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| Credit: Pete Albert |
Devon Daniels is a born-and-bred California girl whose own love story found her transplanted to the Maryland shores of the Chesapeake Bay. She's a graduate of the University of Southern California (fight on!) and in her past life worked in marketing, product design, and music.
Devon loves writing books that make people laugh, cry, and swoon, and feels incredibly lucky that her job is to make people happy. Her debut novel Meet You in the Middle was chosen as one of the Best Books of 2021 by USA Today.
When she's not writing, you'll find her clinging to her sanity as mom, chef, chauffeur, and referee to four children, or sneaking off with her husband for date nights. (Bio courtesy of Devon's website.)
Visit Devon online:
It’s been ten years since the fateful summer Scarlett Everhart filmed The Lost Letter, the tearjerking romantic drama that catapulted her to worldwide fame and set her on a collision course with Ryder Perry, the movie’s intense, irresistible leading man. The pair’s fiery onscreen chemistry captured audience’s hearts—while their whirlwind affair offscreen shattered Scarlett’s into a million pieces. Determined to move on, she made a vow: to focus on her career, leave Ryder in her past, and never, ever look back.
A decade later, Scarlett’s kept that promise. She’s become one of Hollywood’s most bankable leading ladies and is on the cusp of the biggest role of her career. And if she’s been unlucky in love, at least she’s managed to put her ill-fated relationship with her former costar—and the public’s obsession with the pair’s star-crossed romance—behind her. That is, until a sudden twist of fate thrusts her and Ryder back together in the seaside South Carolina town where they first fell in love, then fell dramatically apart.
As old sparks reignite, Scarlett is swept back into the love story that once defined her life, forcing her to reckon with the choice that tore them apart…and the devastating secret she’s been keeping since their breakup all those years ago.
"This beach season, fall in love with Star-Crossed Summer, a swoony tale of ill-fated romance, the one that got away, and second chances. Devon Daniels pens an unputdownable story of two actors separated by the secrets they’ve kept, brought back together by fate—and the movie that made them famous. Daniels’ sun-soaked novel is an immersive reminder that some love stories are simply written in the stars."
—Kristy Woodson Harvey, New York Times bestselling author of Summer State of Mind
—Kristy Woodson Harvey, New York Times bestselling author of Summer State of Mind
What is one thing you’d tell the debut novelist version of yourself?
I’d tell her to stay focused on the joy of the writing and creative process, because the business of publishing can steal that from you if you let it. The industry makes it easy to obsess over things like sales, rankings, and bestseller lists until you forget that writing a book—let alone getting one published—is an incredible accomplishment! So much of publishing success is outside your control, from market trends to timing to plain old luck. The only thing you can control is writing the best book you can and trying to enjoy yourself in the process.
I’d tell her to stay focused on the joy of the writing and creative process, because the business of publishing can steal that from you if you let it. The industry makes it easy to obsess over things like sales, rankings, and bestseller lists until you forget that writing a book—let alone getting one published—is an incredible accomplishment! So much of publishing success is outside your control, from market trends to timing to plain old luck. The only thing you can control is writing the best book you can and trying to enjoy yourself in the process.
What were the biggest rewards and challenges with writing Star-Crossed Summer?
The biggest challenge was staying sane while writing a dual-timeline novel for the first time! I’ve read dual-timeline books where I much preferred one timeline over another, and I was determined not to let that happen with Star-Crossed Summer. I worked really hard to make the romance, tension, and emotional stakes compelling in both timelines so readers would be equally invested in each one.
The other challenge was pacing the overarching mystery that keeps readers turning the pages: they know Scarlett and Ryder broke up in the past, but they don’t know why. I loved planting clues and little Easter eggs that seem insignificant but become important later. My goal was to reveal those pieces at just the right pace so the emotional payoff felt both surprising and earned.
The biggest reward for me was giving readers two love stories in one. They get to experience Scarlett and Ryder falling in love for the first time in the past, then watch them rediscover each other in the present.
If Star-Crossed Summer were made into a movie, what are some songs that would be on the soundtrack?
I actually made a Spotify playlist while I was writing, and readers can listen along here.
A few songs that would absolutely have to make the soundtrack:
“August” and “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” by Taylor Swift
“23” and “Make You Miss Me” by Sam Hunt
“Muscle Memory” by Kelsea Ballerini
“Kokomo” by The Beach Boys and “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” by Rupert Holmes also both make me laugh, since they’re callbacks to one of my favorite and funniest scenes in the book.
Which book made you fall in love with reading?
Definitely The Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin. I devoured those books growing up. I would speed read them, then wait impatiently for the next one to be released a month later. I still have my entire collection! In fact, my Star-Crossed Summer dedication paid homage to this: “To Mom and Dad: Thanks for raising a reader—and for buying me all those Baby-Sitters Club books.”
If we were to visit you, what are some places you'd take us to see?
If you came to Maryland, we’d head out on a boat to spend the day cruising the Severn River and Chesapeake Bay. We’d end the evening on Main Street in Annapolis with some crabs, of course!
If we were in South Carolina, I’d take you on a tour of the Charleston and Seabrook Island area that inspired Star-Crossed Summer. We’d visit some of my favorite Lowcountry spots, hunt down filming locations from The Notebook, and take a twilight boat ride through the marsh creeks.
What is something you are hoping to do this summer?
My family actually just got back from our big summer vacation, a two-week trip to the Bahamian island of Exuma. I’ve never seen clearer water! It was the perfect way to celebrate a season of big milestones, including my husband’s birthday and our eldest heading off to college in August, before the excitement of book launch season kicks into high gear.
I’m also hoping to visit as many coastal towns as possible while touring for Star-Crossed Summer—a major perk of releasing a summer beach read!
Thanks to Devon for chatting with us and to Berkley for sharing her book with our readers.
How to win: Use KingSumo to enter the giveaway. If you have trouble using KingSumo on our blog, enter the giveaway here. If you are still having issues, please contact us.
Giveaway ends July 14th at midnight EST.
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