SISTERS OF SUMMER'S END – Lori Foster
Summer Resort series, Book 2
HQN
ISBN: 978-1-335-46832-1
June 2019
Contemporary Romance

Woodbine, Ohio – Present Day

Single mother Joy Lee is happy at Cooper's Charm, the RV resort where she has worked and lived for several years. Her son, Jack, is the most important man in her life. As SISTERS OF SUMMER'S END opens, Joy is hoping that the new owner of the drive-in at the resort, Royce Nakirk, will be easy to work with since she's the recreation director and will have to deal with him on a daily basis. To her surprise, Royce is much younger than she expected and very attractive. He also starts flirting with her, but Joy hasn't the time to get involved with Royce or anyone. But once Jack is introduced to Royce, things begin to click between all three of them. Is it time for Joy to get rid of her “not available” label?

Royce is intrigued by Joy, which surprises him because he's normally carefree and rarely dates a woman twice. She's fiercely independent and sexy as hell—a combination that he didn't know turned him on. He finally persuades her to go on a date with him, where one thing leads to another and they're soon having sex. But can there be any future between Royce and Joy since she's not wanting to bring a man into the tight family circle she's created with Jack?

Readers might remember Joy from COOPER'S CHARM, the first book in the Summer Resort series by Lori Foster. Joy always seems organized and content with her life, though she doesn't talk much about her past. In SISTERS OF SUMMER'S END, we learn that after she became pregnant with Jack, her parents chose to disown her because she wouldn't give up her son for adoption. The estrangement continues to this day and Joy will do anything to protect her son from his grandparents, but one day, Joy's mother shows up at the resort to report that Joy has been named as a beneficiary in her grandmother's will. Joy doesn't really care if she gets anything from her family but agrees to go to the reading of the will. Meanwhile, things begin to heat up between Royce and Joy…

Royce slowly builds a friendship with Jack, which leads to Joy dropping the barrier she's erected all these years to avoid romantic entanglements. However, she doesn't see the fling with Royce as anything other than one that's temporary. She might be beginning to trust Royce, but it only goes so far, especially since Joy sees herself as unmarriageable because she has a young child. Yet Royce turns out to be protective and loyal to both her and Jack. But even as their relationship grows into a sexual one, doubt creeps between them as to whether they can have a future together.

SISTERS OF SUMMER'S END is a wonderful tale of redemption and finding love again. Joy is a hard worker who fiercely protects her son, so it's going to take a special man for her to let him into her life. But Royce is a special man and one that readers will fall in love with themselves. As with COOPER'S CHARM, there is a dog involved and a minor storyline with fellow workers at the resort, Maris and Daron, who are having their own romance going on. Will both couples find a happily-ever-after? SISTERS OF SUMMER'S END is a joy to read and one that I highly recommend.

Patti Fischer