Books › That Long-Ago Summer
That Long-Ago Summer
First published 1992 · 189 pages
A sultry, high-stakes reunion where the tender memories of a tropical first love collide with bitter, present-day vengeance.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like stepping into a humid, sun-drenched memory that suddenly turns sharp and unforgiving. The atmosphere is thick with sultry tropical heat, crashing waves, and the intoxicating scent of hibiscus, creating a lush sensory backdrop for a deeply angsty emotional journey. The prose leans into the melodrama of lost innocence and bitter reunions, moving at a brisk, dramatic pace as old passions clash with new resentments. It is a story steeped in the tension of the enemies-to-lovers dynamic, where desperation and lingering desire make every interaction crackle. This will delight readers who love vintage romance tropes, craving the intense, high-stakes emotional whiplash of a tender first love corrupted by time, family interference, and ruthless vengeance.
- Mood
- sultry
- tropical
- tense
- emotionally charged
- Tone
- dramatic
- passionate
- intense
- nostalgic
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- second-chance romance · enemies to lovers · lost innocence · vengeance and resentment · family interference
- The writing
- Lush, sensory, and melodramatic, leaning heavily into vivid tropical imagery and intense emotional declarations.
- The arc
- Moves from the tender, sun-drenched nostalgia of first love to the bitter, high-stakes tension of an adversarial reunion.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave high-angst, second-chance romances set against vivid, sultry backdrops with a heavy dose of enemies-to-lovers tension.
Content notes
- parental interference
- vengeance
About the book
On the other side of paradise
On Hina Beach, where heat waves hummed over the crashing emerald sea and palm trees swayed above hot black sands, Whitney had first tasted passion.
Andy had been a Polynesian god--golden, magnificent, his kisses as potent as the hibiscus flower that bloomed in Kahuna Gorge. But when Whitney's father discovered their tender romance, love iii paradise turned to misery.
Nine years passed before they met again--this time as vengeful enemies. Andy had become Alex Baron, a powerful and ruthless investor. Whitney loathed him. But now she needed his help as desperately as she had once needed his love.
Description from Open Library.
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