Readers' Group Questions

Summer Lovin'

n the sequel to her sexy fun 2004 novel, UNDER THE BOARDWALK, as a former security specialist, Zoe Costas is immediately suspicious when charming, handsome stranger Ryan Baldwin shows up during at a birthday party at the zany Costas household. The party is for Sam, the young teenage girl Zoe's eccentric family is about to adopt. But the buttoned-up Ryan claims he's Sam's long-lost uncle, and his wealthy Boston family wants to bring her home. But someone else has tracked Sam down, someone who never wanted the child to be found. Ryan is determined to protect Sam and find out what really happened to his sister—Sam's mother. And Zoe "whatever-it-takes" Costas is just the woman to help him do it.

1. What kinds of memories does the term "Summer Lovin'" bring to your mind? A passionate (and probably short-lived) summer romance? Your first kiss? First date? Share your memories, and, again, don't leave out the good stuff!

2. You've got to love the Costas family for their wildly flamboyant style, such as the birthday party they're giving Sam when the story begins. What was your family like when you were growing up? Were you more like the Costas or like Ryan's family, the Baldwins?

3. Share a childhood memory of a birthday party. Did anyone give you a pet as a present?

4. Zoe and Ryan are truly opposites, at least they appear that way as the story begins. If you are married, engaged or otherwise "connected" to someone, do you consider yourselves opposites, or are your personalities more similar than different? If different, how have these differences made you grow as a person? Share a story of how your differences made for a fun time together.

5. How does Zoe's and Ryan's relationship change after they make love? How does making love affect another passion they share—their determination to protect Sam?

6. What role does Ima Pig play in Summer Lovin'? How does Sam's affection for her new pet affect what Zoe and Ryan do?

7. Zoe and Ryan each call a different city home. Have you ever been torn about a choice of where you and your loved ones will live? If so, did you, like Zoe and Ryan, reach a compromise, and what was that compromise?

8. What did you like most about Zoe? About Ryan? Which character did you identify with?

9. What scene in Summer Lovin' was your favorite? Which made you laugh? Which made your temperature rise?

10. At some point in our lives, each of us forms a mental image of the perfect person with whom we'd like to share our life. What qualities are you looking for in a lover or a marriage partner? If you are married, is your husband the kind of person you had envisioned? How have qualities in your lover that weren't on your "wanted" list enriched your life? How did Zoe and Ryan's visions of "the perfect person" change during Summer Lovin'? After answering this question, tell us what you think the theme of Summer Lovin' is.