Sweet Pea Summer

A sweet-as-honey, heartwarming novel about first loves, second chances, and the importance of following your heart, this laugh-out-loud retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion is perfect for fans of Jenny Hale and Jill Shalvis.

Eight years ago, May Anderson made the biggest mistake of her life and watched her high school sweetheart Tom Riley leave Hillsboro, California—and her—in his rearview mirror. Now, after traveling the world, he’s come back home.

While Tom and May would much rather avoid each other and any painful reminders of their past, their plans are ruined when they’re the only ones able to step in as organizers of the prestigious Northwest Food and Wine Festival.

May wants only to forget and move on, but how can she when the boy she used to love is now an even more irresistible man? And it doesn’t matter how badly May once broke his heart—Tom can’t tear his gaze away from her sweet smile. With old feelings clearly surfacing, can they find the courage to face the fears that once kept them apart?

Alys Murray writes novels for the romantic in all of us. Born and raised in New Orleans, she received her BFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and her Master's in Film Studies from King's College London. She loves black and white movies, baseball games that go into extra innings, and reminding people like Michael Bay has two films in The Criterion Collection.