Summer Girl (Avalon Bay, 3)

I have been planning to pick up an Elle Kennedy book for a while now as I have heard nothing but great things about her writing from all of my friends, so I was really excited when the opportunity to read the advanced audio for the publisher The Summer Girl came up. Also, not only is it narrated by one of my favorite audiobook narrators of all time, Caitlin Elizabeth/Kelly who also narrates The Folk of the Air series, we also get Teddy Hamilton dual narrating with her who also absolutely slays the narration of Xaden in Fourth Wing so I was pumped to see that duo! And y’all, WHAT A DUO they make! Seriously y’all, this pairing is perfection. They both fit the characters flawlessly and brought so much life to the characters, plot and spice. (Folks trust me, audio spice is where it’s at and Teddy Hamilton will show you why!) This pairing felt really natural and I’d love to read them together again! The story itself is a fun and spicy contemporary romance filled with the search for summer love set amidst the beach town of Avalon Bay. I was looking for something light, spicy, fun and funny to read and this was all the above, and so much more! It ticked off all the boxes for whit, humor and banter I needed in my current book slump, while also delivering cheek burning scenes to leave me grinning like that grinch gif we all know and love. I often reach for contemporary romance as a reset when I’m not sure what to read, just read a heavy fantasy, or I am being extra mood readery and couldn’t rec this more for curing all the above. When I started The Summer Girl, little did I know that it would not only single handedly cure my Fourth Wing book hangover, but I would also relate so heavily to our female main character Cassie, who is definitely not a ginger. Cassie is a glass is always half full type of girl like myself, and while this can be a strength in life, as Cassie finds, it can also get you into trouble when you were always searching for the silver linings, maybe avoiding the reality of life’s hardships, or letting your boundaries not exist in the name of being easygoing. Cassie has a wonderful journey of discovery in this book that really made me feel seen, and uncovered some self love I’d been lacking in the boundary department. It was quickly for me more than just another fun quick read which was a fantastic surprise. Cassie is easy to love, and easier to root for as she is looking for a summer love type of fling in Avalon Bay before she heads back to college. While looking for Mr Right Now she meets Tate in the most awkward way possible, by overhearing him getting dumped. Their entire first interaction made me feel so seen because I too am the awkward “omfg I can’t believe what just came out of my mouth my brain is not in charge I swear!” type of person, so it really felt like I was reading myself on the page when Cassie repeatedly puts her foot into her mouth amidst rambling nonsense after this and many more awkward Tate encounters. (Hi it’s me, I’m the problem it’s me!) Thankfully, Tate seems to enjoy her quirkiness, and fate brings them together for another happenstance meeting when it turns out he is housesitting for the summer next-door to her grandmothers house, where she is staying. From there on out we go on a really great ride as these two cultivate a really unique and honest friendship, while glaringly ignoring the very clear sparks exploding between them….until they don’t. I’ll let you unravel their story as it unfolds because I wouldn’t dare spoil Elle Kennedy’s incredible comedic timing, but!! Let me tell you it is IMPOSSIBLE to not root for them. This story isn’t just another summer fling poolside read, it’s honest, and filled with self discovery, honesty, learning to love yourself better, how to develop boundaries, that you deserve them and finding exactly what you really needed when you weren’t looking for anything but casual. The spice is equally as honest, real, balanced well with the plot, and yes y’all we get a lip bite worthy GOOD GIRL. This book will in no way leave you wanting more…well besides the next book in the Avalon series. Overall a smash hit for my first trip into Elle Kennedy, and will definitely not be the last now that I’m officially off to go buy everything in her catalog that I can get my hands on! TW: Narcissistic Parent and body shaming Thank you Macmillan Audio the opportunity to read this, my views are my own.

Wow, just wow! I’ve fallen in love with Tate and Cassie. They meet over a summer in Avalon Bay and become friends first. Friends turn to lovers although they deny a relationship. They are both living in denial since they’re feelings continue to grow. Tate has had an amazing childhood while Cassie was raised by a selfish self-centered mother who cared about no one but herself. She held Cassie‘s father away from her and let her believe he didn’t care. Things get very rocky with a twist you never see coming. They come out the better on the other side. Hope there will be more of these characters and Avalon Bay.

Such a fun, romantic book. Don’t miss this. The characters are lovable and funny This is just a really enjoyable way to spend a rainy afternoon or any other time you can just sit and read. Hard to put down.

So, I know that this is supposed to be a romance, but the familial relationships in this book were much more prominent to me. The narc mom bit hit really close to home. I absolutely relate to being careful with everything you say and needing to pay super close attention to how they’re acting to avoid conflict. I also relate to how suspicious Cassie was the whole time, and honestly, I felt like Tate was gaslighting her a little bit by siding with Tori. But it goes to show how people that don’t have these kinds of parents don’t and can never understand the intricacies of these relationships. I was really glad that Cassie didn’t reconcile with her mom at the end. As for Tate and Cassie, their story was sweet, but I didn’t think it was as deep as the first two novels or other Elle Kennedy couples. It felt very sudden to go from a fling, to “I love her”. The big secret was SUPER unexpected. I hated that Tate broke up with Cassie over it, but Cassie just showing up out of nowhere overseas felt really lazy to me. Overall, this book was just okay, which is sad because I was so looking forward to Tate’s story. I mostly listened to this book, and I think it helped me like it more than I would’ve if I just read it. It was moving so slow to me, so I bought the audiobook. I’m glad I did. I suck at accents so I specifically like the audio for this reason. My brain does such a terrible French accent. Plus, I’d listen to anything Teddy narrates. They had a great performance!

This was a bit of a strange roller coaster for me. Love the characters, tons of angst mostly from the challenging family dynamics. I’m glad it all wrapped up, but still feel somewhat angsty at the end. He’s the sailing surfer guy, she’s the people pleasing college girl.

I liked the summer vibes I got off the book, but I really enjoyed the couple in this! Tate sounds so sexy lol and I’m sure Cassie would be gorg, enjoyed this book alot overall!

If The Deal and The Mistake had a baby it would be this book. I absolutely loved the story! I devoured in one day

This is my favorite book by EK! I’m so sad it’s over, I loved it so much. Cassandra and Tate are just perfect together, true soulmates, without a doubt. Their chemistry is effortless. He’s a total green flag, and she’s simply an amazing person.

Great easy read

It was in a really good shape and I absolutely love the book

My favourite book and couple of the series! Didn’t expect the plot twist though! Summer romance done right and great characters!

I liked this third entry in this epic series and it was my favorite of the whole series. A perfect summer read.

ILOVEDITILOVEDITILOVEDITILOVEDIT 🤩. I had a smile on my face throughout this whole book! Tate and Cassie were soooo cute together, their banter was off the charts! From their first moment together you could tell how compatible they were! Tate is a “fckboy” with a conscience, none of his innumerable hook ups has something negative to say! He is just a good guy… who likes a good time 🤓. Cassie is quirky and and always finds the silver lining, even in the most disastrous situations… and sadly she has been objected to quite a few. Body shamed by her own mother, practically replaced in her father’s life over his new family… Tate helps her to really see herself and her value and learn how to stand up for herself, not letting her monster of a mother trample all over her or really talk to her father about how she feels and not just surface level stuff! It was funny and witty and swoon worthy until… the “incident” towards the end of the book which I did NOT see coming! They were both so miserable afterwards and my respect for Cassie and Tate grew even more with how they handled the situation and how selfless they both were 😢.