Rachel Beck has hit a brick wall. She’s a single mom, still living at home and trying to keep a dying relationship alive. Aside from her daughter, the one bright light in Rachel’s life is her job as the night reservations manager at a luxury hotel in Miami Beach—until the night she is fired for something she didn’t do.

On impulse, Rachel inquires about a management position at a brewery hotel on an island in Lake Erie called Kelleys Island. When she’s offered the job, Rachel packs up her daughter and makes the cross country move.

What she finds on Kelleys Island is Mason, a handsome, moody man who knows everything about brewing beer and nothing about running a hotel. Especially one that’s barely more than foundation and studs. It’s not the job Rachel was looking for, but Mason offers her a chance to help build a hotel—and rebuild her own life—from the ground up.

CHAPTER ONE

Maisie hops from one foot to the other, her oversized backpack flopping up and down as we wait on the front porch for Brian to pick her up. For the past two days, she’s been chattering nonstop about spending the night with Daddy. How they’re going to eat cheeseburger Happy Meals, color pictures of mermaids, and stay up all night watching Disney princess movies. She’ll probably conk out by eight thirty, but I love her optimism.

Her backpack contains an orange-and-white-striped tank top, pink polka-dot shorts, eight pairs of underwear, sock monkey–themed pajamas, a purple toothbrush, a box of crayons, a brand-new mermaid coloring book, her beloved plush giraffe named Fred, and—inexplicably—a snorkel tube. I gently suggested she leave the snorkel tube at home, but she insisted she might need it.

Maisie chants in sync with her hops, “Hap-py Me-uhl! Hap-py Me-uhl!”

All I can do is hope Brian won’t let her down.

I don’t have a romantic story of the night Brian and I met. Not even a meet-cute. We met at a bar when we were both a little drunk and sunburned after a day on Los Olas Beach. He called me “blondie” and bought me a margarita, and I was flattered. The only other guy who’d looked my way that night had said, “Pretty face. Nice tits. Too bad the rest is . . .” He didn’t finish the sentence. He curled up his nose like my body was too disgusting to consider. Brian thought I was hot, so I slept with him.

“Maybe we should go in the house and get a cold drink while we wait,” I suggest, realizing Brian is fifteen minutes late. Mom gives me a pointed look through the screen door.

She doesn’t say anything, but words are unnecessary when her expression is barbed with meaning. Like I need to be reminded that Brian is unreliable. Tightness gathers in my chest thinking about it, and I take a deep breath to make sure my lungs work.

Inside, Maisie flatly refuses to remove her backpack as I lift her onto a barstool at the breakfast counter. I pour her a glass of guava juice while Mom offers her a couple of peanut butter cracker sandwiches.

“Daddy will be here soon,” Maisie declares, fervent with unwarranted faith in a man who spends most of his free time playing Overwatch. To be fair, she’s only known him for three years, so he hasn’t had as many opportunities to disappoint her. And it’s not Maisie’s fault I accidentally procreated with the most irresponsible man in Fort Lauderdale.

When Brian pulls into the driveway in his tricked-out blue Hyundai, I catch Maisie from falling as she launches herself off the barstool to greet him on the porch. I need to check myself, because I’ve been known to do the same. Brian may have peaked in high school, but that hasn’t stopped him from being adorable. “Daddy, I told Mama you would be here soon.” Maisie throws her arms around his thighs and squeezes. “And now you are!”

“Here I am.” He ruffles her hair as he offers me a dimpled grin.

“Did you remember to bring a car seat?” I ask, torn between giving in to that grin and yelling at him for being late. The tightness in my chest expands and it feels like I have a school of live fish swimming circles beneath my sternum. “Or do you need to borrow mine again?”

“Um . . .” His shoulders sag.

I hit the button on my key fob with a sigh, unlocking my car. “What time do you plan on bringing her home?”

“I have a delivery shift in the afternoon, so maybe after breakfast?” Brian hefts Maisie’s car seat, transferring it.

“That’s fine.”

“You could join us,” he says. “Meet us at Lester’s on your way home from work.”

Hanging out at Lester’s Diner used to be our thing. We’d sit for hours, nursing bottomless cups of black coffee because we were broke. Even after Maisie was born, she’d sleep in her carrier in the booth beside me while Brian and I shared an order of loaded fries. Four years later, I’m still living with my mom. Brian and I haven’t moved in together, much less gotten married. My life goals shifted into low gear when I got pregnant. And Brian has never stopped being broke, because he spends all his money on video games and modifications for his stupid car. Objectively, he’s useless, but also super hard for me to resist. My resolve wobbles. It’s that damn grin.

“Mama, please?” Maisie begs, and I crack open like a Cadbury Creme Egg.

“Okay, baby. I’ll see you in the morning.” I lean down to give her one more hug. As I rise, Brian kisses my cheek and I lightly push him away. “Get out of here, and don’t drive too fast with your daughter in the car.”

Brian also spends a lot of money on traffic violations.

When they’re gone, I stop at the mailbox. Cable bill. Water bill. Coupon flyer. There’s also a postcard from Anna. After my sister lost her fiancé, Ben, to suicide, she took his sailboat and went to sea alone. I thought it was selfish and irresponsible, especially when she hardly knew anything about sailing. But as I hold a photo of the Caribbean island where Anna has been staying the past few months, I’m jealous that she walked out of her life and into a better, happier one. I don’t want her to be unhappy, but we got along better when we were both miserable.

I turn over the postcard.

Living the dream!

I love my sister, but . . . I hate her a tiny bit.

As I come in the front door, Mom steps out of her bedroom. She’s never been Brian’s biggest fan, so she frequently disappears when he’s around. She shakes a warning finger at me. “Don’t let him back into your life again, Rachel.”

“We have a kid together,” I say, heading to my room for  a nap before work, ready to draw the blackout curtains on my world for a few hours. Ready for the anxiety fish to rest. “Like it or not, Brian is part of my life.”

“All I’m saying is, he’s never going to change.”

Mom has told me so many times that I can do better, but no matter how often I listen to Lizzo on repeat, there’s a quiet voice in the back of my head that wonders if Brian Schroeder is the best I’m ever going to get.

* **

The hotel where I work is a Miami Beach luxury high-rise, but it also features private oceanfront bungalows that cost more per night than my mother’s monthly mortgage payment—and are nearly as big as our house. Celebrities and politicians are frequent guests, and we’re especially popular with foreign soccer stars and their families. Our VIP guests can call the concierge desk and get almost anything their hearts desire.

I’m not officially a concierge—at least not yet—but I’m the night reception manager, which means it’s my responsibility to meet the overnight concierge needs of our VIP guests. Most requests aren’t much different from those of regular guests: more towels, a pair of tweezers, an additional fluffy robe. But sometimes they get a little more creative. Like the parents who asked for thirty extra pillows so their kids could build a fort. Or the time I had to send one of our valets to the nearest all-night sex shop for an assortment of toys, including a leather riding crop. One regular guest wants a glass of raw milk with her 5:00 a.m. post-yoga breakfast, so we arrange a local dairy delivery every morning at four thirty—practically fresh from the cow—for the duration of her stay. And once, when I was nearly finished with my shift, the Beckham family required a security sweep for paparazzi in the seagrass around their bungalow before they stepped out onto the beach for the day.

Maisie is the biggest joy of my life, but working at Aquamarine runs an awfully close second. I love the atmosphere, the energy, and the pride in knowing our guests could have chosen any hotel in Miami Beach, but they chose ours because we’ll make sure their stay is as close to perfect as you can get.

It’s nearly ten when I clock in and log on to the digital concierge portal. Ms. Whitaker is staying with us tonight and the dairy has already been scheduled to deliver her raw milk. There are only a handful of requests for wake-up calls and early airport limousines, but anything can happen between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.

Cecily peeks her head into the office. She’s been the evening concierge for the past ten years and I secretly covet her job. I don’t mind having to fetch sex toys for a visiting dominatrix, but Cecily was once tasked with buying a Maserati for a Saudi Arabian prince.

“Thought you should know that Blackwell is here,” she says. “He checked in earlier tonight.”

Peter Rhys-Blackwell is . . . well, no one is exactly sure what he does for a living. His Wikipedia entry calls him an entrepreneur, a promoter, and a real estate developer, but mostly he’s known for being seen with celebrities and splashing out cash like he prints it himself. He’s in his late sixties. Recently divorced from wife number four. He can be exceptionally generous and thoughtful, but according to the staff whisper network, he can also be racist, misogynistic, and homophobic. And I can attest to the fact that he has difficulty keeping his hands to himself.

His behavior is tolerated because most of us can’t afford to do otherwise. Standing up to someone like Blackwell takes a safety net many of my coworkers don’t have.

“Appreciate the heads-up,” I say, offering a silent prayer that Blackwell is already asleep in his bungalow and stays that way for the rest of the night. Not likely, given that Miami Beach never sleeps, but one can hope.

The post Read An Excerpt From ‘The Suite Spot’ by Trish Doller appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Hi, Trish! Tell us a bit about yourself!

Hi! I considered copying and pasting my official bio, but instead, I’ve decided to sand off the varnish. I’m a true Taurus in that I’m exceptionally lazy. The fact that I’ve gotten published is practically a miracle. It also explains why I hate housework, except for when I’m sailing and camping. Then I’m all about doing dishes and I don’t understand that one bit. I have two adult kids that I managed to raise without completely messing them up. I also have a weirdo herding dog who talks to me every morning. My husband and I met in a bar, and we’re still together three decades later. We live in Florida, because have you seen the weather everywhere else?

After the chaos that was 2020, have you set any goals for this year? If so, how are they going so far?

My goal for 2021 was to stick to a consistent writing schedule. So far, the results have been…inconsistent. But, as I mentioned earlier, I’m lazy, so I don’t know how much of my failure is external chaos and how much is just me being me.

Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!

The first book I remember reading was B is for Betsy by Carolyn Haywood.
The book that made me want to become an author was 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson.
And the book I can’t stop thinking about is Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes.

When did you first discover your love for writing?

I started writing stories in kindergarten, so I feel the origin of my love is the moment I learned how to form letters into words. For most of my life, I lacked the confidence to share my writing with others, but working as a newspaper reporter kind of pushed me through the fire. Doing that job made me realize two things: I was not a great reporter (see: lazy) and my writing didn’t suck.

Your new novel Float Plan is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

Sadness, sailing, sex, sweetness, salvation

Now, what can readers expect?

I think it’s important for readers not to be fooled by that sunny cover. Float Plan is romantic and funny, but it’s also about finding your way back from loss. Expect it to punch you in the feelings. If I’ve gotta cry, you’ve gotta cry.

What inspired you to write Float Plan?

Float Plan was inspired by my own Caribbean adventures, a love a sailing, Colin Farrell’s Irish accent, an article I read about an amputee determined to get back on a snowboard, fragments of a YA project I never finished, and “Anna Begins” by the Counting Crows. Which is an odd mish-mash of inspiration, but it came together. 

Were there any challenges you faced while writing? If so, how did you overcome them?

I first started working on a version called Second Wind about eight years ago. It was a YA novel about a girl whose secret boyfriend was killed in a motorcycle accident. There was no sailboat, no Anna, and I abandoned the project after a few chapters because I couldn’t find the real story. Six years ago, I revisited the project and realized it would be better as an adult novel. I scrapped the premise, changed the setting, created a new main character, and wrote an entire manuscript called Apparent Wind. After that version was rejected by several editors, I pulled back to rethink the book again. Three years ago, I made some ruthless edits, changed the name to Float Plan, and tried again. Sometimes it felt like I was never going to find the heart of the story, but when it finally clicked, I knew it. Persistence. I’m stubborn like that.

If it’s not too spoilery, do you have any favourite moments that you loved bringing to the page?

Despite how long it took, the entire process was so joyful, but I think my favorite scene is when Anna meets Keane. I don’t want to spoil it by revealing the details, but it’s funny and charming and it has endured through every revision.

What’s the best and the worst writing advice you have received?

The best advice: If you got published once, you can get published again.

The worst advice: Write every day.

What’s next for you?

My next book is called From the Ground Up, and it’s about a single mom who takes a job at a brew hotel on a small island in Lake Erie, only to discover that the job—and her hot new boss—is not what she expected. The book is set in the Float Plan timeline and features Anna’s sister, Rachel, as the main character. Following that will be a third novel in the timeline with Carla (Anna’s best friend) and Eamon (Keane’s brother) as the main characters.

Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?

I know everyone is talking about The Ex-Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon, but it is so good. I love Norse mythology, so I think Genevieve Gornichec’s take on Angrboda in The Witch’s Heart is amazing. The benefit of sharing an editor is that I got an early read of One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston, which is such a warm and immersive experience. And I kind of hate (not really) Talia Hibbert for making all three of her Brown Sisters books so distractingly great.

Will you be picking up Float Plan? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Q&A: Trish Doller, Author of ‘Float Plan’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Read on to discover our picks and tell us in the comments below what you’re looking forward to releasing!

Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales
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In Sophie Gonzales’ Perfect on Paper, Leah on the Offbeat meets To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before: a bisexual girl who gives anonymous love advice to her classmates is hired by the hot guy to help him get his ex back.

The Unbroken by C.L. Clark
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In an epic political fantasy unlike any other, two women clash in a world full of rebellion, espionage, and military might on the far outreaches of a crumbling desert empire.

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert
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In Act Your Age, Eve Brown the flightiest Brown sister crashes into the life of an uptight B&B owner and has him falling hard—literally.

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
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A female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them—setting three lives across centuries on a dangerous collision course

Sing Me Forgotten by Jessica S. Olson
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Sing Me Forgotten is a magical retelling of The Phantom of the Opera, in which a young woman born with the ability to manipulate memories through song must fight against both the outside world that fears her and the inner darkness that tempts her in order to save the young man she loves.

Ladies of the Secret Circus by Constance Sayers
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From the author of A Witch in Time comes a magical story set in Jazz Age Paris and modern-day America of family secrets and lost love set against the backdrop of an extraordinary circus.

The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray
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An epic saga from New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray based on the true story of an extraordinary castle in the heart of France and the remarkable women bound by its legacy.

The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore
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When two teens discover that they were both sexually assaulted at the same party, they develop a cautious friendship through her family’s possibly magical pastelería, his secret forest of otherworldly trees, and the swallows returning to their hometown.

Dead Space by Kali Wallace
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An investigator must solve a brutal murder on a claustrophobic asteroid mine in this tense science fiction thriller from the author of Salvation Day.

Can’t Take That Away by Steven Salvatore
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Steven Salvatore’s debut Can’t Take That Away is about Carey Parker, a genderqueer teen who dreams of being a diva like their hero Mariah Carey. When they are cast as the female lead in the school musical, they must fight against discrimination and injustice from their closed-minded school administration. 

Float Plan by Trish Doller
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Critically acclaimed author Trish Doller’s unforgettable and romantic adult debut about setting sail, starting over, and finding yourself…

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
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Klara and the Sun, the first novel by Kazuo Ishiguro since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, tells the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her.

What March books are you looking forward to? Tell us in the comments below!

The post March 2021 Book Releases appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

It’s a new day, it’s a new dawn, and we’re feeling good about all the romance books releasing in the first half of 2021! In this list, you’ll find household names like Christina Lauren and Taylor Jenkins Reid as well as the author debuts that we cannot wait to dive into once they release.

Want more 2021 releases? Check out our lists for Most Anticipated 2021 Books, 2021 Queer Book Releases, 2021 Fantasy & Sci-Fi Book Releases, and 2021 Queer SFF Book Releases.

Read on to find out what romance books you might soon be swooning over from January to June 2021!

JANUARY

Ever After Always by Chloe Liese
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Buckle up for an emotional journey of hijinks, heartache, and a hot slow-burn in this marriage-in-crisis romance about going the distance to make love last.

The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon
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Public radio co-hosts navigate mixed signals in Rachel Lynn Solomon’s sparkling romantic comedy debut.

Shipped by Angie Hockman
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With her career dreams in her sights and a growing attraction to her competition Graeme, Henley Evans begins questioning her life choices. Because what’s the point of working all the time if you never actually live?

The Marriage Code by Brooke Burroughs
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In Brooke Burroughs’s endearing debut novel set in vibrant India, enemies turned allies encounter obstacles in an unexpected multicultural romance only to discover that in the end, love is love.

FEBRUARY

Much Ado About You by Samantha Young
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The cozy comforts of an English village bookstore open up a world of new possibilities for Evie Starling in this charming new romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author Samantha Young.

First Comes Like by Alisha Rai
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The author of The Right Swipe and Girl Gone Viral returns with a story about finding love in all the wrong inboxes…

Make Up, Break Up by Lily Menon
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In Menon’s adult debut, two app developers and former flings butt heads as they find their offices right next to each other. 

Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers
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A refreshingly timely and relatable debut novel about a young woman whose life plans fall apart when she meets her wife.

MARCH

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

In Act Your Age, Eve Brown the flightiest Brown sister crashes into the life of an uptight B&B owner and has him falling hard – literally.

Float Plan by Trish Doller
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Critically acclaimed author Trish Doller’s unforgettable and romantic adult debut about setting sail, starting over, and finding yourself…

Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron
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In this romcom, a Muslim woman fakes an engagement to the boy next door in the hopes of winning a couples cooking contest – but the real prize might be even tastier.

Sweethand by N.G. Peltier
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After a messy public breakup, pastry chef Cherisse has sworn off dating. But after she’s named her sister’s maid of honor, she’s forced to spend time with the best man, Keiran, who she’s never gotten along with. Until now…

APRIL

Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle
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From the author of You Deserve Each Other comes a charming and unconventional romantic comedy about a woman who inherits a sprawling estate with a groundskeeper whose stoic exterior masks a surprising vulnerability.

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto
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A hilariously quirky novel that is equal parts murder mystery, rom-com, and a celebration of mothers and daughters as well as a deep dive into Chinese-Indonesian culture.

Second First Impressions by Sally Thorne
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From the USA Today bestselling author of The Hating Game and 99 Percent Mine comes the clever, funny, and unforgettable story of a muscular, tattooed man hired as an assistant to two old women under the watchful eye of a beautiful retirement home manager.

To Love and to Loathe by Martha Waters
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 The author of the hilarious To Have and to Hoax returns with an effervescent, charming, and swoon-worthy novel about a man and woman who never agree on anything until they agree to a no-strings-attached affair in this Regency-era romp.

MAY

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
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With one week to win back the best friend she might just be in love with, a travel writer plans the trip of a lifetime in this sparkling new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Beach Read.

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren
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Funny, warm, and full of heart, The Soulmate Equation proves that the delicate balance between fate and choice can never be calculated.

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
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Malibu Rising is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family: the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them . . . and what they will leave behind

How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole
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New York Times and USA Today bestseller Alyssa Coles second Runaway Royals novel is a queer Anastasia retelling, featuring a long-lost princess who finds love with the female investigator tasked with tracking her down.

JUNE

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
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From the New York Times bestselling author of Red, White & Royal Blue comes the long anticipated romantic comedy that puts a queer spin on Kate & Leopold.

The Layover by Lacie Waldon
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An unexpected tropical layover with her nemesis turns a flight attendant’s life upside down in this witty, breezy debut romantic comedy about life–and love–30,000 feet above the ground.

Anne of Manhattan by Brina Starler
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Pitched as a modern-day, grown-up retelling of L.M. Montgomery’s classic Anne of Green Gables, Anne and Gilbert collide in their final year at NYU.

Very Sincerely Yours by Kerry Winfrey
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

A charming and heartwarming new romantic comedy by the author of Waiting for Tom Hanks, Kerry Winfrey. 

What 2021 romance releases are you looking forward to? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Swoon Over These 2021 Romance Book Releases appeared first on The Nerd Daily.