Visit a Summer Theater with an Ex-Star Hoping for a Comeback

Charlie Savoy, an ex-super-star, thought she was content with her life running an art theater in Boston until under the influence of an Ambien, she drives her car in to Boston Harbor. At her trial, the judge orders community service at the Chamberlain, a summer theater where she got her start. The problem is it’s run by Nick Blount, her former lover and partner. They made movies together until a major flop ended both of their careers.

When Charlie arrives, she finds things are much better than she imagined. She makes friends with the other actors, mentors the students, and gets back into her acting groove. All this is delightful, but Nick is there and they can’t deny the spark that is still between them.

This is a story with lots of working parts. The interactions both positive and negative between the cast, students, and director are full of past hurts and present feelings. With the plays as background, it’s easy to get immersed in the lives of the characters.

For me, one of the best parts of the book was the glimpse behind the scenes of a summer theater and how the actors and technical staff interact to put on productions. This is a great summer read, particularly if you can’t physically attend the theater.

I received this book from Graydon House Books for this review.

If I had to pick a beach read for this summer, this one would certainly make the list of possibilities. Aimee Agresti has penned some terrific characters in The Summer Set, and they're sure to appeal to anyone who enjoys the theater. For me, those characters are what kept me turning the pages. They're interesting and fun, and it's easy to become invested in what happens to them. The story itself was a bit slow at times, but there is a lot of drama to keep things moving along. I'm usually not a big fan of drama, but it does seem to work for this one. In the end, I did enjoy the characters and their story was definitely worth the read.

Charlie Savoy is a former Hollywood Wild Child-turned-Shakespearean Actress. Out of the spotlight for a while after her last movie wasn't deemed as successful as her others, she has been lying low in Boston where she owns a cinema.

When Charlie is involved in an accident and is ordered to complete her Community Service at a Summer Theater Program ran by her ex, director Nick Blount, she is horrified.

Meanwhile, a fresh batch of theater kids have arrived on campus to compete for roles in the Shakespearean plays that will be performed at the end of the season. Sierra and Ethan just want to shine - but will they get their chances?

I liked this a lot, it had a real Summer Camp feel to it which I adore, and it was the perfect mix of Broadway/Hollywood. I liked Charlie, and I felt like she was a real person and that I knew her within a few chapters.

I'd say it's an ideal holiday read but seeing as nobody can actually go on holiday, this is a great Summer read and perfect if you're also a fan of musicals, camps, theaters, or backstage gossip.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked Charlie's story and seeing how the theatre ran. I found that fascinating. I do wish that the author had narrowed in on characters. I think we had too many points of view and it was hard to get really into each story and it made it drag a little having to be in so many stories. But overall I really liked this book. And the cover is really beautiful.

Title: The Summer Set
Author: Aimee Agresti
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Charlie Savoy was once Hollywood's hottest A-lister. Now, ten years later, she's pushing forty, exiled from the film world back at the summer Shakespeare theater in the Berkshires that launched her career—and where her first love, Nick, is the artistic director.

It's not exactly her first choice. But as parts are cast and rehearsals begin, Charlie is surprised to find herself thriving: bonding with celebrity actors, forging unexpected new friendships, and even reigniting her spark with Nick despite their complicated history.

Until Charlie's old rival, Hollywood's current “It Girl,” is brought on set, threatening to undo everything she's been working towards. As the drama amps up both on the stage and behind the curtains, Charlie must put on one heck of a show to fight for the second chance she deserves in her career and in love.

If you’re looking for an easy read with a Hollywood-insider feel, this is probably a good choice for you. I enjoyed the Shakespeare references, but this novel wasn’t a good fit for me. Charlie and Nick—okay, and basically every other character—acted like a bunch of self-absorbed teenagers with almost zero communication skills. I found this to be a very negative portrayal of people involved in Hollywood in any way, shape, or form, but it might be accurate. I have no idea. It could work as a fun summer read for anyone who loves melodrama, but it doesn’t do much for a serious Shakespeare fan.

Aimee Agresti lives in Washington, DC. The Summer Set is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/Graydon House in exchange for an honest review.)

3.5 stars

I had loved Aimee’s (unfinished) YA series, so when I got the invite I read this one, I jumped at it.

I really liked Charlie. She’s struggling and unsure of herself and gets thrown into a situation that makes her even more unsure. Nick is struggling just as much, but in a different way. When these two get thrown back together, the sparks are more like embers that take an entire book to catch fire. Sierra and Ethan are two participants to the summer theatre and we also get their POVs, which did add a layer to Charlie and Nick’s actions.

Plot wise, it’s mostly good. There are a lot of moving parts here and at times, it was slow. I will say there’s so much drama and it works a lot of the time. I desperately wanted people to open their mouths and just have a conversation. And while I liked the ending, I also wanted a lot more.

Overall, it was the characters that kept me reading as I was invested in seeing if there was a HEA and how it would look.

**Huge thanks to Graydon House for providing the arc free of charge**

Former A-list Hollywood star Charlie has been struggling in her career. A well-publicized, embarrassing accident finds her doing community service for a summer Shakespeare theatre, where she is reunited with key people from her past. Parallel to Charlie's story are the stories of a few of the theatre's young interns. Great book, especially if you have readers who are theatre buffs and/or Shakespeare fans.

With the world just shut down, there is no live theater to enjoy, and summer theater camps may not open. If you are someone who is missing that, Aimee Agresti's new novel, The Summer Set, just might fill that void.



Charlotte "Charlie" Savoy is a former stage and movie actress who left acting behind. She owns an art movie house in Boston, and leads a low profile life, until the day she accidentally drives her car in to Boston Harbor, while under the influence of sleeping pills.



At her court hearing, she is sentenced to 60 days of community service at Chamberlain Summer Theater, which wouldn't be bad, but it happens to be the theater run by her former lover and director, Nick Blunt. Nick and Charlie had a successful collaboration and relationship until they made a disasterous movie that tanked critically and at the box office.



Charlie has a fiery personality, and she was known as a "wild child" back in the day. She comes into the Chamberlain ready to shake things up as they stage Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer's Night Dream and The Tempest. Nick needs Charlie's name to help him save the theater. He is desperate to find investors, and if he can't, the theater will close for good.



Nick also still loves Charlie and he has high hopes to win her back. Charlie wants nothing to do with Nick, but being back at the theater reignites her love of acting and more. She takes a young intern under her wing, and reconnects with people she enjoyed working with back in the day.



The Summer Set will bring back fond memories for anyone who worked at summer theater. The highlight of this breezy, charming novel is the staging of the shows. You can feel the excitement and tension in the air as they ready for "places" on opening night.



The characters could be from Shakespeare's comedies- there are love triangles, misunderstandings, young love, and frenemies. I enjoyed the Filmography and IMDB entry for Charlie, it put a nice button on the end of this enjoyable story.



Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on Aimee Agresti's tour.

I am a huge fan of books having anything to do with the theatre. And I was sold on the premise of an A-lister returning to her roots to do community service at a small, struggling theatre. This book had a campy feel full of auditions, rehearsals, on-stage and off-stage drama, and finally performances. As a theatre parent myself, I could fully appreciate all aspects of this plot as they consume most of my life.

I read this book in an afternoon by the pool. It was entertaining and the characters were, well… exactly how I expected them to be based on my own real life experiences. I enjoyed the inclusion of the Shakespeare element and the writing was done well. But what really stood out to me was the backstage drama. It was depicted so accurately and trust me, all these characters all exist in real life.

In the book they were well-developed and interesting. This book held my attention and it was a very satisfying read. There is a romance as well and while I’m not the biggest romance fan, these things happen in the theatre all the time and it rounded out the story nicely.

If you enjoyed Trust Exercise, City of Girls, or Limelight you will most likely enjoy this book.

Thanks to Graydon House, NetGalley, and the author for a gifted copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Aimee Agresti's The Summer Set is a fun read; following Charlie, a retired Hollywood starlet, over a summer where she works at a camp for aspiring young thespians it's the definition of a beach read, especially once her sexy ex, Nicholas, is on the scene.
A sweet glimpse of what it would be like to have a second chance at what might have been.

A nice story about going back to your roots. Summer theater is on, and every year apprentices and experienced actors get together at Chamberlain to present plays and start over. This year Charlie, a Hollywood star, is sentenced to participate as court-appointed community service. As she dreads to go there, counting the days in the beginning, she learns how the theater can be nice and how it feels to help other people. The book does have a free flow about it, with several smaller chapters that have a number and a name. The name of the chapter is usually one sentence within it. I liked this feature because it made me want to read each chapter to find out in which context that sentence was said. Overall, a nice Summer read.

Takes place in a summer Shakespeare theater with personal drama offstage. Highlights the complex relationship of the two main characters past and their shaky present. The Summer Set offers a varied cast of characters and an interesting storyline. I liked the mix of current stars, past A-lister, and upcoming talent and their interactions together. Is how I imagined a summer theater “camp” to be. A good read, no wow factor for me, but as I came away very satisfied.

The Summer Set is a contemporary romance, but with a lot more depth than is usually associated with the genre. I personally think that's an unfair assumption, as contemporary romance almost always deals with very heavy and painful issues, but that's the general consensus, so I want to address that up front.

I loved the ide aof the Camberlain theater and it's summer acting apprentice program. It felt a lot like reading Step Up for young adult, struggling theater actors. The behind the scenes looks at rehearsals, the performances, and the personal relationships, all read as an inside look. At times inspiring, The Summer Set will make you want to dream big again.

My only issue with The Summer Set was the main character and her back story. First of all, it must be stated, I loved Charlie. She was so human and flawed, scared to trust but secretly wanting to love and be loved. she seemed to even hide that fact from herself, as she lived in unhappy denial for most of the book, erecting walls to keep out anyone that could hurt her.

I'm a sucker for flawed but lovable characters because they feel the realest to me, the most human.

My problem lies in the explanation of Charlie's baskstory, specifically as it deal with the main love interest, Nick. Aimee (great name btw) Agesti chose to reveal Charlie and Nick's past in little bits throughout the book. Sometimes this can work, and at times it did here, making me need to know more thus propelling me through the story.

The problem came when fights would arise in the present tense of the story. Because we didn't know all of what happened before, we couldn't truly sympathize with Charlie, making a lot of her reactions and subsequent behavior come off slightly dramatic and bizarre. Nick's ex-wife shows up to the play, and even after knowing he didn't ask her to come and doesn't want her there, Charlie refuses to even speak to him for a very long time. You can tell from the supporting characters that they understand her reaction, but the reader just can't simply because we don't know.

At times, I genuinely got frustrated with her, but after finishing the book, I totally understand everyone's behavior. At the time of reading though, I couldn't understand her, and therefore, did not get invested in her search for happiness. Without the emotional understanding, it removed me from the story at times, so that I struggled a bit mid way. Luckily, though, the subplot of Sierra and Ethan, kept my romantic heart interested.

The ending was perfect, especially the way she wrapped up the book and the story with IMDB-like entries and entertainment section articles.

The Summer Set is a perfect summer read for any fan of contemporary romance, especially those who love Shakespeare.

The drama isn’t all on the stage in Aimee Agresti’s wildly entertaining new novel The Summer Set. The fun begins when Charlie Savoy, a former stage actor turned tabloid fodder, drives her car into Boston Harbor in an Ambien fueled daze. Sentenced to community service, she must serve her time at the Chamberlain Summer Theater, run by director Nick Blunt who happens to be her first love and former husband.

Now the fun begins. Chamberlain Theater is bleeding money and Nick hopes this season will help them out of the hole. It’s where he met Charlie before their movie career made them first famous and then has-beens. The cast (of the book and the Shakespeare plays presented) is delightful. There are the stars: Charlie, Chase Embers, Danica Ranier and Matteo Denali. And there are the apprentices: Sierra, Ethan, Harlow, Fiona, Alex and Tripp, all hoping to get a speaking part and an agent in one short summer. Three classic plays are to be presented in the main theater and three avant-garde plays in the smaller Black Box theater. I felt like an invisible witness to the jealousies, petty and otherwise, and the backstage drama that overshadowed the action on stage. And, of course, the relationships - some lasted a night, or for the run of a performance, or maybe for a lifetime.

I loved, loved The Summer Set! There are so many fascinating details about what goes on backstage. All the characters, including a few key ones I haven’t mentioned to avoid spoilers, are vividly real. I would love to see this turned into a limited series or a movie. It’s that good! 5 blazing Hollywood stars!

Thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin and Aimee Agresti for this ARC.

A second chance at romance AND a second chance at the careers they love is in the cards for both Charlie and Nick. Charlie is an actress whose star burned bright until her movie flopped. She's back in the Berkshires and, after a DUI where she ran her car into a ditch, finds herself assigned to do community service at the theater where Nick is the artistic director. Yep, Nick, who she once had a relationship with. She's not happy about that but she slowly finds herself engaging with the young people who have come to study at the theater. Things are going well for everyone until Nick's plan to bring in other celebrities blows up in Charlie's face because her frenemy shows up. Yes, this is a tad predictable in spots (it is an HEA, after all) but it's a fun read. The characters are nicely drawn, the setting delightful, and those who have done community theater will no doubt recognize some of the quirks. It's also nice that it's a Shakespeare theater (might make you go back and pick up one or two of his play). Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. This was a fun read - it will take your mind off the news!

The Summer Set takes place in a New England Shakespeare summer theater where former a-list actress Charlie Savoy got her start alongside famous director Nicholas Blunt. It’s been years since Charlie had been to the camp and now she’s forced to spend 60 days there as part of her court ordered sentencing following a DUI. This is a horrible punishment for her because Nicolas, her ex that she hasn’t spoken to since throwing a drink in his face at a premiere, is the director of the summer theater. The book follows the two of them as they navigate the summer together while also trying to save the theater, which is quickly running out of money. In addition to their story, we meet Ethan, a huge Charlie Savoy fan who is attending the theater program as a student hoping to make a name for himself and Sierra, another student who isn’t sure of her place in the acting world but looking to find out. It’s a fun story that will definitely resonate with all the hopeless romantics and theater fans out there! It made me want to watch some Shakespeare! 4/5 stars from me!

I really liked Charlie and Nick's chemistry together. Really great read.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

This was a pretty good read. Charlie and Nick’s struggles with their relationship and trying to save Nick’s theater and Charlie’s career added layers to this read that is perfect for anyone looking for a quick, enjoyable read!

Thank you NetGalley for the free copy of "The Summer Set".

Charlie's life is the theater and her role as an actress. When her most recent film is a flop, she decides to take a bit of a break from the movie scene. Due to a bit of bad luck, Charlie ends up saddled with community services at her ex, Nick's failing theater.

There relationship is full of placing blame on each other, pointing a finger at each other, claiming the other is the responsible party. Can they work together to save both the theater and Charlie's career and reputation?

"The Summer Set" is an decent storyline with likeable characters.

Charlie grew up in the theatre. It’s the closest thing to home she’s known.
She became an actress and hit big with one role. Then her next part was in a movie that was a bit of a flop.
Charlie quit acting and gas stayed pretty under the radar until recently. She accidentally fell asleep at the wheel of her car, drove off the road and into a body of water. She caused enough damage to get community service hours. She also got her name back in the headlines.

The judge sentenced her to community service and she is very upset to find that it’s at the old theatre where she used to perform.
Her ex Nick is the one who asked the judge to assign her community service hours at his theatre.

They haven’t seen each other in many years. They first met about 20 years ago. Charlie is almost 40 now and Nick is a few years older. They both blame each other for the detestation of their own career because they were connected to the movie flop.

Nick’s theatre is failing. He has a crop of new theatre students, trying to fulfill dreams of their own.
Nick has brought in a few celebrities to garner publicity and money for his theatre.

I found the storyline interesting and the characters likable.

I got to read an early ebook edition from NetGalley. Thanks!