The Summer Girl Avalon Bay Series 3 by Elle Kennedy
Product Details
Web ID: 16361118Good summer read!
I really enjoyed this one. I think this is a great summer series with the perfect amount of crossover between the storylines. I don't think this series will change your life but I have really enjoyed it.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A ‘How-To’ do book about sexual techniques
When I checked this book out of the library its title made me think it would be another brainless, mindless beach read. It sort of was-- but it became the most raunchy book I have ever read, and believe me, I’ve read a lot in my many, many years! The premise of the story, as suggested by the title, was fine, but would probably most appeal to teens and those in their early 20’s searching for libidinous pleasures.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
The Summer Girl is Fantastic!
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This story is the third installment in the Avalon Bay series and it did not disappoint! I thoroughly enjoyed the chemistry and banter between Cassie and Tate and the dual POV flowed effortlessly. This book captured so many elements that I crave in a great read, and although I did not care for the conflict near the end - I did enjoy that it was resolved rather quickly. What really worked for me was the realistic aspects of divorce, betrayal, and how families move on and heal (or don’t) when they break. The relationship and feelings involved between parents, step-parents, and children who came before and after was really appreciated. What didn’t work as well for me was that I had to keep reminding myself that we were dealing with people in their early twenties. The writing had a very high school vibe to me, but it wasn’t enough to bring down my star rating. Overall, I’d definitely recommend. It’s a fun, quick read with great banter and some spice.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Great read!
This is my first book by Elle Kennedy, but it won't be my last. I loved Cassie's internal monologue as she progressed from awkward and unsure to being a confident young woman. Tate was a little bit cocky but also sweet and I loved his relationship with his parents. The story contains plenty of family drama on all sides, sentimentality, and the romance between Tate & Cassie is both steamy and sweet. I'll definitely be reading the rest in this series, and look for this author in the future.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Sweet, funny, sexy, steamy, angsty, romantic
Elle Kennedy’s new adult, friends-to-lovers romance The Summer Girl, Avalon Bay #3, explores small-town secrets and a summer fling that unexpectedly develops into first love for college student Cassie Soul and sailing instructor Tate Bartlett. Kennedy’s vibrant description and snarky, humorous, and sharp dialogue and banter, and relatable, complex, likable, and well-developed characters drew me in from the first scene, investing me in the story and characters’ lives. The novel’s best part is Cassie and Tate’s interactions with each other and the other characters, especially their parents, that contribute to their development and help the story naturally progress. Kennedy wonderfully shows you Tate and Cassie’s personalities (as well as secondary characters) and the type of people they are instead of just telling you, which is essential since Tate is built up to be such a nice guy despite being a player who’s dated most of the girls in town but is not into love or monogamy. It also helps you understand Cassise’s feelings about where she fits into her family. Cassie returns to Avalon Bay to visit her grandmother for her first summer since her parents’ divorce. After five decades of ownership, her grandmother plans to sell their family’s boardwalk hotel. Cassie’s turning twenty-one and hoping to experience a summer fling. She thinks she’s found the perfect candidate when she meets Tate Bartlett on her first night in town. A surprisingly sweet player, Tate isn’t a stranger to flings. He may be Avalon Bay’s fun-loving golden boy, but he’s not a heartbreaker. Because he knows right away that Cassie isn’t a girl you can have a casual fling with and walk away from without someone getting hurt, he puts her in the friend zone. But the more time he spends with Cassie, the harder it is for him to deny and fight his attraction to her. He realizes almost immediately that friend-zoning Cassie is a monumental mistake. Soon, all Tate can think about is how much he wants more than anything to have a fling with Cassie this summer. Despite agreeing to be friends, they become intimate because of their intense attraction, stretching the boundaries of friendship. After surrendering to their feelings for each other, Cassie and Tate agree to keep their fling a secret, not realizing that far more dangerous secrets than theirs are at stake. Avalon Bay is like many small towns with secrets—once revealed, they can destroy everything in their wake. Will Tate and Cassie’s relationship survive Avalon Bay’s secrets? Kennedy develops Cassie and Tate’s relationship through humorous, sexy, and sweet banter and interactions and sweet, steamy, intimate, and sexy love scenes that also contribute to their development and evolution and the story’s progression. Cassie’s down-to-earth, sweet, funny, relentlessly optimistic, and girlfriend material—the most extraordinary person Tate’s ever met. Kind, thoughtful, compassionate, and a good friend, Tate’s a good guy who genuinely respects women. I love how being friends first, then lovers, helps Cassie and Tate grow and encourage each other to face their fears, follow their dreams, and be honest with their parents about what they want from their lives and how their parents treat them. Kennedy skillfully writes a multifaceted story that, at first glance, is simply a fun, lighthearted, steamy friends-to-lovers, summer fling that becomes something infinitely more profound and more vital to Tate and Cassie but is unexpectedly threatened by small-town secrets. Sweet, funny, sexy, emotional, steamy, angsty, and romantic, The Summer Girl explores themes of first love, falling in love, taking risks, small-town and family secrets, self-esteem, toxic parents, second chances, self-confidence, belonging, and following your dreams. I highly recommend the book to fans of steamy new adult romances focused on friends-to-lovers, summer flings, and timed relationship tropes. Advanced review copy provided by St. Martin’s Griffin via Netgalley for review.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Typical Summer Read
“The Summer Girl” is my first read by Elle Kennedy. While I found the book fun and engaging, it wasn’t a story that I found memorable and I’d say it’s a 3-3.5/5 star read for me. Cassie Soul is spending her summer in Avalon Bay, the beach town she grew up in but hasn’t spent quality time in since her parents divorced years ago. This summer, though, she plans on spending time with her grandmother before she moves and seeing the reopening of the hotel her grandparents built and ran for decades. She also plans on having a bit of fun by finding herself a summer fling. In steps Tate Bartlett, town lover boy and sailing instructor, who knows his way around girls and flings. From their first meeting, Tate likes Cassie, maybe too much, and doesn’t want to break her heart with a fling gone bad. However, the more time they spend together, the more they both realize there’s too much chemistry there to ignore, and they give in…but what happens when a fling becomes more? And what happens when the other parts of their life converge in a way that makes being together harder than they thought? While entertaining, I will say I’m not sure this book was for me. In my opinion, the book was raunchier than it needed to be, and the storyline lacked substance. I feel like some pieces of the storyline were a bit random—Cassie’s mom and Tate’s dad being together and all that came from that seemed out of left field and am not sure was needed. I also didn’t feel a lot of depth behind the characters and most of the relationships in this book, which would have helped me become more attached to them. With that said, this was a fast read for me. I was entertained throughout the book. This may not have been my favorite book, and I might not remember the characters for long after I finish it, but while I was in its pages “The Summer Fling” did what it was supposed to—it kept me reading, turning pages to see how it ends. If that’s what you’re looking for, then this book is for you. If you want a little more from your reads, if you desire a larger connection to the characters and events you read about, I would probably look elsewhere. **Thank you to St. Martin’s Griffin and Net Galley for the opportunity to read the advanced copy.**
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
⭐️ 4/5 | 🌶️ 3/5
Elle Kennedy is an auto-buy author for a lot of people, and I totally understand why. This book had so much fun banter in it that I just kept turning the page for my next laugh. This friends-to-lovers small town romance features sweet main characters. Cassie in particular is kind in a way that a lot of FMCs are not. The twist in this will have you on the edge of your seat!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A fun, summer beach read!
I really love the setting of Avalon Bay. I think it really adds to the beach vibe in this series. Cassie has grown up in Avalon Bay but after her parents' divorce she moved to Boston with her mother. She's not as close to her dad and his new family as she'd like, and her mom is hypercritical of her. She just wants one last summer with her Grandmother in the Bay before the family home is sold, to celebrate her twenty-first birthday, and maybe a summer fling... As long as you keep in mind these books are new adult romances, you won't mind these characters. Very much in their early twenties, every character is trying to figure out who they are and what they want to be when they grow up. They're all navigating relationships - with each other, with their families, with other friends. I liked Tate, the male main character in this story. He's honest, kind, fun-loving and just a decent guy. With so many authors giving us toxic male characters, this one is a delight. A fun, summer beach read.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com