Food writer Maggie Marrion is just getting back on her feet after a horrible year, or two, or three. With their twentieth reunion approaching, she invites four of her closest friends from college for a weekend at her beach cabin on Whidbey Island. What she doesn't expect is her best friends, artist Quinn Dayton and part-time erotica novelist, Selah Elmore, to play matchmaker. The two plot a surprise that will make the weekend, and her life, a lot more interesting.
Gil Morrow, a former grunge musician turned history professor, joins them as Selah’s date for the weekend. Facing his own ghosts, Gil decides he’s waited long enough to get the girl. With the support of college sweethearts, a hot lumberjack, a few wishing rocks, and the world’s largest burrowing clam, Gil reminds Maggie that forty-something isn't too old for second chances.
Can we learn to love the life we have and let go of who we expected to be? What happens when the generation from The Breakfast Club and Reality Bites meets The Big Chill? Come spend a weekend with these Generation X-ers as they share laughter, tears, life’s ups and downs, old stories, and new beginnings. ~~ synopsis from Goodreads
An excerpt
“Gil, will you grab the other bottle of Rosé from the door?”
Gil’s hand brushes hers when he hands her the wine. Yes, there’s definitely a tingle.
“Hey, you never gave Gil the full tour. I can dress the salad and Q will man the grill while you show Gil the rest of the house and where to put our bags.” Selah says.
Maggie gives her a look.
“Okay. I can help with the bags.”
“Nah, I’ll run out and grab them. Do you mind if I use the bathroom first?” Gil asks.
“Of course not! I’m such a bad host. First door on the right as you head toward the front door.”
After Gil walks away Selah comes over and hugs her. “Magpie, relax. It’s only Gil. One of your best friends. He won’t bite. Unless you ask him to, and I suspect you aren't into the whole vampire fetish.”
Maggie hugs Selah back and exhales. “I’m being weird. Does everyone know I’m being weird? Why am I being so weird? It’s weird that I’m being weird, isn't it?”
Selah pats her arm.
“It is a little weird. The word vomit is so not like you. Why are you nervous around him?”
“I guess it’s been a long time. Plus, he’s gorgeous. I think I forgot how gorgeous he is.”
They hear the bathroom door open and Gil’s footsteps in the hall.
“I’ll grab the bags from the car and be right back,” Gil calls from the front door.
Selah gives her another half hug, and says, “You’re gorgeous, too.”
When Gil comes back, Maggie makes a sweeping gesture, and says, “I’ll give you the tour. You've seen the kitchen, dining area, living room, and hall bath.”
She loves that neither of her parents ever updated the house other than to replace the avocado kitchen appliances with stainless. A few coats of paint on walls, cupboards, and floors upstairs, new furniture mixed with the old, and the removal of the aged wall-to-wall carpet that was more sand than carpet—these are Maggie’s main additions to the cabin.
“Down here is a bedroom that’s a TV-room-slash-den with a fold-out sofa. Selah will be in this room tonight. When I thought you were Selah’s date, I figured I’d put you both in here, giving Ben and Jo the upstairs room with the twin beds. But now I’m going to have to shuffle people around.”
“I feel guilty for causing any inconvenience.”
“Don’t worry about it. At all. I’m glad you showed up.” She gives him a genuine smile. “Do you and Selah mind sharing a room tomorrow night?”
Maggie walks toward the door on the left, across from the bathroom.
“I’m happy to sleep with Gil,” Selah calls from the kitchen. Something in her tone is teasing, but also has an undercurrent of double entendre that makes Maggie feel possessive of Gil.
Visit the other stops on the tour for more excerpts.
About the author
Before writing full time, Daisy Prescott worked in the world of art, auctions, antiques, and home decor. She earned her degree in Art History from Mills College and endured a brief stint as a film theory graduate student at Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. Baker, art educator, antiques dealer, blue ribbon pie maker, fangirl, blogger, freelance writer, gardener, wife, and pet mom are a few of the other titles she’s acquired over the years.
Born and raised in San Diego, Daisy and her husband live in a real life Stars Hollow in the Boston suburbs with their dog, Hubbell, and an imaginary house goat. She is currently researching her second novel.
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