Joanna Philbin on the ever-elusive summer romance

Today we have Joanna Philbin here with us (and, yes, she's Rege's daughter, but that's not why she's here with us!). Her new novel, Rules of Summer, sounds like the perfect beach read. So kick off your shoes, bury your toes in the sand and check out what Joanna has to say about summer lovin' …

Joanna: I've had only one summer romance, and I'm not sure it actually counts. For one thing, we never even kissed. Eric and I met on a study program the summer before our senior year of high school, and we quickly became best friends. For the first time in my life, I felt like I'd finally met a guy who completely understood me. He made me laugh, he read me poetry, he walked me back to my room at night, and always made me feel safe. By August, it was clear that there was more between us than just friendship. But for reasons which I'm sure made sense to me at the time, I couldn't date him. It just felt too "weird." And to prove the point even more, I wound up kissing his friend at a party and breaking his heart.

The summer romance gods haven't been kind to me since.

There have been so many summers when I was sure Cupid would strike, only to be disappointed by the time September rolled around. As the days would get longer and the nights warmer, I'd start wishing that I had someone to walk hand-in-hand with down the street, preferably in a flimsy sundress with strappy heels, like a character out of Sex and the City. Or that I'd come across a cute, dashing stranger on the train to the beach, and then run into him again by the water's edge, in an eerily fated way. But this has never happened. I'm a winter person. Historically, January has been my hot month. I'm not complaining, but there's something just a touch unromantic about braving a 10-below wind chill and patches of ice to meet up with a date. I mean, there's a reason Sex and the City was hardly ever filmed during the winter.

But what is it about a summer romance that's so compelling, anyway? I think it has to do with brevity. The whole idea of the summer romance is that it will end after a few months, which makes it short, sweet and uncomplicated. And then there's the beach factor. Pretty much everything is better on a beach, in my opinion: food, books, music. Kissing. And let's not forget Grease. Summer Nights was my favorite song when I was a kid, and I suspect it created an entire generation of would-be summer lovers. If you listen to the lyrics, it ends on a down note: A guy and girl are forced apart, the weather gets cooler, but man, those summer nights made it all worthwhile.

One of the perks of being a writer is coming up with a way to experience something even if it's been denied you in real life. Which is why I set out to write the summer romance I've always craved. I set it in the resort town of East Hampton — a summer retreat of my past and threw in plenty of heat, humidity, beach time, and lobster rolls. In short, I made the setting as close to the kind of summer I always wish I had when I was living in New York. Isabel Rule, youngest daughter of the blue-blooded Rule family, strikes up a flirtation with Mike, the sexy surfer I've always wanted to meet. Rory McShane, niece of the Rules' housekeeper and the family's "errand girl" for the summer, develops a crush on a guy she thinks is out of her league. I lived vicariously through these two characters for six months as I wrote the book, which happened to be during the dead of winter. And writing about two summer relationships was almost as good as experiencing the real thing.

Now I live in L.A., where, ironically, there are no seasons. Sure, it gets a little hotter, but that doesn't happen until around August. But maybe this is just as well. I may not be destined for a short, sweet, sexy summer romance anytime soon, but I can always make one up when I need one.

Here's the blurb for Rules of Summer (courtesy of publisher Poppy):

When 17-year-old Rory McShane steps off the bus in East Hampton, it's as if she's entered another universe, one populated by impossibly beautiful people wearing pressed khakis and driving expensive cars. She's signed on to be a summer errand girl for the Rules — a wealthy family with an enormous beachfront mansion. Upon arrival, she's warned by other staff members to avoid socializing with the family, but Rory soon learns that may be easier said than done.

Stifled by her friends and her family's country club scene, seventeen-year-old Isabel Rule, the youngest of the family, embarks on a breathless romance with a guy whom her parents would never approve of. It's the summer for taking chances, and Isabel is bringing Rory along for the ride.

But will Rory's own summer romance jeopardize her friendship with Isabel? And, after long-hidden family secrets surface, will the Rules' picture-perfect world ever be the same?

To find out more about Joanna and her books, visit joannaphilbin.com. You can also connect with her on Facebook and Twitter (@joannaphilbin).