Add to your TBR List!

Excerpt

The ballroom gleams in reds and golds, soft classical music drifting through the air as masked guests laugh, dance, and sip champagne beneath the glittering chandelier. I should be dazzled. Instead, I’m sipping overpriced bubbly, doing my best to blend in while silently judging a hundred-thousand-dollar bracelet.

I feel like an extra in The Great Gatsby. The bracelet-wearing woman—Cherise—says her husband gave it to her because he’s been “so busy with work lately.” I guess a hundred grand and a London property is one way to say “sorry I’m never home.”

I smile politely, hiding behind the lace of my mask, but I can taste the fake sweetness in the air. These women—their designer gowns, their breathless praise, their too-loud laughter—none of it feels real.

Then Cherise turns her attention to me.

“And don’t think I haven’t been eyeing your Queen’s Dynasty all night,” she says.

“My… what?”

“Your necklace? Don’t tell me you don’t know what it’s called.”

My hand drifts up to the web of ruby gems around my neck. “Oh. Uh, no.”

Emma’s ex-fiancée’s fashion-designer ex-wife—yeah, it’s a thing—loaned me the dress and necklace. Apparently, the outfit I originally planned to wear was such an abomination that she physically dragged Emma and me to her boutique and dressed us herself. I didn’t argue. Rachel’s taste is impeccable and the black silk dress fits me like a dream. I almost believe I belong here.

Almost.

As Cherise and the others continue fawning over jewelry, my eyes wander—over the velvet wallpaper, the soft lighting, the masked servers with their trays of champagne, and then—

To him.

Micah Landing.

Leaning casually beside Declan, Emma’s fiancé, and somehow looking like he owns the entire room. His tailored black suit gleams with navy-blue accents. His watch catches the light. He doesn’t need to smile to command attention. He just… exists, like a living, breathing secret you’re desperate to solve.

I try not to stare. I fail.

And then, to my horror—and thrill—his eyes meet mine.

Green, intense, wickedly amused.

Heat rushes through my body. It’s immediate and overwhelming.

His lips curl into a knowing smirk, and I realize he saw everything.

Nope.

I will not be the girl caught swooning at a masquerade ball. Not tonight.

I deliberately rake my gaze down his body, pausing for dramatic effect, then return my eyes to his and slowly shake my head.

And turn away.

I don’t even make it two steps before I feel it—that unmistakable, searing awareness of being watched. His gaze burns into my back, and my stomach does a traitorous flip.

I just threw down a challenge.

And Micah Landing looks like the kind of man who lives for challenges.

Pre-order Link

Giveaway

One of Five eARC's for Always Knew It Was You

a Rafflecopter Giveaway

ALWAYS BEEN AN US

Pink Hotel #1

Available Now

About the Author

Summer currently lives in Hawaii, the melting pot.

Eating a cheeseburger today and fried noodle tomorrow.

Even welcoming Santa on a surfboard in flip-flops is something you can't experience outside of Hawaii.

Its multicultural lifestyle inspires her to come up with stories for her next book.

She enjoys writing "Love, Spice, and Suspense".

Always HEA!

Her imagination never stops when Coconut trees sway and the ocean calls her.

Connect with Summer

Newsletter Signup: https://geni.us/iOeaAy

Facebook Author Page: https://geni.us/jxNSA

Goodreads Author Page: https://geni.us/ntWayo2

Instagram: https://geni.us/PTmm7d6

TikTok: https://geni.us/Tpcqdd

Amazon Author Page: https://geni.us/PolRNB3

Bookbub Author Page: https://geni.us/AKbVupD