July 20, 2015
Moran’s intriguing main characters, successful New York author Alec Winston and special-needs teacher Faith Armstrong, are perfectly normal people by all appearances. Those appearances draw them to one another when they first meet in Covington Cove, Del. The small town is where Alec grew up as the son of the wealthy Covington family’s gardener. Now he’s back for brother Jake’s wedding and hoping to wage war on his writer’s block. Faith has come to town to be a full-time tutor to Ginny, Mia Covington’s disabled sister, and is quickly caught up in the pre-wedding festivities as if she were family. Moran skillfully sustains the inner tension that keeps Faith and Alec from fully committing as they get to know one another. Over the course of their on-again-off-again love affair, their bond grows, and so does their appeal to the reader. It’s clear they are made for each other, but how will they overcome the baggage that keeps sabotaging their summer romance and threatens to thwart all hope of long-term happiness? Moran’s unusual approach to the couple’s problems breathes extra life into an already appealing story. Agent: Dawn Dowdle, Blue Ridge Literary Agency.