One Happy Summer

Running away from my disastrous career to an island off the Florida coast wasn’t part of my summer plans, but life hasn’t been cooperative lately, anyway. At least here, I can hide away and figure out how to untangle the mess I’ve gotten myself into.

One thing is certain: my A-list status and title of America’s Sweetheart are long gone, and they’re probably never coming back. I’ll just remain on this island until the worst of it blows over. Until the gossip magazines move on to another juicy topic. Until the paparazzi lose interest.

The problem is, I’m feeling pretty bored and lonely. Sneaking into town and grabbing a book to keep me occupied turns out not to be my best move. Because what I absolutely don’t need is Briggs Dalton, the man who runs the shop. He’s handsome and funny, and I can’t stop thinking about him.

Briggs believes that despite the chaos that is my life, I can still have a fun summer, and he’s determined to prove it to me.

Maybe, just maybe, this summer could turn out to be a happy one after all.

My Review:

I’m happy to be back in Sunset Harbor for this sixth book in the multi-authored ‘Falling for Summer’ series. I’ve read — well, listened– to five of the seven books now and am really enjoying these summer romances.

FYI: I read them all out of order, so each book reads well as a standalone, but since all the romances are happening during the same summer, there are some fun cameos of heroes and heroines from previous stories. This one is the least interactive that way though, because of Presley’s need to lay low so that no one knows where she’s staying and I definitely missed being able to catch up with some of the characters I’ve grown attached to from previous books.

Briggs and Presley’s meet-cute x 2 is all kinds of cringey and awkwardly funny. And I was kinda already swooning since he’s a glasses wearing hero (Presley likes that too) but — GASP — he’s actually not a reader despite the fact that he’s running the island bookshop. I was crushed!

So, we have a heroine who is running away from a scandal and a hero who is regrouping after a business failure — not exactly a solid foundation to build a relationship on but they just can’t resist each other and there are some solid Notting Hill vibes to their love story.

As their friendship grows, Briggs orchestrates the kind of summer Presley has always dreamed about but never experienced. All the simple, playful staples of summery activities she missed out on as a kid. There’s a ‘poor little rich girl’ air about Presley and I adored the gentle way Briggs went about making her feel seen and heard and accepted.

Of note: I was surprised by the occasional usage of mild language in this novel. It’s sparse, but just not what I was expecting, or looking for in a ‘clean’ read. Also, some kissing scenes were a bit overly descriptive — definitely fits the ‘clean’ category, but with a wee bit more detail than what I’m used to in this romantic sub-genre.

I listened to the audio edition — loved the dual narration by Abigail Reno and Ryan Stone. Their voices suited the personalties of Briggs and Presley and their performance enhanced my enjoyment of ‘One Happy Summer’.

My thanks to the author and Net Galley for providing me with an audio copy of this book.