My reading life took a major dive in the month of May as it was crunch time for our move. Luckily summer revived it! I read 33 books!
Leaning hard into romance and thrillers kept my reading season light, swoony, and fast paced. Just what I needed!
Today I’m sharing 3 5-star romances from my summer reading list. If you’d like to know what else I read this summer, you can find me over at goodreads. I may have a 5-star thriller list in the mix coming soon!
5-Star Summer Romances:
Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
Rating: 5 stars
Steam Level: 2
Somehow Carley Fortune’s debut Every Summer After slipped past all my summer reading “research”. Thankfully my best friend, Ashley (she’s over at aseedforthesoul.com) read it, loved it, and told me to get to it asap!
Luck was on my side when a skip-the-line copy came through for me on Libby. It was meant to be! This was the perfect story to finish out my summer romance reading with.
When Persephone Fraser gets a call from a voice she hasn’t heard in years, she immediately rushes back to Barry’s Bay, the small lake town where her family spent every summer of her teenage years. There she must confront her past with Sam Florek and grapple with the way their lives turned out.
Every Summer After features two timelines, the present is told over a weekend while the past counts down the summers from friendship to love to their fateful mistakes.
This line from the publisher sums it up perfectly:
Six summers to fall in love. One moment to fall apart. A weekend to get it right.
I’m a sucker for second chance romances (possibly because I married my high school sweetheart 14 years later). I loved the format of this book. The chapter rotation between the current weekend and the countdown of past summers really kept me hooked.
I can’t believe this is a debut! Although a recent podcast episode from Currently Reading made a good point about debuts. Readers shouldn’t be so surprised when a debut is brilliant – usually an author has spent a very long time honing that first book before it even gets picked by a agent/editor/publisher.
In Every Summer After, Fortune brings every element to life. I felt like I was at the lake. I could taste summer! It gave me all the giddiness of young love with just the right amount of angst and dramatics. I swooned, though I don’t remember any of teenage boys I knew being so confident or smooth.
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
Rating: 5 stars
Steam Level: 3
I listened to Part of Your World on audio and I believe all in the same day! Abby Jimenez does that to me. I can’t put her books down. I also can’t pick a favorite one. They’re all amazing. As is Zachary Webber’s voice reading the male lead for three of her books!
After getting a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, city girl and ER doctor Alexis Montgomery has her world rocked by an evening spent with Daniel Grant, a sexy and sweet carpenter ten years her junior.
Needing a break from the pressure of her family legacy and the aftermath of a terrible relationship, Alexis turns to Daniel for a fun fling. But a fling is all it can ever be since neither of them can turn their back on their own worlds.
Daniel stole the show for me in Part of Your World along with my heart! I was suspicious of the conflict in this story going in but Jimenez writes it in a way that feels believable.
This book tugs at all the feels – sweet, sad, and spicy! I loved the little bits of magic found in the small town as well as the side characters we meet there. I hope she continues writing some of their stories.
If you’re curious about more from Abby Jimenez, I previously reviewed her book, Life’s Too Short, here. Spoiler: It’s another 5-star romance for me!
Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman
Rating: 5 stars
Steam Level: 2
I have been very into the normal person meets celebrity and both fall in love trope lately. Funny You Should Ask has a lot of conflicting reviews but I absolutely loved it!
Of course I’d heard that the story was inspired by an interview with Chris Evans earlier in his career so once he was cast as Gabe Parker in my mind, I was all in!
Ten years ago, Chani Horowitz interviewed Gabe Parker just before his career took off when he played the newest James Bond. The down to earth movie star invited her into his life for a weekend and the resulting article skyrocketed Chani’s career. But success came with the constant public speculation of what really happened between them that weekend.
Now, after a year of personal struggles, Chani is asked to interview Gabe Parker again. His PR team hopes to recreate the magic of that first article. While Chani wants to say no – she’s tired of her writing always coming back to Gabe no matter what she’s published since – the chance for closure regarding that weekend has her agreeing to face Gabe and take on those feelings once more.
As I said earlier, I’m a sucker for second chance romance! Recently I’ve been digging the celebrity thing and then throw in that he’s actually a down to earth guy from Montana! All the giddy squeals!
My reading experience of this was a hybrid one, meaning I switched back and forth reading both the audio and ebook. For the last quarter of the story, I enjoyed reading along with the ebook while the audio played. If you haven’t tried that before I highly recommend it!
The format of this story really worked for me. I liked the snippets of tabloid articles that came before each chapter. The now and then story lines switched back and forth but in chunky sections rather than every chapter. The flow of which I really enjoyed.
The chemistry in the past story line was stronger for me and Chani did wear a little thin toward the end but both Gabe and Ollie pulled it out. Ollie may be my favorite secondary character of the year!
Are You Into Podcasts?
If so, I recommend checking out the Not Your Mom’s Romance Book Club podcast. Only listen if you’ve already read the book discussed though!
Mother Julie and Daughter Ellen reviewed both Funny You Should Ask and Part of Your World this season and I enjoyed both those episodes. I also broke out singing the little mermaid song to Mr. O whenever I looked at that title.
Looking for even more romance recommendations?
Here are my runner ups this summer with a still solid 4-stars. You may like them even more!
- Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan
- The Wedding Crasher by Mia Sosa
- Wicked Beauty by Katee Robert
I’m still hoping to sneak in…
Although I’m diving fully into fall and started making all the pumpkin recipes on September 1st, I still have a few last minute summer romance holds coming in from the library. In the next week or two of the summer to fall transition, I’m hoping to devour:
- Book Lovers by Emily Henry
- Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan
- Birds of California by Katie Cotugno
What are your 5-star romances from this summer?
2 responses to “3 5-Star Romances from my Summer Reading”
Oh!!! More books to add to my list for next year, thank you! We really need to find a lake house to share for the summers! I think you’re going to love Book Lovers and can’t wait for you to read The Charm Offensive too. 💗
That sounds amazing! I wish that also came with several weeks off for you. I’ll keep dreaming lol. I need to add The Charm Offensive to next year’s summer reading list! I think it would be great for that season. Or maybe spring?