
"Simone Jackson is struggling in her first job out of college. Running errands for a city councilman in Washington, DC, isn't all that fun in the June heat, but Simone has big plans about being a politician, and this is a big step. Still, the humidity is hard to ignore, as is a tray of free lemonade left in front of a house with the most gorgeous garden Simone has ever seen. And the owner of the garden? Not half bad looking, either.
Natia Savea, a transplant from Samoa, is gentle, kind, and the center of the neighborhood. Her garden has become a paradise for everyone around to come and beat the heat. Natia soon becomes the center of Simone's life, too.
But when Natia’s home is threatened, can Simone take on City Council and save the day ... and the woman she’s grown to love?"

Heat Wave: Washington, DC By Tamer Lorika Simone had thought that, after twenty-three summers enduring the oppressively wet heat of Washington, DC, she would be resigned to it by now. However, she hadn’t considered three very important points: cotton suits, dreadlocks, and errands. Right now, those three points were conspiring to kill her. “Run and check the reception prep,” she muttered under her breath, mimicking the rather unfortunately insipid way that Anna, the Business Outreach Director for the City Council, liked to hand out her orders. “Oh, but I forgot my portfolio at the office, and since you aren’t doing anything important, be a dear and run back for it?” And so it went—and Simone found herself having run, literally run, across almost the entire northwest quarter of DC. Now
