The Beginning of Us : A Heartfelt Small-Town Summer Romance - Hilari T. Cohen

A summer romance on Cape Cod where a young woman stripped of her family fortune takes a humbling job at a crowded beach bar to fund her law school dream. Fierce rivalries, instant attraction and a choice between ambition and her heart. One summer on Cape Cod changes everything she thought she knew about life, love, and herself. Ruby Tellison's world shatters overnight when her father's fortune collapses in a scandal that leaves her broke, reeling, and clinging to one last dream: Harvard Law School. Desperate to fund her first term, she heads to Cape Cod for a summer job at The Hut, a crowded beach bar where the locals close ranks, the tourists tip big, and outsiders are expected to sink or swim. But instead of the high-paying waitressing job she needs, Ruby is shoved into the humiliating role of "tee-shirt girl" at the concession stand. With rival waitresses circling and the tough owner mocking her privileged past, Ruby must prove she belongs in a world that wants nothing to do with her. Reinventing the tiny stand becomes her mission, until one charming complication threatens everything. When she meets Cooper, the bartender with kind eyes, messy curls and dreams bigger than the beach bar that keeps him tied to home, their spark is immediate and impossible to ignore. Soon Ruby is torn between long shifts, fierce rivalries, new friendships and a romance that grows faster than she is ready for. Whispers about her father's scandal haunt her all summer. Cooper's secret plans for a new life threaten to break her heart, and with the season ending, Ruby must choose what she truly wants and what she is brave enough to risk. The Beginning of Us is the first book in The Seasons of Us, a heartfelt Cape Cod romance for readers who adore summer love, small coastal towns and stories filled with emotionPraise for The Seasons of Us: The perfect way to kick off my summer. I was transported into another world. Cape Cod in the summer came alive. I fell so fast for Cooper, maybe even faster than Ruby does. You will be laughing one minute, crying the next and completely frustrated in the best possible way. The chemistry between Cooper and Ruby is electric.