I love beach reading. There is nothing more relaxing than holding a book in your hand with your feet in the sand.
When it comes to choosing books for this summer ritual, I usually go for fiction that's light-hearted and fun. If that's your go-to as well, you have to try Christina Lauren. It's actually two women, Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, who are best friends and writing partners.
Last summer, I read their book The Unhoneymooners while on vacation in Los Angeles. I absolutely devoured it.
When I learned they were coming out with a new book this spring, I ordered it immediately.
Twice in a Blue Moon begins in London, England where we meet Tate Jones and Sam Brandis. Tate has just graduated from high school and is on a celebration trip with her grandmother. Sam has just graduated from college and is on the same kind of reward trip with his grandfather. Both duos are staying at the same hotel, making it easy for them to keep running into each other.
Tate feels an immediate attraction to Sam. On page 16, "I knew every teenager was supposed to have fallen in love at first sight at least ten times by the time they hit eighteen, but I'd never really been the swooning type before. I didn't believe in that kind of chemistry. But near Sam, I guess I started to - at least lust at first sight. Let's not get crazy. I'd only seen him three times, but each time those tiny, immeasurable reactions - the collision of atoms that happens invisibly between two bodies - got more intense. The sensation of holding my breath grew; the air started to feel deliciously high and tight in my throat."
Tate and Sam begin to spend more time together and you guessed it! They fall for each other.
Their blissful vacation romance comes to screeching halt when Sam reveals something to the local paper - that Tate is actually the daughter of one of Hollywood's most famous actors.
That secret flips Tate's life upside down and she doesn't wind up seeing or hearing from Sam for another 14 years. They are reunited when Tate and her father as both cast in a movie that Sam has written.
I don't want to give too much away, because the book is so good. Let's just say, 14 years apart didn't diminish that initial spark felt in London.
I finished this book in two sittings. I was completely sucked into the love story and had to know if they would forgive each other and get back together!
If you're searching for your next beach read, you've have to add this to your list.
*Twice in a Blue Moon image courtesy of Mid-Life Goddess Books.