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The Space Between Us
Author: Melanie Summers
Series: Brainiacs in Love, #1
Publication date: February 29th 2024
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance
Love just might be the final frontier…
S.E.T.I. researcher, Gwen Fox, is a woman on a mission—to answer the cosmic question of the ages: Are we alone?
Along with her work family, Gwen is perfectly happy spending her days listening for extraterrestrial signals— until the worst happens. They get word that they’re about to be shut down by Ty Sterling, their billionaire backer whose heart is as cold as interstellar space.About to lose everything, Gwen has no choice but to travel to Peru to change his mind. Armed only with scientific zeal and optimism, Gwen faces off against Ty, who just might be the most stubborn, cynical man in the galaxy.
As the tension between the pair builds, so does the undeniable chemistry that neither of them saw coming. Against the breathtaking backdrop of the Peruvian jungle, the space between enemies and lovers begins to collapse.
Will Gwen and Ty discover that together they form a supernova of passion? Or will their budding relationship crash and burn on impact?
*** The Space Between Us is a swoony, adventure-filled, delightfully funny tale of a woman who will do anything to save her job and the stubborn billionaire who dared to get in her way. It’s a standalone rom-com with a little more spice than a regular Melanie Summers book. ***
WHAT TO EXPECT:
Enemies to lovers
S.T.E.M. romance
Billionaire
Adventure, romantic settings, and a little danger
Forced Proximity/Only one tent
A secret cinnamon roll hero
Loads of banter, awkward moments, and delicious tension
an excerpt
Water immediately starts filling the vessel, soaking my feet and legs. Like a total idiot, I’m still paddling, hoping that if we go fast enough, we can outrun the water.
“Grab our gear,” Ty says. “It’s sinking.”
My heart pounds wildly and a surge of adrenaline courses through me as panic sets in. I clutch my paddle with one hand and reach for my backpack with the other.
“Drop the paddle! It’s of no use now,” Ty yells.
“I can use it to fight off a crocodile!”
With the canoe now under me, I pull myself to my left to get to the closest shore, only to realize I’m going to have to tread water with everything in me just to manage to keep my head above water. Half of the broken canoe pops back up and rushes away from us, propelled by the swift current. In the distance, I hear the trill of a dolphin.
The dolphins! They’ll save us. “Help, Flipper! Help!!!” I scream.
“What?”
Ignoring Ty, I shout, “Pink dolphins! I command you to save us!”
“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Ty says, and I suddenly realize he’s right behind me. He grabs me around my waist and yanks me to the left while I grip my bag and the paddle with everything in me.
Okay, this is okay. Ty’s got me. I’m going to live. I pull it together and start to kick my legs to help get us to shore. Finally, I let go of the paddle so I can use my free arm as well. Something brushes against my leg and I shout, “Did you feel that? It’s a croc!”
“That was me,” he says. “Try to calm down.”
“I am calm!” I shout. “You calm down!”
We’re just about to shore when he yells, “F***! Vampire fish!”
“Vampire fish?!” I scream, scrambling to the sandy beach. I crawl as far away from the water as possible before my body goes completely numb and I collapse. When I turn, I half expect Ty to be in a full-on wrestling match with some sort of massive fish with huge teeth but he’s not. He heaves himself out of the river, dropping the bags on the shore. He pauses for a second, glancing up at the sky, then says, “Never mind. I’m fine.”
“What?”
“No vampire fish. All is well,” he says, nodding at me reassuringly. I can tell by the sheepish look on his face that he’s totally embarrassed.
He flops onto the ground next to me, panting. “We made it.”
“Yeah, thank God.”
We’re both silent while we watch the remains of our canoe and one of the backpacks disappear around a bend in the distance, then Ty says, “You didn’t tell me you had the power to summon wild animals.”
I close my eyes and scrunch up my face.
Ty mimics my voice. “Pink dolphins, I command you to save us!”
We both burst out laughing. When we stop, I look over at him. “I really wanted to believe I could do it.”
“I love your optimism. Truly noteworthy.”
Melanie Summers also writes steamy romance as MJ Summers.
Melanie made a name for herself with her debut novel, Break in Two, a contemporary romance that cracked the Top 10 Paid on Amazon in both the UK and Canada, and the top 50 Paid in the USA. Her highly acclaimed Full Hearts Series was picked up by both Piatkus Entice (a division of Hachette UK) and HarperCollins Canada. Her first three books have been translated into Czech and Slovak by EuroMedia. Since 2013, she has written and published three novellas, and eight novels (of which seven have been published). She has sold over a quarter of a million books around the globe.
In her previous life (i.e. before having children), Melanie got her Bachelor of Science from the University of Alberta, then went on to work in the soul-sucking customer service industry for a large cellular network provider that shall remain nameless (unless you write her personally – then she’ll dish). On her days off, she took courses and studied to become a Chartered Mediator. That designation landed her a job at the R.C.M.P. as the Alternative Dispute Resolution Coordinator for ‘K’ Division. Having had enough of mediating arguments between gun-toting police officers, she decided it was much safer to have children so she could continue her study of conflict in a weapon-free environment (and one which doesn’t require makeup and/or nylons).
Melanie resides in Edmonton with her husband, three young children, and their adorable but neurotic one-eyed dog. When she’s not writing novels, Melanie loves reading (obviously), snuggling up on the couch with her family for movie night (which would not be complete without lots of popcorn and milkshakes), and long walks in the woods near her house. She also spends a lot more time thinking about doing yoga than actually doing yoga, which is why most of her photos are taken ‘from above’. She also loves shutting down restaurants with her girlfriends. Well, not literally shutting them down, like calling the health inspector or something–more like just staying until they turn the lights off.
She is represented by Suzanne Brandreth of The Cooke Agency International.
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