Ali Morris organizes people lives for a living but when her mother dies and her husband leaves her, her own life starts to spin. She hasn’t worn pants with a zipper in a good long while. One day, she takes a big step, puts on semi-structured overalls and takes her dog to the dog park where her dog pees on a man named Ethan who looks at her like she has her act together. He looks at her like she’s her much younger self. There’s no harm in a little summer romance is there?

I have come to love this authors’ summer romances. The characters are always a bit messy but with the heat and beach humidity a little anxiety and disorganization seems to fit just right. What I liked about this novel was that Ali’s messiness was caused by grief and self discovery while learning how to live through that grief. This story felt very real, especially with how her two children coped with a mother who kind of stopped living for awhile. Ethan brought a little fun and laughter to this woman who hadn’t felt those emotions in quite a long time and you could almost feel that exhalation of grief and inhalation of life in each scene he was in.

An interesting side plot was how Ethan dealt with his own messiness. In this small town they were both from, he had a bit of a crazy reputation that people had trouble seeing past. Everyone but Ali, who saw the man he had become vs. the troubled youth he once was. I liked the dichotomy of his past and current lives and how he needed to overcome his own anxiety. I like when both characters have a bit of work to do to make it to their happily ever after. Their journey felt like the breeze wafting in from the water, whipping around slightly before settling down. Refreshing.

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