Groundswell

April 11, 2011
Cookbook author Lee makes her fiction debut with a satisfying novel about what happens after you've chased down your dreams. After aspiring screenwriter Emma Guthrie leaves Kentucky for New York City, her dreams of making it big hit a wall with the reality of working in restaurants. But she eventually lands a job on a major movie and promptly falls in love with its heartthrob star, Garrett Walker. Caught up in the celebrity high life, Emma can't resist thoughts of happily-ever-after when Garrett proposes marriage. Seven years later, Emma's first produced screenplay has become a major hit, and Garrett is cheating on her. Emma flees to a sleepy beach town in Mexico, faces a deadly case of writer's block, and gets swept up in surfing, taking lessons with a hunky instructor named Ben, who makes "a heavenly chorus burst into song" upon removing his shirt. Lee captures the scandal that can result when an everyday girl steps into the spotlight. Her novel deftly combines elements of healing, friendship, and love in a well-crafted, sentimental tale of an unlikely underdog who discovers true love on the beach.