Help Yourself

Book excerpt: In a small Southern town, a young woman is about to get some life-changing news . . . Lured away from her small mountain town by the promise of an inheritance from the biological father she never met, Merry Strand heads to a remote barrier island off of North Carolina called Topsail. This sudden and unexpected windfall could save her family from financial ruin. But there’s a catch. Before she can get the money, she needs to complete a regimen of self-improvement tasks. Surrounded by her late father’s lawyer, Fritz (who just wants to go home to London); an uncle who’s hoping to steal her newfound legacy; and a widower staying in the beach house next door, Merry has her work cut out for her and plenty of obstacles in her way. And complicating matters are a crazy radio therapist, a suicidal software engineer, a matchmaking dog, and possibly a ghost . . . Set during the island’s off-season, this lively tale, both poignant and packed with humor, shows how romance can come when you least expect it and how when it comes to improving our lives, we can all use a little help.