When Stars Collide

Title: When Stars Collide

Series: Second Chance Romance #2

Author: Sara Furlong Burr

Genre: Adult Romantic Comedy

Release Date: April 25, 2020

Cover Design: M. Designs

Mena Straszewski has always lived life on her own terms. After graduating from the prestigious Cogsworth University, she landed her dream job as an editor at a publishing company in Queens, leaving her life in Virginia behind. Years later, having established herself in New York, a turn of events reunites her with her former boyfriend and partner in off-color commentary, Peter Monroe, now a single father still living in Virginia. Everything seems to be falling into place for Mena, until one by one, the dominoes of her life begin to fall.

Heartbroken after their long-distance relationship forces Peter to break up with her, Mena’s life is thrown off course in ways no amount of planning could have prepared her for, and straight into the path of Phineas Drake. Phineas Drake is handsome, charismatic, and one of the most eligible bachelors in New York City. He also happens to be the founder of Drake Publishing and Mena’s boss.

Between red carpet events and luxury penthouses, Phineas shows Mena a life she could only imagine before. But just as she’s beginning to move on, Peter finds his way back to her, and for the first time in her life, Mena is rendered indecisive; torn between the life she always wanted and the one she never knew she needed.

Groggy the next morning, I managed to stumble halfway down the hall toward the bathroom before I remembered the message I was certain to have waiting for me on my phone. My eyes flew open at the same time my legs did an about-face and headed back to my bedroom, all traces of exhaustion abandoning me.

Moment of truth.

Anxiety building, I checked my phone, only to discover that I had received no text messages of any kind.

Your fingers had better be broken, Peter, I fumed as I once again made my way back to the bathroom with my phone in hand. Maybe I forgot to hit send? The thought occurred to me, and I paused outside of the bathroom door to check my messages. Huh, I don’t remember sending a text to Phineas yester—

“No! God, no!” I let out the equivalent of a squeal/scream hybrid as I collapsed against the wall, my hand shaking.

Jo’s bedroom door flew open. Frantic, she ran out, tearing through our living room and hurdling over an ottoman with impressive agility, all while nervously looking around our apartment.

“Is the building on fire? What the hell was that God-awful noise? Did you step on the cat? Wait, did we get a cat?”

“No. It’s worse,” I managed to choke out. “I accidentally sent half-naked photos of myself to my boss.”

Jo stared at me, her adrenaline-charged brain processing this information. A second later, her lips pressed together into a hard, thin line, and the laugh she was struggling to suppress made its way out by way of a snort she usually only made when she was on the verge of tears from a hard laugh.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized after catching a glimpse of my less than amused face. “You know what, no I’m not. I’m totally not.” By this point, her body was shaking so much she had to brace herself against the wall for support.

“Are you finished?”

“Hold on,” her shoulders shuddered when she answered, “I’m getting there.” She sucked in a deep breath, slowly exhaling it as she straightened her body back up to its full height. “Nope.” Jo punctuated that statement with another laugh that once again tore through her body.

“I’m happy to see my utter humiliation is providing you with so much amusement this morning. How am I going to explain this? My job as an editor is to catch everyone else’s stupid mistakes, yet I couldn’t even keep my fat thumb from selecting Phineas’s name instead of Peter’s.”

Jo composed herself, her guffaws now only sporadic, like a light sprinkle, a drop here and there to keep you guessing whether another downpour was coming. “Hold up,” she stretched out her arm, her palm facing me, “your boss’s name is Phineas? What is he, like seventy? If that’s the case, you’re in the clear, because he probably doesn’t even know how to check his text messages, anyway.”

“If only,” I sighed. “Phineas is at most a half-dozen years older than I am, and he just so happens to be the person who signed E.V. Cartwright. The man’s brilliant.”

“Eve who?”

“E.V. Cartwright. She’s the author of the Soldiers of Atlantis series. The first book was adapted into film and premieres next spring. It was a huge deal in the publishing industry and quite the discovery for Phineas.”

Jo shook her head, her expression blank. “And now he’s going to discover you in your undies.”