The Next Round

Award-winning second chance, slow burn beach read for this summer.🍸


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"A contemporary romance that will take your breath away." Reader Views Reviewer's Choice Literary Awards 

Winner - 2025 IndieReader Discovery Award for Romance
Finalist - 2025 HOLT Medallion Award - Long Contemporary
Finalist - 2025 HOLT Medallion Award - Best First Book
Finalist - 2024© Reader Views Reviewer's Choice Literary Awards - Romance 

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Shaken AND stirred.

Five years is a long time between drinks for old friends.

Shaken by a series of heartbreaks, Andie Herrera’s fear of jumping into new relationships leads her to run away and keep her distance from the possibilities of love, even with restaurant and bar entrepreneur, Chris Vaughn.

After five years apart, Andie and Chris are unexpectedly thrown together in a mix of professional and personal circumstances, as they work on the launch of a new bar establishment. Is it their chance to re-ignite their friendship and heal the rupture from the last time they saw each other?

The heady cocktail of familiar warmth, heated conversation, and undeniable chemistry in their shared moments has Andie questioning what she really wants: friendship—or maybe even more, this time around.

Can Andie move beyond her deep-seated fears to finally take the leap of faith and meet Chris halfway? Is it possible that the person who knows her best might be the love she’s been missing?
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"Real people inhabit this love story; the dialogue sparkles, the situations are down to earth, and the characters, easily relatable."
The Next Round - IndieReader Discovery Award for Romance Winner

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"A feel-good book with a casual vibe that screams summer reading by the pool with a fruity cocktail in hand....Between the novel’s breathtaking setting, the multidimensional (and aesthetically pleasing) characters, and the stirring romance, you’ll get all the feels you need from this endorphin-boosting prose."
The Next Round - Reader Views Reviewer's Choice Literary Awards Finalist

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