Title: Three Waves, One Ocean
Author: Kathryn Beck
Genre: Romance / Women’s Fiction
Book Blurb:
Lauren MacMillan needs two things in life: a beach to ground herself and a project person to fix. When she meets Taylor Montgomery on a Southern California beach, he isn’t quite project material, but he is friend material. As their friendship cements itself, Lauren’s interest in Taylor is platonic. Until it isn’t.
Taylor isn’t in the market for a relationship, and he doesn’t need fixing. Lauren may have broken through his crusty exterior, but brutal med school schedules do not coexist with relationships—romantic or otherwise. Doctor ambitions will always trump happily-ever-after delusions.
When a hunky Texas cop takes up the pursuit for Lauren’s heart, her friendship with Taylor will have to take a backseat. Making a life altering decision is never easy. Jumping into the unknown is hard. Healing your heart is hard. Sometimes, picking your hard is the easiest choice of all.
Excerpt
Having read her perfectly, he now seemed uncomfortable, looking past her to the ocean, fidgeting with his class ring.
“Where do you go to school?” she asked. “Wait, didn’t you want to become a doctor back in the day?”
All the tension left his body in a single breath. “I graduated a month ago from UCLA, and I start med school in the fall. You’ve got a hell of a memory.”
“One of my many hidden talents.”
She looked him over. The oversized, Hawaiian trunks weren’t exactly doctor persona material, but he kind of looked the part.
“Do you want to save the world, or make loads of money?”
“I’ve, um ...” Taylor retreated, stared hard at her, and stammered for a long minute. “I wouldn’t turn my back on a cozy living.”
His reaction was disorientating. The push and pull reminded her of the Pong game she and her brother used to play.
“No saving the world, huh?”
Picking up a fistful of sand, he let the granules slide through his fingers. A shy, disturbed smile drifted onto his face. A distant memory there and gone.
He shrugged. “I was always picking up stray animals. Setting breaks in bird’s legs, stupid stuff.” Taylor stared at the ocean. He clenched his hand, regrouped, and plowed four fingers into the sand.
“My dad moved us to Virginia,” he said. “What have you been up to since those good old days?”
She had no clue what had generated the abrupt change of subject. It reminded her again of the family disappearing. She remembered a younger brother from back then, but Gina hadn’t mentioned another sibling earlier. There were times when the unsaid spoke louder than actual words. Had Virginia been an escape? Had it worked? Or were they back still trying to figure things out?
“I go to UCI. Marketing and advertising major. I love to create. I’m a little bit of a free spirit.” She grinned.
He laughed low and deep. “That does not surprise me. Weren’t you the one who wore obnoxious colors, fourteen ponytails, and mismatched socks?”
“Okay, firstly, I was ten. Second? I’ve got no second.”
“Mike’s starting his master’s there.” He tossed his head in the direction of the bonfire. “Do you live on campus?”
She shook her head. “I do the live-at-home thing. It saves my parents some money.” She lifted a handful of sand, dropping it again. “My dad’s an architect, Mom is a middle school principal. My younger brother Corey, he’s a senior this coming year, we get along better the older he gets. And I suppose I’d be pretty firmly in the Daddy’s little girl category, so you know—”
“The pampered, can-do-no-wrong mentality?”
“I prefer to think of it as deeply loved.”
Taylor raised his eyebrows. “So basically, you spend your time being a good girl, getting good grades, playing at the beach in the summer and Daddy takes care of the bills.”
Lauren opened her mouth and closed it. She was a good student with part of her tuition being paid by scholarships. “Fine. My dad does pay the bills. As for lounging away my summers at the beach? Weekends, yes, but I work part time.”
Taylor smirked. “Interesting. You have that California girl, beach bum look. And you definitely have some rad volleyball skills.”
She spun a mock ball on her fingers. “Summers. Every single weekend since I’ve been able to drive. Besides, if you’re headed to med school, Daddy must be picking up your tab as well.”
He snorted a laugh. “Sometimes I can be a hypocrite.” The crashing waves rolled and folded inward, closer and closer to where they sat. “My dad sees it as his fatherly obligation to allow me to be all I can be.”
“Do you work in the summers?” Lauren asked, cocking her head.
He shook his head. “Not anymore. I’d like to shave some time off the becoming-Dr- Montgomery timeline. It’s a long journey.”
Lauren cupped her hands around her mouth. “Dr. Montgomery, paging Dr. Montgomery.”
A few waves crashed before he spoke. “So, Miss MacMillan. Boyfriends, lovers, husbands?”
Her gut clenched. A recent bad breakup sat like an overgrown, gagging bulge in her throat. And he intrigued her. Intrigue worked for friendship, not romance. The male species and their posturing didn’t check any boxes these days. “I just need to be me for a while.” She glanced at his bare chest and back to his face. “I like good friends, though.”
“Not the typical female in my experience.” Taylor smiled at the waves. “But same. Romance plays a back seat to doctor dreams.”
Someone spun a volume button in the distance, and Huey Lewis did his thing.
The waves intensified. White crests began hitting the shore methodically.
Lauren jumped up and stood knee-deep in the waves, spreading her hands wide as she faced him. “I love the beach, the smell, the feel. The power.” A wave almost knocked her down at the exact second she said power, making her laugh. “Can’t you feel the power?”
Taylor clasped his fingers, like he was grabbing at an invisible stress ball with an infinite number of repetitions.
On a beach much like this one, her grandfather once told her that beneath the rough waters of people’s skin is where you find the broken parts making up the whole.
Beneath Taylor’s surface, a tsunami threatened to unfurl.
In the wet sand, she dragged her toe and swirled it into a ‘P.’
“What’re you doing?” His smile crept upward again, and she knew. Just like Kelly had earlier.
The beach had been very generous today.
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Giveaway -
Enter to win a Three Waves, One Ocean by Kathryn Beck swag box which includes a signed copy of the book along with fun swag.
Open to residents of US only
Runs March 1 - 12
Winner will be drawn on March 13
Author Biography:
Kathryn is a transplanted Canadian who now calls Texas home. She loves writing strong, morally gray women tackling complex relationships and their messy lives. Kathryn enjoys road trips, spa weekend getaways, and spending time with family and friends.
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