One mind-blowing kiss. That was all Ellie Weston shared with her neighbor and crush one summer, before he angrily discovered she'd approached him on a dare. Ten years later, Ellie is back at her great-aunt's lake house, and so is Uriel Lassiter -- still wildly sexy, single and happy to stay that way. When Ellie finds her great-aunt's never-completed romance novel, she decides to finish the manuscript -- but first she needs some real-life inspiration: a sultry summer fling.
Uriel hasn't forgotten Ellie, and their sizzling chemistry is starting to make him reconsider his tried-and-true bachelor status. But when the truth about her motive emerges, can Ellie convince him that make-believe has turned into sweet reality?
Good book. The story opens when Ellie is sixteen, and Uriel is twenty-one. Their families own neighboring lake houses, and they have known each other for years. Ellie has a huge crush on Uriel, who is about to graduate from college. Afraid she'll never see him again after this summer, Ellie accepts her friend Darcy's dare to walk up and kiss him for at least a minute. Uriel has just started noticing that Ellie is growing up, and when she plants one on him, he can't help but respond. But when Darcy interrupts, yelling about the dare, he gets mad and stalks off.
Fast forward ten years. Ellie's beloved Aunt Mabel, the lake house owner, has died and left it all to Ellie. She arrives at the lake house to settle her aunt's affairs and clean out her aunt's things. She is shocked when she finds a partially written romance novel and is fascinated by what she read. While still processing that information, she sees Uriel arrive at his parents' place. Ten years on, he has grown into a handsome man.
Uriel arrives at the lake, looking for some peace and quiet while also doing a little work. He knows Mabel has died, but not that Ellie is staying in the house. Otherwise, he would never have started his morning with a skinny-dip in the lake. Feeling a bit guilty about that, Uriel went to apologize to her and was floored by what a beautiful woman she'd grown up to be.
I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Ellie and Uriel. The sparks between them are intense from the moment they saw each other again. Uriel proposes a month-long fling between them, making it clear that's all it could be. He has been burned on the idea of marriage by the disintegration of his parents' marriage and has no intention of taking that risk himself. Ellie is wary of the proposal. She remembers her crush very well and sees the potential for heartbreak. But she also needs inspiration if she is going to finish her aunt's book, and knows that he would provide it. Once again, her friend Darcy pushes her into it, telling her Uriel need never know.
It was fun to see Ellie and Uriel together. There are some great scenes of them together, sharing everything from fish frys to movie nights. Uriel is the one who continually insists that it is just a fling, but he sure does get bent out of shape when his godbrothers show up and take notice of her. I had to laugh because they all knew her from when they were kids and look on her as a sister. They all get a little protective of her and give Uriel a hard time. Uriel refuses to admit that what he's feeling is more than a fling.
Meanwhile, Ellie knows her instincts were right and that
she is falling for him all over again. She also feels guilty about not telling
him about the book. When he overhears part of Ellie and Darcy's conversation, history
repeats itself, and he goes away mad. I thought he deserved his misery for not
letting Ellie explain. I hurt for Ellie because she was right about the
heartbreak. I loved the ending, though, as Ellie took matters into her own
hands and forced a confrontation with him. I loved watching her get his
attention and keep it while she made him listen to her explanation.
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