Mentor Name: L.S. Murphy
Mentee Name: Kelly Kizer Whitt
Title: SUMMER LAKES
Category: New Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Word Count: 85,000
Pitch:
The humiliation of being dumped online pushes Kat to seek revenge with hot golfer Eli. But support from buddy Rob and time alone may help her finally move on.
Excerpt:
The roar in my ears extinguishes all other sounds and the image on the computer screen burns my eyes behind hot tears. Matt, who claimed he would have no access to the internet or phone, has been tagged in a photo on the slopes of the Fuego volcano in Guatemala. I only know the name of the volcano because it says so right in the caption. “The gang hard at work on Fuego!” But they’re not working. They’re posing for a group photo. The professor in standard issue khakis and nondescript shirt with his lucky students, including Matt, assisting in research and field work for the summer, wearing college t-shirts and cargo shorts. Their wide smiles could bridge oceans as they cluster together to fit in the frame. But only two are actually close enough to touch. Lola presses herself into Matt’s side, and his arm slinks around her waist, his thumb disappearing under the fabric of her shirt.
From the moment I met Lola, I hated her and her pretty name and her pretty eyes. I hated that she walked to geology classes with my boyfriend and sat by him in lectures and called him to discuss assignments. I hated how sweet and enthusiastic she was, declaring to absolutely love every damn restaurant she’d ever eaten at, every stupid movie she’d ever seen, and every boring book she’d ever read. I hated her family for having money and putting her up in the nicest apartments by campus, which happened to be a block from Matt’s apartment. I hated everything about her, even though I pretended she was my friend, too.