BEND TOWARD THE SUN
Jen Devon
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St. Martin's Press / SMP Romance
8/9/22
Fiction / Romance
Paperback, 384 pages
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"Devon breaks hearts and puts them back together again...[a] tear-jerking debut."
-Publishers Weekly
"A gorgeous love story full of lyrical writing and raw emotion."
-Jennifer Probst
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Rowan McKinnon doesn’t believe in love. She has everything she needs with a botany Ph.D., two best friends who embrace her social quirkiness, and some occasional no-strings-attached sex. But she hides deep wounds from the past—from a negligent mother and a fiancé who treated her like a pawn in a game.
When an academic setback leads Rowan to take on the restoration of an abandoned vineyard, she relishes the opportunity to restore the grapes to their former glory. She does not expect to meet a man like Harrison Brady. An obstetrician profoundly struggling after losing a patient, Harry no longer believes he is capable of keeping people safe.
Reeling, Harry leaves Los Angeles to emotionally recover at his parents’ new vineyard in Pennsylvania. He does not expect to meet a woman like Rowan McKinnon. As their combative banter gives way to a simmering tension, sunlight begins to crack through the darkness smothering Harry’s soul. He’s compelled to explore the undeniable pull between them. And after a lifetime of protecting herself from feeling anything, for anyone, Rowan tries to keep things casual.
But even she can’t ignore their explosive connection.
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Dear Reader,
Stories of found family are a favorite of mine. In Bend Toward the Sun, my solitary-by-choice main character Rowan rehabilitates an abandoned vineyard purchased by the big, playful Brady family. Throughout the book, she falls in love three times: first with the wild land, then with Dr. Harry Brady–the swoony but grieving middle son–and ultimately, with the Brady family themselves.
I hope you love reading Rowan’s journey as she discovers these different ways of belonging.
With love and gratitude,
Jen
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BEND TOWARD THE SUN
Book Club Menu
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There’s an early scene in Bend Toward the Sun where a bewildered Rowan is fully brought into the loving-but-vaguely-chaotic Brady family experience. With them, she shares a meal of good wine, luscious Spanish seafood paella, and crusty homemade bread—and unexpectedly feels herself settling into the rhythm and ritual of it.
When I started writing Bend Toward the Sun, I didn't really know where it was going to be set. All I knew was that I wanted an east-coast vineyard instead of a west-coast one. I was in Philadelphia for a conference in 2015, and I fell in love with the city. When I learned that the rural Brandywine Valley (west of Philly) was home to many vineyards, I knew I'd found the fictional home of the Brady's future vineyard and winery. As a beautiful bit of serendipity, I've since learned that the environment and soil there for grape-growing are very similar to northwest Spain, where Gia Brady is from!
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After dinner, the Brady matriarch Gia serves a fresh batch of her toasted coconut chocolate chip cookies. I wanted to use this brief scene to do some subtle character building, and I needed a food that was almost universally liked, but controversial for some. I know a lot of people–my partner included–who enjoy the taste of coconut, but not the texture. So, I went with a cookie that includes coconut. When Gianna brings out the cookies, I hope readers get a sense of family tradition and the good-natured adversarial dynamics between the brothers, and how Rowan is slightly disoriented by being in the midst of the Brady in-jokes and overt familial affection. There’s even a moment with the cookies designed to build some of her physical attraction to Harry, which, for me, is just as important as the emotional momentum of the scene. Enjoy the cookies while they’re still warm from the oven, and Gia would, too—not that they’d last long enough around the Brady family, anyway!
During my first visit to Philly, I also had my first real cheesesteak, and I knew I had to incorporate it into the book somehow. "Taco Tuesday" seems to be ubiquitous now, and the company I work for has "Burrito Fridays", so those sparked some inspiration. I needed something unique for Rowan, Temperance, and Frankie to have as part of their shared history, so Cheesesteak Friday was born.
-Jen Devon
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