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What makes small towns great for romance? 'Summer on Main Street' authors know

Special for USA TODAY
Summer on Main Street boxed set.

The authors of the new Summer on Main Street boxed set (only 99 cents!) — Crista McHugh, Liz Kelly, MJ Fredrick, Allie Boniface, Rebecca J. Clark and Cerian Hebert — join us to chat about what they think makes a small town great for summer and great for romance.

First, here's the info about the set, out today:

From NYT and USA Today best-selling authors comes this limited-time only collection of six small-town romances, just in time to heat up your summer reading. From New England to the Midwest to the Deep South to the Northwest, these novels and novellas feature cops, ball players, secret identities, secret babies, love triangles, second chances, and almost-weddings. They range from sensual to red-hot reading. Plus, four of these six authors are featuring new, never-before-released stories!

-- Six NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Authors

-- Six complete, standalone stories (no cliffhangers) spanning 1,700+ pages

-- Over 95% off retail for the individual books sold separately (a twenty dollar savings!)

-- Only available until September (So snag your copy today!)

This boxed set includes:

Crista McHugh – Tell Me True

Liz Kelly – Good Cop

MJ Fredrick - The Love I Want To Be In

Allie Boniface - The Promise of Paradise

Rebecca J. Clark - Lead-Off Bride

Cerian Hebert - Light the Way Home

The authors share their thoughts on small-town romances and tell us a bit about their stories in the set …

Crista McHugh, author of Tell Me True

Small towns are great for romance because they lack the distractions of a big city. The hero and heroine have a better chance of getting to know one another without hearing the siren song of something else. Plus, most small towns have plenty of busy bodies who are more than willing to lend a hand at getting them together (whether they want help or not). Jackson Grove is a typical small Southern town. People know their neighbors. They say "hi" to perfect strangers, and they're always up for some good barbecue.

Story in the set: In Tell Me True, I've taken an Alabama slant on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Hunter and Chelsea are perfect for each other. Too bad they've been swapping barbs for too many years to see it. Thankfully, their friends have concocted a plan to bring them together. It's a story of unrequited love, of second chances and how the right person could've been right in front of you all along.

Liz Kelly, author of Good Cop

Small towns create a deliciously tangled web of personal relationships. Due to their limited population, a heroine may have dated everybody and their brother — right along with their cousin and both their best friends before finding Mr. Right. And doesn't that make for some interesting dynamics, not to mention hilariously awkward moments? When you consider this dance has been going on for generations, well, everybody really does know everybody.

Story in the set: In Good Cop, family, friends, rumors and reputations all add up as Lolly DuVal — home for the summer — catches the eye of two of Henderson's local sports heroes. Brooks is Lolly's best friend's older brother and the town's straitlaced Golden Boy. His buddy Vance likes to love 'em and leave 'em — and the whispered rumors about his great hands? Started by Lolly's cousin.

When Lolly requests their help on a research project, Brooks and Vance want her advice in exchange. How can they shift their Good Cop/Bad Cop reputations with the ladies? Longing for a sultry summer romance, Lolly gets more than she's bargained for in this sexy love triangle.

And Lolly's young widowed mother? She's enjoying a summer romance all her own.

MJ Fredrick, author of The Love I Want to Be In

I grew up in a big city, but spent most of my summers with my grandparents near the small town of Seguin, Texas. We'd go swimming in the community pool, go to the grocery store and ice house (I still call convenience stores ice houses!), and to church and the bakery. My favorite memories are July Fourth festivities. They'd have a parade in the morning with sunshine and blue skies as the backdrop, people riding tractors and convertibles, trailers filled with hay bales and kids, draped with red, white and blue bunting. In the evening was a festival with rides and food on a stick and, of course, fireworks. Those days were magical.

Story in the set: My book in the set is named after a Jason Aldean song. It's about a beach bum local boy, Blue, who falls for the sister of his former girlfriend. He's kept his feelings to himself for a while, acting as only her friend, but he doesn't want to wait any longer. The heroine, Brioney, is a single mom who doesn't want to betray her sister, though it's been a while since they broke up. She also doesn't want to turn her back on happiness.

Allie Boniface, author of The Promise of Paradise

I grew up in a small town, so I can tell you firsthand how quirky and charming they can be. Where else can you stroll hand in hand with your new boyfriend down the middle of a deserted Main Street on a hot summer night? Or walk into a favorite restaurant and wave hello to all the customers? People in small towns know each other's families, friends, mistakes and secrets, which makes them the perfect place for juicy romances to unfold!

Story in the set:The Promise of Paradise is set in a small New Hampshire town in the height of summer, where Boston-bred, Harvard law school grad Ash has just fled to escape a family scandal. She ends up sharing a house with Eddie, the town's sexiest local mechanic who's oh-so-good with his hands. Friendship leads to something more — until Ash's secrets begin to unravel. After Paradise is a brand-new novella that directly follows The Promise of Paradise and gives some of my favorite secondary characters their very own happy endings. In this story, wild child Jen meets nerdy, reserved Max and hatches a plan to win him the girl of his dreams — until Jen falls for Max herself!

Rebecca J. Clark, author of Lead-Off Bride

Small towns are the perfect setting for romances, because there are no secrets. There you are, minding your own business, trying to start a relationship on the down-low then BOOM!, it's all around town that you're seeing so-and-so, and Oh-My-God, his car was still at your house in the morning, and girl, didn't you know he still has a thing with his ex? I love all the gossip and interesting people in small towns; it's so much fun to create a cast of characters when writing these books.

Story in the set: As you can tell by the title, my novel is about baseball and weddings. I got the idea from my own romance with my now husband. We met at a wedding (I was maid of honor, he was a friend of the groom). He had recently (days before) been released from minor-league baseball, so the timing was perfect. I remember thinking if he got called back into the game by another team, would he still want to date me? Or would he move on to bigger and better things? And a story idea was born.

Cerian Hebert, author of Light the Way Home

Originally from a big city, I've lived in small towns most of my life. There's something special about a small town, particularly in summer. Fairs and parades bring out families and friends. Old Home Days, town-wide barbecues and ice cream socials are gathering spots for everyone in the community. I've always found a sense of togetherness, a feeling of pride, that's hard to come by in a city. I love to walk downtown on a summer evening and find a small acting troupe performing in one of our tiny parks. Big cities are great, but you can't beat a small town in summer.

Story in the set: When I chose the title Light the Way Home, I looked for the key elements in my story. Home played a big role. Hayden loved her hometown on the coast of Maine. She spent her childhood playing on the beach and around the lighthouse. She traveled to South Dakota to meet her grandmother and fell in love with a totally different kind of place. Her grandparents' home pulled her in and welcomed her. In the end, when she had to choose between Maine and South Dakota, the love of a man became her beacon to bring her to her true home.

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