In Bed With a Romance Author: Rachel Blaufeld recs 'Manwhore,' 'Traveling Man'

Summer is here! Kids are running wild and moms (and dads) are racing to the start of the next school year! Many of you will travel with extended family to sandy beaches or pile the car high for adventurous road trips. I will more than likely be in the same boat, but when I lay my head down on the pillow … my mind wanders to other places.

Like last week, when I made a mental list of where I want to go someday.

Me: Babe, we need to go to the Amalfi Coast and Rome and New Orleans.

Him: All at once?

Me: No, but soon. Seriously. I don't want to be old and gray and unable to drive along the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast with my hair blowing in the wind and some hot Italian guy –– I mean you –– guiding our convertible along the death-defying curves.

Him: Sounds amazing. We do have kids. Remember them?

Me: Well, what about New Orleans? Beignets and coffee and jazz and … I'll just read my book.

But a girl can dream. Although I'll more than likely have my feet in the sand and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in my hand like most of you. What I will definitely be doing — is reading — and I've been digging in early lately.

In the last few weeks, I fell in love with the Manwhore Series by Katy Evans. In Manwhore, we meet Rachel Livingston (yes, the heroine's name is Rachel) and Malcolm Saint. She's a magazine columnist with aspirations to write something meaty, and her editor finally gives her a big break. She's assigned to uncover what makes Saint tick. He's Chicago's most elusive bachelor, rich, sexy and prefers everything to come in fours — four women at once, four dates with one woman, four administrative assistants or his company M4.

Rachel, a self-proclaimed career girl isn't searching for love or romance when she taps into Saint's elaborate world. She is supposed to expose his secrets, but realizes she wants him and all his nuances for herself. In trying to unearth what is behind the excruciatingly sensual façade of the man, Rachel finds it is something — he is someone — more than she expected.

Of course, there is a fair share of extravagant outings and sexy times, but underneath it all is a gorgeous love story with so many feels — a true love that blooms from the simplest of introductions and develops into something amazing. A love beyond either of their wildest dreams. Saint and Rachel's story is not without grief, and the first book leaves us unsure of what will happen.

BUT, have no fear because Manwhore +1 comes out on July 7, and I'm settled in with it now and will be reporting back on Rachel and Malcolm soon.

In the meantime, another place we will all undoubtedly be heading this summer are amusement park and fairs. Nothing says true love like cotton candy stuck on our fingers and stuffed animals tucked under arms. We may even fantasize about running away with the circus.

In the last few weeks, I finished up another beautiful love story between two strangers when it came to life circumstances, but not when it came to dreams and desires. In The Traveling Man by Jane Harvey-Berrick, the traveling fair enraptures young Aimee. While wandering around she meets Kes, a carnie boy who captures her heart. The two grow up together, only seeing one another in the summer when Kes and his family's carnival visits her city until it all ends abruptly one day. For years, Aimee and Kes live their lives unfulfilled, knowing the one person who ever mattered is somewhere out there, until they meet again.

Aimee learns about the real beauty of the circus, the stuff behind the curtain, and Kes begins to understand life for Aimee is so very different. It is one that has roots and doesn't require picking up and moving every few weeks with the circus. The question is: Can their relationship survive these major differences?

We don't know at the end of this book, but The Traveling Woman picks up where these two left off. In the second book, Kes tries to live life Aimee's way and she attempts to live his way. Either way is not without struggles and painful consequences, but their love is so touching.

Will they make it? The duo completes their story, and I won't breathe fire or any spoilers.

So, what are you reading this summer? Tweet me — @rachelblaufeld — or comment with your top picks!

Rachel Blaufeld is a social worker/entrepreneur/blogger-turned-romance author. Her obsessions include running, coffee, icing-filled doughnuts, antiheroes and mighty fine epilogues. She is the author of the Electric Tunnel Series and Redemption Lane, and can be found at rachelblaufeld.com or on Twitter (@rachelblaufeld).