Finding love at the dog park in “Summer Romance”

June 19, 2024

Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan

Warm your heart this June… and grab a copy of Annabel Monaghan’s sweet, new romance novel! In Summer romanceAli must deal with the emotions of a failed marriage and develops an unexpected relationship as she overcomes her grief. Attraction, love, companionship and self-discovery make this story a fun read and if you know Monaghan’s expertise in this genre, you’ll have a box of tissues handy! I loved it as much as her other novels! Read my Q&A with the author below.

Advantages of a summer romance: It’s always fun, it’s always short, and no one gets their heart broken.

There aren’t enough labeled glass containers to keep the chaos in Ali Morris’s life under control. Her mother died two years ago, then her husband left her, and she hasn’t worn zip-up pants in longer than she can remember. She’s a professional organizer whose pantry is a disgrace.

No one is more surprised than Ali when she takes off her wedding ring for the first time and puts on a pair of metal-trimmed pants—overalls count, right?—and meets someone. Or rather, her dog claims a man for her the way he claimed his favorite child among her three kids: by peeing on him. Ethan smiles at Ali like her pants are just right—like he likes what he sees. The last thing Ali needs is to make her life even more chaotic, but a little chaos never hurts. Summer romance. Is there?

Book Nation Q&A with Annabel Monaghan

Q: What inspires you to write novels about women whose lives take a drastic turn?

A: I think I’m really interested in what happens to people and why. I’m interested in how all the choices and concessions women make along the way lead them to a day where they wake up and think, “Hmm. Is this my life?” It happens all the time and I like to see how a woman in a story, no matter her age or circumstances, comes to terms with where she is and maybe corrects her course.

Q: What is your trick to writing a story that makes the reader cry?

A: There are no tricks here! It takes me a long time to connect with the characters I write and really feel like I understand what they want. Once I understand that – and that’s no small feat – I can take it away from them and break my own heart.

Q: How do you come up with a premise and are there certain elements you know you want to incorporate before you start writing a new book? (An old crush, a dog, a handsome man, tough pants, a loss?)

A: I only have the rough strokes when I start. Summer romance I knew she was a professional organizer with a messy house and a chaotic life. I knew she was going to meet a man. The rest somehow comes from my own subconscious – I remember forcing myself to put on hard pants every day during the COVID lockdown, as if that was an outward proof of sanity!

Q: In Summer romanceAli and Ethan have great chemistry and their characters are complex and well developed. A particularly special highlight is that you’ve surrounded them with many other wonderful characters who also have depth. Do you think up each character’s profile and backstory before you write, or do they just develop as you go?

A: Thanks! And no, I get to know all the people as I go along. To be honest, they’re always pretty extreme in the first draft – overly extroverted, overly dramatic, overly everything – and then I pull them back as I go along.

Q: Why does the romance genre seem to have gained popularity recently? (And do you think your books offer support and encouragement to women as they deal with their own life events and problems, even though the stories you tell are fictional?)

A: I hope my books offer support and encouragement, and when I get a message from a reader saying they saw themselves in a story, it means the world to me. Romantic relationships are a huge part of our lives, they aren’t extra points like volleyball. These relationships help us discover ourselves and build our families, they help us break apart and learn and reconnect. I think people read romance novels to come to terms with infinite possibilities for themselves.

Q: What recent books have you read that you can recommend?

A: So many good books! ANNA BRIGHT IS HIDING SOMETHING by Susie Orman Schnall is out June 4th. Also SEVEN SUMMERS by Paige Toon (bring your tissues!!) May 21st.

Q: Where can we stay updated on everything you’re doing?

Annabelmonaghan.com

@annabelmonaghan on IG or FB

This article originally appeared on BookNationByJen.

About the author:

I am the (… wait for it…) nationally bestselling author of Next summer at the same time And Nora deviates from the scriptpublished by GP Putnam’s Sons. These are probably the love stories I’ve had the most fun writing. Before Nora, I wrote young adult fiction and a column for not-so-young adults. Since you’ve made it this far on my website, you probably already knew that.

I grew up in Los Angeles, and most of my relatives still live in Southern California. I studied English at Duke University. I have an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and worked briefly as an investment banker. I also taught novel writing at the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College. Today I live in a suburb of New York City with my family, which includes a small, shed-dog.