These Summer Storms

Romance novelist MacLean (Knockout) delivers a clever tale of a woman whose life is upended by her late billionaire father’s last wishes. Alice Storm, a New York City public school teacher who’s estranged from her family, returns to her childhood home in Rhode Island after her father, Franklin, dies in a hang-gliding accident. At the train station in nearby Wickford, she strikes up a conversation with a handsome tattooed stranger and spends the night with him. The next morning, after taking a skiff to the family’s private island, she’s greeted by her overbearing mother and three siblings, and is shocked to re-encounter the stranger, who turns out to be Jack Dean, Franklin’s managing director and fixer, whom her family detests. He’s there to give them the terms of their inheritance—a set of tasks each of them must follow if they are to receive any of Franklin’s wealth. Alice’s directive sounds simple—stay on the island for the whole week—but proves difficult because she and her family despise each other. Though furious that Jack didn’t tell her who he was, she slowly falls for him over the course of the week, while bracing for another surprise from Franklin. MacLean sets a brisk pace and seamlessly blends family drama with a winning love story. It’s perfect for the beach bag. Agent: Holly Root, Root Literary. (July)