The Summer of Us

It's going to be a long hot summer.

John is an exceptionally good lawyer. He's driven, arrogant, and hides a warm heart beneath a façade of cool politeness. He's used to people disliking him, but for some reason, when meeting Matt in London, the other man's open dislike bothers him.

He's therefore surprised to find himself offering Matt a place to stay in his villa in the South of France while he's working nearby. He'd actually planned to spend the summer working on his book and plotting to get his ex-wife back. However, his perfect plans take a blow as the long hot summer progresses and the two men get closer, and John starts to nurse an unexpected attraction to his houseguest from hell.

Matt is John's polar opposite. He's warm, funny, sociable, and scruffy. He loves people, and they love him back. However, to his consternation, he hates John. His arrogance, public school voice, and the air of superiority that he carries around aggravate Matt unbearably. So the idea of staying in his home with just him for company sounds torturous and not in a good way.

However, as the summer days slip by, he's forced to realise that maybe he's not such a good judge of character because underneath that arrogance is a warm, vulnerable man who's incredibly sexy. The only problem is that while Matt is gay, John is straight, and Matt now wants him more than he's ever wanted anything in his life.

See what happens when two men who think they have nothing in common apart from a past mutual hatred find out that they might be each other's future.

This is a spin-off from the Beggar's Choice series. It features characters from the series but can be read as a complete standalone.