Title: A Midsummer Night’s Fling
Author: Eliza Walker
Genre: Contemporary Romance
On Sale Date: June 21, 2016
About the book:
The show must go on, but the price of admission could be her heart.
Sick of her vagabond life in a Broadway touring company, Nicola is ready to settle down. She wants nothing more than to park her suitcase in California, put out feelers for local auditions, and leave her past firmly behind her.
Too bad her past comes knocking on her door her first day home. All six-foot-three, beautiful man of past named Max. Max: the mistake Nicola just can’t seem to stop making.
Even before Nicola—fiery, quick-witted, beautiful Nicola—slams the door in his face, Max is in trouble. She will always be the one who got away. Three times. Which makes convincing her to play Titania to his Oberon a bit…awkward.
Though she has zero desire to re-re-rekindle an old flame, Nicola can’t turn down the chance Max is offering: a lead role with the West Coast’s premiere Shakespeare company. But when their first rehearsal kiss disintegrates into a passionate liplock, she’s questioning her sanity and tempted to jump ship—before Max can break her heart again.
Now it’s up to Max to convince her that the torch he’s been carrying is actually an eternal flame.
Opening:
For Nicola Charles, the yellow water was the breaking point.
She had already spent several hours working her way through five years of dust as she sorted all her worldly possessions. With her throat parched from that uncomfortable effort, she’d staggered past her friend Cassie to get a drink from the kitchen sink.
When Nicola turned on the tap, a long pause ensued, followed by several ominous spit-takes from the sink. The faucet finally shot to life with a stream of dark yellow water.
Nicola stared for a long moment, then said to Cassie, conversationally, “I’m moving.” With a firm hand, Nicola flicked off the tap and retreated from the sink.
Want more? Check out the first two chapters here. (Click on the Excerpt tab on the far right of the page.)
Review:
Shakespeare, musical theater, and The Princess Bride references? Yes, please!
A Midsummer Night’s Fling is a second- (no, wait–third-…er, make that fourth-) chance romance story set in an absolutely amazing-sounding theater among the cast members of a premier Shakespeare company doing–what else?–A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Our main characters, Max and Nic, have tried the whole relationship thing–several times–and now are determined to be just friends.
Friends who are playing Oberon and Titania. And who have to kiss on stage. A lot. This will totally work, right?
And if their never-ended explosive chemistry isn’t enough of an issue for them to deal with, they’ve also got a spiteful, cougar-wannabe co-artistic director; a competitive and resentful fellow actor; see-through and skintight costumes; and potentially painful hair bleach making things even more complicated.
Can the forth time really be the charm? Will they survive the rehearsals and make it to opening night in one piece? Read A Midsummer Night’s Fling to find out!
(I had to take quick reading breaks to watch the videos of “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better” and “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General” and the Henry VSt. Crispin’s Day speech–really, I had no choice! You’ll understand why when you read it ;))
I had a lot of fun reading A Midsummer Night’s Fling. I loved Max, Nic, and the rest of the company and can’t wait to see where the rest of the series will go! (Plus OMG, I really wish that I could go see the version of Henry V that they’re slated to be putting on next, because it sounds absolutely awesome!)
Rating: 4 stars / A-
I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.