She’s desperate for another bestseller… and she’ll go to any length to get it. Even if it means sacrificing her pride to chase the hottest bachelor in town and get him to break her heart…
Intrigued? Well read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Jennifer Probst’s Book of the Month, which is out October 22nd 2024.
Once the literary world’s golden girl, Aspen Lourde can’t seem to produce another successful book, and the pressure’s on to prove she’s not just a one-hit-wonder. But there’s a catch: her bestseller was a heartbreak hit, straight from her own love life disaster. Without any fresh romantic turmoil to fuel her pen, Aspen needs inspiration quick enough to create a book her agent can sell to her publisher. So she escapes for the summer to the Outer Banks with a plan to live a story worth writing.
Brick Babel is a romance novelist’s dream: a local heartthrob with a reputation as wild as the horses running free in the town. He’s everything Aspen needs for a muse kickstart—gorgeous, moody, and notoriously unattainable. His affairs are legendary in the small town, and every woman warns her off, including her sister.
Too bad a good heartbreak is exactly what she needs to meet her deadline.
But Brick refuses to play the game, rejecting all of her advances. When Aspen hears his tour company is on the verge of bankruptcy, she offers him a deal: fake a whirlwind summer romance, then ditch her, drama guaranteed.
Desperate to save his grandfather’s business, Brick agrees to the ridiculous deal. What starts as a contractual fling spirals out of control as lines blur and real feelings emerge. Brick’s falling hard, and Aspen’s rethinking her plot twist. The novel might be her ticket back to the top, but at what cost?
Because Aspen’s finally found her muse, but some stories may be too true to share.
EXCERPT
Aspen Lourde looked at the line of readers waiting their turn to get their books signed and wished they’d all go home.
This whole event was a disaster.
She kept her smile pasted firmly in place as the young woman shoved a worn-edged hardback across the table and grabbed from the stack of swag, pocketing a few custom-made keychains. “Hi, I’m Juanita. Oh, my God, I can’t believe I’m finally meeting you! This is like…epic.”
Some of Aspen’s dread faded. This was a true fan who wouldn’t disappoint. She pumped up her voice to a higher level, making sure it was filled with warmth. “Thank you so much. It’s an honor to meet you, too. Should I sign to you, Juanita?”
“Yes, please.”
Aspen confirmed the spelling—she’d once written Kim when it should have been Kym, so she never assumed—and scrawled, So happy to meet you! across the page. She added her signature with an XOXO in purple Sharpie. Closing the book with a snap, she grabbed her newest release stacked in towering piles to her right and offered it to Juanita. “This, too?” she asked casually, annoyed at her nervous heartbeat.
Juanita shook her head. “Oh, no thanks. I’ll grab it later. I just loved Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover. It spoke to me, you know? Like, to my very soul. I cried for days—a true book hangover.” Juanita sighed with pleasure. “Are you going to write a sequel? I’d love to see how Mallory is doing with Josh. Did they have kids? Did she ever run into her ex? Is there anything in the works?”
Aspen looked into the woman’s eager face and wanted to cry. Not because she was flattered. Not because her book was beloved and well-known and touched readers so deeply.
It was for one reason only.
Juanita was talking about the wrong book.
Aspen kept her smile and nodded with understanding. She did her best sales pitch and smoothly skipped over Juanita’s question. “Well, I hope you give Meet Me at Your Spot a try! It’s a story about two kids who grew up together at a lake and reunite ten years later in Paris to find themselves on opposing sides of an important project. It’s very romantic—a mix of first love, enemies-to-lovers, and second-chance romance.”
“It sounds wonderful! I’ll definitely check it out.” She clutched the signed book to her chest. “Are you thinking about writing a sequel then? For your next book?”
“Not right now,” she responded. “There are still so many new stories to tell.”
Juanita looked disappointed. “Oh. Well, I understand. But think about it. Because I’d buy it in a heartbeat, Can I grab a pic?”
“Of course.”
She stood up as the bookstore assistant smoothly stepped forward and snapped a picture using Juanita’s phone, which showcased the book she’d written five years ago. Juanita squealed. “Thanks again. I can’t wait to post. My friends are gonna freak!”
“You’re so welcome. Have a great day!” Aspen said with a tiny wave, sitting back down at the elongated card table covered with a white cloth. The next person stepped up, a woman with tight, gray curls, a bird-like figure, and a cane. “Hi, how are you today?”
“I’m wonderful. I’m Edith. I can’t believe I’m meeting you. I rarely go out, you know, too many germs, but when my daughter-in-law said you were coming into town, I knew I had to make the trip. You’re my favorite author. Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover reminded me of my own youth. There was this man…”
Aspen smiled, taking the book and listening to the woman’s account of her own love history. She confirmed the name spelling between dialogue, scrawling her name in purple marker and offering Edith a keychain. “What a wonderful story. Thank you for sharing it. I think you’ll love my new book. It takes place in Paris, and it’s—”
“Oh, no, I can’t afford it right now. I’m on social security. Can I get a picture?”
Aspen tamped down a sigh. “Of course.”
The hour dragged by. She managed to sell one book of her new release to the last person in line, who probably felt sorry for her almost getting killed when the pile tilted and crashed on top of her. Or maybe it was the desperation in her voice as she recited the hook and synopsis like she was a used car salesman hungry for a sale to feed the family.
Did it even matter anymore?
She’d sold one. One book from the one hundred copies they’d ordered and expected her to sell. Usually, they sold tickets, which included a copy of the new book, but her last signing hadn’t gone too well, so the bookstore decided to let this event be open ended. Aspen agreed to the terms, allowing the patrons to bring a book from home for her to sign, and each one had dragged in Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover.
But Lord, what was she supposed to do? Nothing was worse than her last signing. She’d taken a hard stance on people bringing any personal books in, insisting she was only signing her newest release.
Barely anyone showed. A few friends and casual shoppers peeked at her book and then politely declined. She’d literally sat in that bookstore, surrounded by piles of her latest release, chatting with the embarrassed assistant who tried to soothe her by using the weather as an excuse. Rain had been in the forecast. Aspen agreed as they ignored the clear, blue sky and warm, acrid air.
Aspen turned and met the sympathetic gaze of the bookstore associate, Kellie. Her practiced smile told Aspen she’d been through this many times with authors and was an expert. “Wasn’t it wonderful how many people showed up for you?” she chirped, expertly pulling books from the pile to make a neat stack in front. “If you can sign these copies, we’ll put them out on the front table for our readers.”
“Of course. Thank you.” Aspen began signing, trying not to look over as Kellie loaded the other eighty-nine books on a cart to wheel them away. Despair threatened, but she focused on signing and tried not to think of all her precious babies going to the graveyard after she’d worked so hard. After she’d hoped so deeply. After she’d dreamed so big.
They’d be returned. Every last one. Already, the store realized she wasn’t as big of a draw as first believed, so her books would be quietly shipped back instead of being peddled to the patrons. Shelf space was precious and limited. She’d just missed the #booktok surge and hadn’t been able to go big with the younger crowd yet. Only her first book sold well, and still managed to keep a certain amount of promotion.
There was just no space for her last two books.
Aspen packed up her stuff, thanked the staff, and trudged to her car. The thought circled her mind like Clorox in the toilet, and all the hopes she’d pinned on her release got flushed.
It was official.
She was a one-hit wonder.
