Picture Perfect Summer by Marquita Valentine
Release Date: January 22nd
Picture Perfect Summer, the highly anticipated second chance romance From New York Times bestselling author Marquita Valentine.
It all started with a dare…
He was supposed to be a summer fling, but Duke King made me fall in love with him and I spent the most perfect summer by his side.
Then I met his wife—his pregnant wife.
And I had no other choice but to leave Castle Beach for good.
Ten years later, I’m back to sell my parents’ house and leave behind the memories of that perfect summer, once and for all.
But my plans for a quick visit are hindered by a sexy single dad.
I’m older and wiser, but so is he… and this time, he says he’s not going to let me go without a fight.
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Excerpt:
Duke jogs up the stairs, looking so fine that I want to take a picture and post it on Instagram for the entire world to see. “ “You look pretty.”
My cheeks heat and I all but twist my foot around in awkward celebration. “Thanks. So do you. I mean, not pretty. Good. You look good.”
A smile pushes at the corners of his mouth, transforming his sexy good looks into positively sinful. I get so hot that I start fanning my face. “It’s a little hot this evening, isn’t it?”
“No more than usual.” He offers me his arm and I have the presence of mind to take it before we walk to his truck parked on the driveway below the porch. “It’s a lot cooler in my truck, so you shouldn’t melt on the way to Ten Blue.”
“That’s very considerate of you. I’m really excited about dinner.” I moan happily. “All the seafood.”
He doesn’t reply right away, or at all until he opens the passenger side door. Maybe the happy moan was too much? I don’t know, but I make the same noise when I eat food I like, or at least Sunny accuses me of moaning like a ghost in church. Not really sure about that analogy. Sunny’s from SoCal, so who knows really.
“I’m sure you’ll have plenty to choose from and if you don’t, we can ask.” He pauses as I climb inside and I take the opportunity to spend a great deal of time getting situated.
“Fair warning. I like to eat. I really like to eat my favorite food, so if the happy moaning bothered you, I’ll try to keep it to a three.”
His brow quirks. “Out of three?”
I snort. “Five. Duh.”
“You really are an odd duck,” he says, but it sounds more like a compliment than an insult, so that warm feeling he’s inspired in me grows. “Anything else you need to warn me about before we go?”
I shake my head. “Not that I can think of.”
“Damn. I was kinda hoping you did.” He winks at me and shuts the door on my shocked face.
About Marquita:
Marquita Valentine is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Holland Springs and Boys of the South series.
Since first taking the plunge in July of 2012 to self publish, Marquita Valentine has appeared on the Top 100 Bestselling Ebooks Lists on iBooks, Amazon Kindle, and Barnes&Noble. She's been called "one of the best new voices in romance" (Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews) and her books have been accused of being "a sexy, fun, and slightly addicting contemporary read" (The Book Queen).
When she's not writing sexy heroes who adore their sassy heroines, she enjoys shopping, reading, and spending time with her family and friends. Married to her high school sweetheart, Marquita lives in a seriously small town in the south with her husband, two kids, and a dog.
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Liza's Review:
I have mad love for the Kings of Castle Beach series of books. Marquita Valentine once again gives her readers a wonderful second chance romance with Picture Perfect Summer. I've wanted to know more about Duke King from the moment we first met Duke and realized his ex-wife wasn't the reason he was heart broken. When I discovered True Prince was the reason for his heartbreak, I needed to know how they met and what caused them to be apart. Ms. Valentine gives her readers everything they could possibly want with Picture Perfect Summer.
With Part 1 we get to see how Duke and True first met and how they quickly fell in love, as in pretty much at first sight. I loved there was much humor and lightness to the beginning of their romance. Insta-love doesn't always work for me, yet with Duke and True it totally did for me. They just seemed to get each other on a level no one else really did and they could talk to each other pretty much about anything. However, the twist of Duke's soon to be ex-wife showing up with news of her pregnancy, about broke my heart as I saw True and Duke go their separate ways.
Part 2 picks up 10 years later and Duke is a single father still in Castle Beach and True comes home to get her childhood home ready to sell for her parents. True has a wonderful teaching job she loves in Arizona and her parents had followed her out there soon after she moved. Of course, True and Duke see each other again, along with his precious daughter River, who Duke has raised on his own pretty much since she was born. Sadly his ex is still there to cause trouble, and I really have to say she might be my least favorite character ever to hit the page, but I also felt like her being a part of the story helped True and Duke find their way back to each other faster. I loved that True did initially give Duke a hard time about their past, yet couldn't seemed to stay away from him or his daughter. Seeing both Duke and True admit they never stopped loving one another gave me all the happy feels! Books with kids can go really well or be distracting. River was such a fun character for me and she totally added a great dimension to the story rather than acted as a distraction. I think I fell even more in love with Duke as I watched him love and guide his daughter, yet let her be herself as well. I really felt from the beginning the Duke, True and River were a family and loved seeing them together.
Picture Perfect Summer gave me all the feels as I read it. I've loved getting to know the various members of the King family and really need to know what happened to Laird when he was lost at sea! Marquita Valentine has once again pulled me in and I can't wait to read what she gives to her readers next.
Rating: 5 Stars (B+)
Review copy provided by publisher
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