Page 33 of #Resort Romance
Launching herself into his arms, she happily screeched. “This is amazing! Oh my God! What did he say? When is it happening? What do we need to do?”
Holding her close, he kissed her soundly before pulling back. “We’re going to have a call with everyone Wednesday night. But it looks like you may have saved Lakeview Harbor Resort. You’re amazing.”
She blushed at his praise. “Well…it was a team effort, and I can’t believe how things are falling into place and how much my life has changed for the better.” Sighing happily, she looped her arms around his shoulders. “Ever since I bumped into you that day, you turned my life around. I love you, Jayce.”
“Love you too, Kelsey. My forever girl.”
The following is an unedited preview of #Resort Love
Book One in the Lakeview Harbor Resort series, coming September 2025.
This chapter is subject to change (and edits ).
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Chapter 1
“What the hell was I thinking?”
Walker Bradshaw stood in the courtyard of the now deserted Lakeview Harbor Resort and sighed. It had been six months since anyone had been here and it showed. Planning the renovations on the massive property were already overwhelming him, but now that he was finally here in person and looking at it all, he seriously questioned his sanity.
“Fifteen hundred acres,” he murmured. “And I’m barely an acre in.”
Yeah, it was a monumental task he was taking on, but hopefully he could turn the place around and make it into the kind of vacation destination the masses would want to come to.
His great-grandparents originally owned the land and had put a few cabins on it for friends and family to use. Then, his grandparents expanded that concept and turned it into a rustic, family-oriented resort. It had been the kind of place that people from all over the country had come to for decades. Unfortunately, his grandparents—who he loved so much—hadn’t kept up with the times. Or with the renovations. What was still standing was run-down and almost inhabitable.
Raking a hand through his hair, Walker tried to envision what it could look like.
“Like it should be someone else’s responsibility.”
Another sigh as he shook his head.
Last year, his grandparents had made the hard decision to close the resort. They didn’t want to sell it, didn’t want to see it torn down, but the whole family knew it would only be a matter of time before that happened. Developers and real estate agents had been after them to sell for years. They called them vultures. His grandmother claimed there had been people calling her for years just looking to pick apart the resort for their own projects, but she’d never been tempted to sell. Walker was intimately familiar with the process and knew the property was worth an almost obscene amount of money.
Certainly more than he ever dreamed of.
But they were emotionally attached to the property, the resort, and all the memories that went with it. They hadn’t been shy about asking all their children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews—basically anyone who was related to them—to take over operations. Unfortunately, everyone knew it would be a lost cause. There was too much to do to turn the resort into what it was in its heyday.
And yet, he had gone and presented a loose business plan to his grandparents and—shockingly—they had accepted it.
Something he still couldn’t believe.
They were still the primary owners, but Walker and his team were going to take over the day-to-day operations and all the updates. Essentially, he had a small group of investors—all close friends who had spent large parts of their childhood summers right here at the resort—who all saw the potential in turning things around and bringing Lakeview Harbor Resort into this century. Walker had been managing a major luxury resort chain for the last several years, so he was familiar with the industry and what was needed and what travelers desired.
He was just going to have to seriously tone down his upscale luxury tastes and bring it down to a rustic kind.
“Still not even sure that’s possible.”
The scenery was spectacular. The lake, the view of the mountains…if they did this right and put more effort into making the cabins a bit more appealing—and optimized the views—Walker knew they could market them for everything from a family home away from home to romantic getaways. But it wasn’t just the cabins they had to contend with. There were fifty of them, but there was also the one hundred room lodge, and then a campground for campers and RVs. There was literally space for every budget, but it was all in dire need of upgrades and renovations.
“Or just bulldozing,” he mumbled.
That was a genuine possibility considering the state of disrepair in most of the cabins. The conservative estimate he got was around 10K per cabin just to make them habitable so they could pass inspection. They’d be fine, but that didn’t include furniture and interior decorating.
It certainly didn’t include turning them into something more rustic chic.
To say that he was in over his head was an understatement.
