• Best Contemporary Romance Novels

    A Summer in Nixie by Kathryn Jeanne

    A tale of young summer love, friendship, and family

    Still reeling from her dad’s betrayal, Ava and her mother head to a small cottage on Nixie island to get away from gossipy neighbors back home. Ava’s last summer before college is quickly hijacked by a best friend she didn’t know she needed, back porch conversations with her mom–and a guy she doesn’t want to get involved with but can’t get out of her head. In an effort to get over his ex, Chris finds himself on the island that defined his childhood. Though he distracts himself with parties, old friends, and future plans, he can’t stop thinking about the new girl who doesn’t want anything to do with him. And when his ex comes back into the picture, he has to make a decision–the familiar past, or a future that’s full of possibilities. The author on her writing journey for this novel:

    Young Adult summer romance books have always been my favorite… I would read them all year round and loved the feeling of transporting to these quaint beach towns where the stories would take place. At 18, I had a week off in college… I actually spent the first half of the week reading and decided I want to try to write a book like this. I wrote an outline and got about 15 pages of the way in before other things picked up and life got busy. Years after graduating, I found the outline again and thought it would be a fun side project. As I got further and further into the story, I realized I loved writing more than I even knew and it became more than a side gig and more like my passion project. After working with some great editors and designers, I decided to release it!” Kathryn Jeanne