Romantic Reads: Sweet Summer

The Story Behind the story Sweet Summer by Christina Sinisi:

First, thank you, Alexis, for this opportunity to share the story behind the story with your readers. I’m excited to share and hope to inspire others!

As soon as I could begin to write, I did—in third grade. I started with poems and then wrote a play in fifth grade. In eighth grade, I wrote a “novel” about the “monstrous goop” that evolved from dirty dish water and devoured everything in its path. In high school, I was “Creative Writing” student of the year as a senior. In college, I published poetry in the college magazine. Then, after graduating, I wrote another novel, submitted it, and received my first rejection letter. I didn’t know where to go from there, so I concentrated on graduate school, a day job, and raising children.

When my daughter began kindergarten, I started again. I'd been writing for pretty much my whole life, getting close to being published, but then getting a no every time. At the beginning of June 2019, after experiencing losses in my personal life, I read a call on the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) email loop for Christmas novellas. That was June 6. The deadline was the end of the month. With a lifetime of experience behind me, I sat down and wrote Christmas Confusion in three and a half weeks. Then, Anaiah Press bought the book!

Because of the rush to meet that deadline, I hadn't had time to send the manuscript to friends to proofread or even to my mentor to read. When my mentor, Eloisa James, did read the book, she said, “Now, I want to hear the sisters' stories.”

I had already started a new book, The Christmas Promise (I'm working on finishing it now), but I put it aside and started writing Shelby's story. I finished her book by December 2019. The book went to Anaiah and my editor was surprised it was a full-length novel. They didn't have space to publish a full-length novel in 2020. But they would consider it for 2021. Not wanting to lose momentum and not wanting to wait a whole other year before publishing something else, I sat myself down and wrote Christmas on Ocracoke and finished it by June.

But now it's 2021, and it's Shelby's turn! Let me tell you about her story … 

Shelby Marano is the youngest of three sisters and was always Daddy’s baby girl—until her father was murdered when she was only eight years old. Ever since, she’s been running from anyone or anything that could truly hurt her. Instead, she seeks calculated thrills that leave her exhilarated, but when she’s caught outside during a summer storm, she quickly realizes not all adventures are within her control.

Tyler Burgess struggles with the responsibility of caring for a mother suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Forced to take a leave of absence from work and put his life on hold, his only reprieve is the volunteer work he does at the local museum. When a soaking-wet Shelby barges in, he offers her both refuge from the rain and a safe place to land. She’s the breath of fresh air he didn’t know he needed.

Tyler proves to be much more than just a nerd in a history museum, but what she finds out about him is a deal-breaker for her. As family health issues and an unknown stalker threaten Shelby’s perfect little world, she learns a hard lesson: no one can hide from the dangers of life. Can Shelby let her sisters, Tyler, and even more importantly, God, show her in one Sweet Summer that love is worth taking the risk?

Thank you for reading! I’d love to hear others’ stories of times where they struggled and persisted. God can certainly open and close doors—we just have to be willing to walk through!

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Author Bio:

Christina Sinisi is a member of the ACFW. 

She writes stories about families, both the broken and blessed. Her works include a story that became a semi-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest and the American Title IV Contest, in which she appeared in the Top Ten in the Romantic Times magazine. 

Christina’s published books include Christmas Confusion and Sweet Summer, the first two books in the Summer Creek Series, as well as the Christmas On Ocracoke and the upcoming Why They Call it Falling.

By day, she is a psychology professor. Christina lives in the Lowcountry of South Carolina with her husband, two grown children, and Chessie (her Hemingway cat).

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Buy Christina’s book on Amazon

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Connect with Christina:
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Website: https://www.christinasinisi.com/