Jenny Holiday has written several enjoyable contemporary romances with heat and heart, some of which have ended up on my ‘best of the year’ lists, such as Infamous and One and Only. The premise of her latest latest release, Into the Woods, appealed to me; the leads are helpers at a kids’ summer camp, acting as mentors in their artistic field of choice. In close quarters under time-limited circumstances, this is a forced proximity romance where emotions run high – but turning that into a real world romance is the dilemma here for progatnoists Gretchen and Teddy.

Gretchen Miller, a dance teacher who runs her own studio, is looking towards the future. It’s one where she doesn’t care anymore about men and she’s expanded her dance studio to a bigger and better location offering more than just children’s dance routines. Her last big almost-fling was a failed one-night stand with a rock star which made her delete all her dating apps permanently. When the opportunity arises to spend a month as a dance teacher at a Northern Minnesota summer camp as a replacement for a friend of a friend, it sounds like the perfect chance to get away before the busy fall season and her move to her new studio. It will be a break, a real break, and give her a chance to start anew.

Rock star Teddy Knight’s band has just broken up, a long needed but still painful occurrence. Determined to try out the solo career he’s always wanted, the opportunity to hide out in the woods at a summer camp where he can work on his own music sounds perfect, even if the ‘artist in residence’ duties he’s supposed to fulfill as part of the contract aren’t that clear. And while his sister is actually the person responsible for his being there, filling in for another person who’d had to pull out at the last minute, he’s determined to put this ‘me’ time to good use.

Hot muggy weather, mosquitoes, no air conditioning in the cabins – exactly what one night expect at a summer camp in the woods. For Teddy though, it’s not his ideal vacation. From the get go, it’s clear he’s out of his element and hasn’t bothered to read the brochure about what he’s getting into. Plus, he’s been picturing a sort of band camp for adults, not mentoring artistic teenagers. Mr. Grumpy to Gretchen’s Miss Sunshine, they definitely don’t hit it off right away, especially since Gretchen realizes that Teddy belongs to the same band as the jerk she’d almost had her failed one night stand with. But as time goes by, the two become friends and then more as they start to reveal secrets and dreams. With a specific end-date, Gretchen is able to rekindle her ‘one last fling’ idea with Teddy. But when the month is over, will it really be so easy to say goodbye?

Gretchen’s experiences with men have definitely given her a pessimistic view of dating and relationships, and much of the beginning of the story is taken up with her inner thoughts about this, such that when she meets Teddy, it’s no wonder she takes an instant dislike to him. But her attitude softens over time as she comes to understand him better. Teddy, for his part, has a reputation that paints him in a bad light (a recently trashed hotel room which he regrets and is extremely embarrassed about), and his attitude towards Gretchen and the camp in general (as well as the role of mentor) is poor at the start.

What made the story enjoyable for me was seeing them both open up to each other, and how Teddy’s character takes a turn for the better as he becomes involved with the students and goes from doing the bare minimum to figuring out ways to help them succeed, especially one very talented musician whom he can see having a real future in music. Gretchen and Teddy’s attraction to each other is one that develops as they get to know each other and leads to some sexy scenes and intimate moments. But a camp boyfriend/girlfriend isn’t for the long haul and when it’s Gretchen’s time to leave (as she’s only staying for one session, not two), she thinks it’s something she’ll be able to put behind her, while Teddy begins to realize that without Gretchen at the camp it isn’t nearly as fun as when she’d been there with him.

Bringing their romance out of the woods and into the future is going to take some compromises and hard work, but in the end they are happier for it.

If you’ve ever been to a summer camp or a getaway as a teenager or young adult, you’ll know the feeling of cramming as much into the limited time as you can and the heightened emotions that go with it. What Gretchen and Teddy were going through felt very familiar to me, even though they are older (and theoretically wiser) – but that’s what makes the forced proximity trope so popular. If the idea of adults at camp looking deep into themselves and discovering their passions combined with a slow burn romance appeals to you, I think you’ll enjoy this one. Oh, and of note, while this isn’t part of a series officially (or at least as far as I can tell), it takes place after the author’s previous release Canadian Boyfriend and the two main female characters from it and Into the Woods are best friends.