confident that she can make a go of Sweetie Pies and put her cheating ex far behind her. However, local hard-cider brewer Luke Callahan also needs those apples to propel his business to the next level. With two dreams at stake, the clash of wills between Kennedy and Luke proves legendary, but their mutual attraction is even stronger, turning the fierce, if friendly, rivalry into a tentative courtship. Adair (Chasing I Do) has the perfect recipe for a tasty, if unchallenging, romance: a dash of sweetness, a pinch of spice in the bedroom, and a heap of comedic playfulness spread among the comfortably eccentric cast. Readers will root for both protagonists as they pursue their seemingly incompatible goals, even as they wonder why Kennedy and Luke don’t just sit down and talk. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary. (Sept.)