I am delighted to announce that my first book for the RIVA Romance Line called “The Last Summer of Being Single” will be published in February 2011 in the UK and as a Harlequin Romance Line book from March 2011 in North America and the rest of the world.
I am particularly delighted by the cover designs of both the RIVA and Harlequin Romance books since this story is set in the sunny South of France in a wonderful old stone farmhouse surrounded by vineyards and sunflowers called ‘Mas Tournesol’ – the Sunflower House. Blue skies, stunning flowers. I can almost smell the lavender.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Rescued – in the nick of time! Sebastien Castellano, high-flying CEO extraordinaire, may bring some much-needed excitement to Ella’s sleepy French village, but Ella is sceptical about why the prodigal city-playboy has finally returned home after all these years.
Her little boy doesn’t care – dazzled by the sheen of Seb’s aviators and glamorous gadgets, he thinks Seb is cooler than his favourite superhero! Too gorgeous for his own good, more like.
But as the long hot summer begins, and Ella gets to know the real Seb behind his guarded façade, she has to admit he does have some superhero qualities! Ella has grown so used to living life as a single mum that she’s almost forgotten how much fun the ‘single’ part can be…
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BOOK REVIEWS
The Last Summer of Being Single is a lovely romantic read guaranteed to lift the mood and touch the heart. Nina Harrington’s new novel is a terrific tale of past secrets, new beginnings and moving on that is written with plenty of warmth, sensibility and heart. I enjoyed the vivid descriptions of the French countryside, fell in love with the gorgeous Sebastien and wanted to have Ella Jayne as my best friend.
Affecting, sensitively told and wonderfully feel-good, The Last Summer of Being Single is another compelling page-turner that continues to cement Nina Harrington’s reputation as a writer of extraordinary scope and talent.
I like a more balanced set of hero and heroine regardless of the amounts of money or prestige they might have – or not have. Here Sebastien has made his money, buckets of it, by his own efforts yet he’s so down to earth and approachable. His first meeting with Ella made me fall for him – no pun intended. Here’s a major international business player who could have gotten all snotty about being found on the ground under two enthusiastic griffons with his custom made suit rumpled but no, he takes the mature, fun way and laughs it off.
Sebastien isn’t presented as a French playboy, out for sex from anyone. He’s a driven businessman but he knows how to treat a lady well and is sensitive to Ella’s needs. The first time Ella has a chance to study Sebastien, she’s not taken with how hot he is – though she does notice what she’s already seen from his pictures at his stepmother’s house – she envies him his “on the road lifestyle,” seeing new places and things – and in the end this is something he’ll be able to offer her.
Ella isn’t a powerful, corporate type but she’s secure in what she does. Without a background of abundant salable skills, she’s managed to provide a home for her son. I love that Ella won’t let Sebastien walk over her even in a conversation. She demands respect and gets it. His apology is a hoot – “I am pond scum. Please accept my sincere apology.” Her lips twitched slightly, but he had already guess that she was not going to let him off the hook that easily. “What kind of pond scum?” “Green slime.” “Um. Okay.”
Though it’s placed in the south of France, the setting isn’t quite the usual Cote d’Azur but rather the Camargue. I can sense the warmth of the sunshine on the patio tiles, smell the heady fragrance of the many flowers in the garden, hear the buzzing of the bees, taste the salt from the marshes and would I ever love to taste the sweet cherries bursting out of Ella’s homemade tarts. And I totally agree that navy blue is just not the correct color for the shutters of the farmhouse. I hope that’s one of the first things Sebastien and Ella change.
The characters’ pasts are tied in with the present and they learn from things. Ella has to come to grips with the fact that her in-laws are just trying to do the best for Dan and hold onto what is left of his father in him. But she also has to face the insular environment she’s created at the farmhouse as a way to hold off the world. Sebastien is right that she needs to open up, let loose and live again – to reach for her singing dreams instead of shelving them no matter how nice the life is she’s created. He gets her to dare to try.
Meanwhile, Sebastien’s experience with his father is reflected in how he thinks about Dan. I’m glad that Sebastien’s search for his heritage didn’t take over the story and derail it. It adds to the feelings he has for the place and for his relatives and gives him insight into how to be a father to another man’s son. The scenes in which he and Dan share excitement over cars, big flashlights and other male bonding stuff are charming. Dan is a great character too who sees the world from a six year old boy’s point of view. He’s not a plot moppet either but is obviously first and foremost in his mother’s world as he comes to be in Sebastien’s. The scene of Ella breaking down and tearfully asking Sebastien if she’s a good mother to keep her boy at this remote French farmhouse when he could live in comfort with his grandparents in Barcelona is a great bonding moment between the two as Sebastien tells her she’s giving Dan far more than money could ever buy him – something Sebastien knows from experience. For a moment at the end, I was worried that you were throwing a spanner in the works just for more drama but it quickly turned into a moment where Sebastien got to bond some more with Dan and then reassure Ella that she could have her dreams as well.
Sebastien makes a telling comment about how this is the first time he’s visited his mother’s grave in 18 years and it’s Ella he takes with him. He also feels like he’s home – not just in a house that has all his tech stuff but really *home* and I kept thinking towards the end that since bringing high tech and communications to remote places under difficult conditions is what his company is all about, I can see him doing this and still not spoiling the remote farmhouse in the Camargue. It’s win/win.
The book has no sex but to me it’s not needed. Even the kissing comes late in the book but by golly when it gets there, it means something – to Sebastien and Ella and to me. Instead of mindless lust, it’s true care and growing feelings of love. Usually I’m not one for quick romances but here I feel the connection between these two and love how you show it in little ways. Ella and Sebastien talk, really talk, to each other and about things that count and matter. Things they’ve not spoken to others about but which feel right to discuss with each other. One of the best examples of all this is the nice scene of them sitting by the marsh, enjoying the sand between their toes as they watch the flamants roses.
Sturm und drang, angsty romances aren’t what I’ve been reaching for lately so this book is great for me. “The Last Summer of Being Single” is a sweet romance between nice people whom I would enjoy knowing. Nobody acts like an ass at any time. No one storms off in a snit over anything trivial. No one misunderstands something that derails the romance for another 4 chapters. It’s such a relief and was a quiet, happy find for me.
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DEAR READER:
“The Last Summer of Being Single”
Each of us has some place we call home, even if it is a distant memory of a unique moment in the past.
Ella Bailey has lived most of her life as a nomad, travelling from concert venue to concert venue as a professional musician.
As a young widow she has created a new life for herself and her son in a farmhouse in rural Languedoc in the South of France.
That same house was once the childhood home of Sebastien Castellano, the Telecoms magnate. Coming back to the Languedoc and his old home and meeting Ella will change both of their lives in ways they never expected.
I do hope that you enjoy travelling with Ella and Sebastien on their journey to discover where they truly belong.
I would love to hear from my readers and you can get in touch by visiting www.ninaharrington.com.
Nina
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First Chapter Extract:
Seb slipped out from the cool interior of his car to stand on the grass verge in the warm sunshine.
Facing him on the other side of the two lane tarmac road were the narrow gate posts of the Mas Tournesol. The Languedoc farmhouse where he had been born and spent the first 12 years of his life.
It seemed a very long time ago.
Which probably explained why he didn’t remember it being so narrow or overgrown, but perhaps his perspective was different as a boy of 12 from a man of 30?
Back then there had been two matching heavy wrought iron gates with the name of the farmhouse picked out in metal. Mas Tournesol. The Sunflower House.
Now one of the gates had been knocked off its hinges and was lying in the gravel and grass on the side of the path with weeds growing up between the filigree metal. The gate must have been lying there for months. There was no sign of its partner.
Memories of a childhood playing in these fields told him that there was a rippling river on the other side of the straight row of rustling shady Plane Trees to this left where he had spent many happy hours fishing with his dad. The hedges on the right formed the boundary to the vineyards and sunflower fields his dad had sold to their neighbour only days before they emigrated, but the branches were taller now, choked with bushes and flowering shrubs.
A rush of sadness swept over him as he thought of the last time he had travelled down this lane on his way to a new life and his breath came out of his lungs in a juddering rattle.
Perhaps he wasn’t as prepared for this as he thought he was?
Closing his eyes for a second, he saw his mother’s flower garden again in his mind’s eye, and walked along its winding paths, their heady scent filling the air against the buzz of honey bees and birdsong. And for a few moments he was transported back to that one place on this earth which would always be embedded deep inside and to the happiest period of time in his life.
Before his mother died.
Seb slowly opened his eyes into the glare from the sun and adjusted his designer sunglasses.
He had resisted coming back to this house for so many reasons. He may have lived in Sydney since the age of 12 and adored his life there, but he was still a Frenchman with his heart rooted in a deep heritage of land and culture. That could not be denied.
But something else drew him here. And the feeling unsettled him. At first he had put it down to anxiety about the business deal, but it was more than that. It was a strange sense of dissatisfaction and nagging unease that he had managed to push under the surface of his life for the past six months.
In fact, ever since he found out that his dad could not be his natural father.
Yes, he had been shocked by the surprise of it. Yes, he was astonished and taken aback, but he had not allowed the earthquake of the revelation to shake his world to pieces. He had grown up in a loving family with two caring parents and travelling the world on his charity projects had shown him just how precious a thing that was to a child.
No matter what the truth of his birth, he was proud of his mother and always would be. She had put him first. Only… he could not help but wonder why she had not told him the truth. Especially at the end when they all knew that time was short and he had spent many hours alone with her while she was still lucid. Just talking. And she had kept her secret.
Of course these past months had been filled with frenetic activity in the business. This was his first opportunity to take a real break, even if it was just a few hours in between discussions with Matt or the PSN Media legal team.
It made sense to spend a few days with Nicole and put his mind at ease.
Seb raised his shoulders up towards his ears then dropped them back down to help relieve the tension. He needed something to put his mind at ease!
Because now he was back where he started!
Back to the house which now belonged to his former stepmother Nicole, who won this house in the divorce from his dad.
It was hers to do with as she liked, even if that meant only using it as a holiday house for a few weeks a year. Or as a venue for her birthday party.
Nicole probably didn’t even realise that this was the same week as the anniversary of his mother’s death. And that his precious mother had taken her last breath in this house.
Seb pushed back his shoulders and lifted his head higher.
He knew one thing.
He would never again allow himself to love one person and one place so completely. Not when they could be snatched away from him at a moment’s notice and he was powerless to prevent it. Especially knowing what he knew now.
He didn’t believe in focusing on the past – only the future. And that meant honouring his mother through the charity work that was changing lives now. His old life was gone. Over. And the sooner he got back to Sydney and started on the new projects the better.
He was here to spend the weekend with Nicole, catch up with his e-mails, then get back to the negotiating table first thing Monday morning before flying home. And that was all. The sooner the better.
A few minutes later Sebastien gingerly edged his rented very wide, very red and very shiny Italian sports car between the posts and started slowly down the gravel path which was becoming more and more familiar by the metre.
A splash of frustration at his own inability to control his anxiety and apprehension for this stretch of rough roadway hit Seb hard and fast as cold as the air conditioning and he straightened his back and revved up the engine, oblivious to the flying gravel on the paintwork and thrilling to the glorious roar from under the bonnet.
He only hoped the gardens would not be as overgrown as the driveway, but he would find out soon enough. Once around the next blind corner, he would be able to see the rooftops of the house.
He had been a fool to come here and expect the place to be the same.
The car picked up a little speed as he reached the corner, his eyes focused on the skyline looking for the house.
And then he suddenly slammed the brakes on so hard that the antilock brakes on the car activated and he came to a screeching halt on the loose gravel.
Something was lying in the road. Looking at him.
From “The Last Summer of Being Single” by Nina Harrington
Text Copyright: © 2011 by Nina Harrington
Cover Art Copyright: © 2011 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited.
Permission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A. Cover art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited. All rights reserved. ® and ™ are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited and/or its affiliated companies, used under licence.
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I am lucky enough to have visited the region where the Sunflower House is set – the hot vineyards and rolling hills of Provence and Languedoc:
and then further south to the coast to see the wild flamingoes – flamant rose – in the Carmague delta in the South of France.
This truly is a remarkable part of France and I hope that you enjoy this glorious setting.
