Friday, August 27, 2021

BLOG TOUR: The Inn at Summer Island by Rachel Magee

 
Welcome to the Official Excerpt Tour for The Inn At Summer Island by Rachel Magee! Today, on our tour stop, we have an exclusive excerpt to share! So... Be sure to check it out and grab your copy now!

Genre:
New Adult
Contemporary Romance
Publish Date:
August 23, 2021
Publisher:

Synopsis:
Millie Leclair is a mess, complete with a dead-end career and a flat-lining love life. So when she inherits her great aunt’s oceanfront B&B in a resort town in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, she doesn’t hesitate to pack up her car and set off on a new adventure. It’ll be fun.

Of course, life seldom goes according to plan. The B&B is barely habitable for one person, let alone ready to open for business. With dwindling funds, Millie has no choice but to roll up her sleeves and tackle the repairs by herself. Yeah, so much fun.

Ex-pro golfer Braxton Channing thought being a full-time single parent kept him on his toes. That was before he spotted his new neighbor teetering on her rooftop—which is only the beginning of her long list of renovations for the old house—and he added keeping her safe to his to-do list.

But Millie is determined to dive headfirst into repairs regardless of the risk, and suddenly, battling with his daughter over brushing her teeth seems easier than winning an argument with Millie. She’s exasperating. And oddly delightful. And most definitely shouldn’t be let anywhere near a tall ladder.

For a guy who’s sworn off romantic relationships, why does he suddenly want to be the one who gets the privilege of watching Millie conquer not just the B&B but his heart as well?


       

*Excerpt*


There, on the uneven, rocky ground was a very tall, and very wobbly looking ladder leaning against the side of the house with her curly haired dog laying in the shade nearby. 

“Hey, Bear.” The dog hopped up when he saw Braxton, and trotted over with his tail wagging. “You let her climb up that?” 

It was possible the ladder would have been tall enough to reach all the way to the roof if it had been positioned in the courtyard, or even at the front of the house, but the ground at the back of the house was lower than any other point, making the wall of the house even longer. It left the ladder short, stopping about six inches below the roofline. 

Had Millie been standing on it to hang Christmas lights or paint the trim, this set up could have worked. It would’ve been unsafe and he wouldn’t have approved, but it could’ve worked. As it was, he had no idea how she’d managed to get herself from the top of the ladder to the top of the roof without falling. 

“How does she plan to get down?” he asked Bear, who whined in response. He cupped his hands around his mouth and called out to her. “Hello? Millie?”

Could she even hear him over all the hammering?

Braxton checked his watch again. Now that he’d seen her hazardous setup, he couldn’t leave without making sure she was safe.

“I guess I have to go up,” he told Bear, although he had no desire to climb that haphazard contraption. He gave it a jiggle, making sure it was firmly planted on the ground, then climbed the bottom two rungs to check the stability. Was he satisfied with the results? Absolutely not. But since he had no choice, he hesitantly moved up the death-trap toward the edge of the roof

“Millie?” he called again. “You up here?”

He made it almost to where his hands could touch the roof, about four rungs from the top, when her head appeared over the pitch. 

“Hey. What are you doing here?” She had the same peppy tone and optimistic grin she always had and their effect swept over him like a refreshing ocean breeze, calming some of his apprehension. 

“I came to ask you the same question.” 

Millie held up a hammer and wiped the sweat from her forehead on the back of her arm. “Fixing the roof.”

“Do you know how to do that?” Braxton was impressed. He didn’t know how to fix a roof. He wasn’t sure he’d even be motivated to learn how to do it. But here she was, hammering away and looking content about it.

“Not as well as I probably should. But the video didn’t seem overly complicated.”

He strained to see past her, looking for someone who might be helping her. “Are you by yourself up there?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, I tried to convince Bear to come up here with me, but he’s got this thing about heights. And ladders.” A joking glint flashed in her eyes. 

The sight of it caused his heart to do a little a little shimmy.   

“I don’t blame him.” Braxton glanced down at the dog sitting at the foot of the ladder, reminding him just how high they were. A fresh wave of fear rolled through him. “Although, in all seriousness, you shouldn’t be up here by yourself.” 

“Is roof repair like swimming? Do I need to wait twenty minutes after eating, too?” 

 “I heard the twenty-minute rule was an old wives tale, but it never hurts to be on the safe side.”

“Interesting tip. I’ll keep it in mind.” She waved her hammer at the roof behind her. “If that’s all, I gotta get back. These tiles aren’t going to hammer themselves.”




~~~~~

**About the Author**
Rachel Magee wrote her first novel when she was twelve and entered it into a contest for young author/illustrators. Unfortunately, the judges weren’t impressed with her stick figures. So she dropped the dream of becoming a world famous illustrator and stuck to spinning stories.

When she’s not busy working on her latest book, she loves to travel with her family and friends. By far, her favorite destination is the beach, which tends to work its way into most of her stories. Between vacations, you can find her at home in The Woodlands, TX with her wonderful husband, their two adventurous kids and a couple of spirited pets, all of whom share Rachel’s love of the ocean. Well, except the cat and dog. They’re both afraid of water.

Stay connected with Rachel Magee
      



Blog Tour Organized by

No comments:

Post a Comment