AN INTROVERT'S GUIDE TO LIFE AND LOVE

An unexpected inheritance invites a reluctant heroine to step out of her shell.

At her grandmother Lottie’s funeral, sad and sticky in the Florida heat, Mallory Rosen can’t wait to get back to her comfortable and very routine life in Seattle. But shortly after she returns, she learns that Lottie willed Mallory a house in Reina Beach along with a request to look after Gramps, now alone in an independent living community. Mallory is avoidant and at first tries to handle property ownership and grandparent connection long distance, but a friend talks sense into her, convincing her to appear in person. A few days turns into a week, then longer, as she builds a sweet relationship with the delightful and believable Gramps and a potentially steamy one with her property manager, Daniel. Given how small she has kept herself and her life in Seattle, Mallory is surprisingly game to meet new people and try new things—shuffleboard, kayaking, an exercise class with the retirees that is quite funny. She even, after a bit of resistance, proves a dab hand at home improvement. So it’s slightly mystifying why she seems so dedicated to returning to the Pacific Northwest. Nonetheless, the slow burn of her falling for Daniel as well as Florida is full of lush and lovely scenes, and Mallory is a pleasurable narrator who readers will root for.

Like a good soak in a hot tub near the beach.