One Lucky Summer by Jenny Oliver is a fantastic read that deserves a solid four stars! I have to say, it surprised me with its depth.

While it's centered around a treasure hunt that brings friends and family together, it also delves into the darker and more fun sides of the characters' childhood pasts.

What really stood out to me was the character development. As the story unfolds, you can clearly see how the characters evolve from the beginning to the end. It's heartwarming to witness their acknowledgment of the past, coupled with those enlightening moments. Personally, I felt a strong connection with all the characters, but Dolly's transformation was a real highlight for me. Her tough attitude added an extra layer of fun to the story.

One Lucky Summer offers a delightful blend of romance, coming of age, friendships, and mystery all rolled into one. If you're in the mood for a light summer read, you'll find that it goes way beyond your expectations.

Spending two weeks with a daughter he barely knows isn't high on Ruben's priority list. Yet, here he is standing in the driveway of Willoughby Hall, his family's former home, with Zadie, who has a habit of always comparing him to her new step-dad no matter how small the job. After a rainy evening, the two stumble upon something Ruben hasn't seen in years...a clue to a treasure hunt. Dolly & Olive lived in a cottage on Willoughby Hall's property when Ruben was a child. The girls grew up with an eccentric father who was always out on explorations but to keep Dolly & Olive included in his passions he would create elaborate treasure hunts for them around the property. Now having a clue to what would have been Dolly & Olive's last connection to their father Ruben decides to get in contact with his long lost friends in the hopes that they can follow the clues and maybe get back more than buried treasure. I was expecting "One Lucky Summer" to be a bright and breezy summer read but instead what I got was a little tougher. Family drama, long held resentment, generational trauma and at least one relationship that I could not get behind at all. Though "One Lucky Summer" was a good read, don't be fooled by the pretty, romantic looking cover, it's not the rom-com you think you are getting. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper360 for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Quite interesting read that I really enjoyed. Amazing plot that grips your attention and keeps it till the very last page. It's perfect for someone looking for a light, breezy read on holiday. The romance, comedy, drama, and everything else is bound to make this read a memorable one.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really fun book. And the characters were very likable, which sadly doesn't not happen often enough in books.

This was a really cute read. I was really excited when I got an ARC of this one. I really liked the characters. I thought the plot was really good. This would be the perfect summer / beach read. Overall I really enjoyed this one.

DNF at 20%

I was looking for an emotionally fulfilling semi-nostalgic treasure hunt at an old house. To a certain extent, the book lives up to that premise: the actual plot is exactly what was promised to me. However, I just could not get into the writing style. All of the characters read as extremely flat and two-dimensional to me. They felt more like cardboard cutouts than people, and I realized that I didn't care about any of them, or the story. Normally, a treasure hunt is my catnip; I eat that kind of thing up. But this book just couldn't hook me, and by the 20% mark, I knew I had to let it go.

This book wasn’t quite what I expected but I still loved it!

I really thought there would be more mystery/focus on the treasure hunt but I found it focused a lot more on the relationships!

I adore the cover and it grabbed my attention!

This is a perfect beach read or add for your staycation TBR stack. Charming and light, but with enough character depth and evolution and strong sense of place to make it meaningful. One Lucky Summer also weaves together friendship, romance, a fun treasure hunt, and a cat. This one checks all the boxes for a sweet summer story.

Three childhood friends, now grown and jaded. A feisty aunt who enjoys manly eye candy and gold lamé. A Shakespeare-quoting tween who’s wise beyond her years. One very determined aspiring house cat. And a treasure hunt that brings them all together. Will they find the treasure, or something else long since buried?

One Lucky Summer explores the bonds that keep us together alongside old wounds that threaten to force us apart. It’s a summer adventure with plenty of laughs, family drama, romance, and such an endearing cast of characters. Definitely one to add to your summer TBR!

Many thanks to NetGalley and HQ for the complimentary advance copy of this work!

I tried really hard to enjoy this book. This book took me several days to finish. I didn't really enjoy the characters especially Ruben. I'm not sure if I wasn't in the right frame of mind to really enjoy the scavenger hunt. This book wasn't my cup of tea.

I was really looking forward to reading a "light summer read" since most of what I read is heavy or informational, but this one just could not bring me in. I didn't really like the characters and didn't get pulled in by the story line.

Meh. The story here had premise but the characters were just underdeveloped. The author spends quite a lot of time blathering on about unnecessary things. This leaves the reader with a sense of confusion rather than completion. In then end the treasure hunt was a big disappointment. So many chapters talking it up then one quick scene and it’s over.

I was kinda surprised when I first started reading this and realized it wasnt going to be a light beach read but that it was a scavenger hunt but I truly enjoyed it. I wasnt a fan of main character Ruben which is why I'm giving this 3 stars but overall this was a very enjoyable read.

Thank you to HQ for the ARC to read and review.

One Lucky Summer by Jenny Oliver is indeed lucky on several fronts for the characters in this book.
Two are lucky for second chances. Two are lucky they reconnected and cleared the air. One is lucky she didn’t give up. All are lucky to work together to find a treasure.

Best character development in a novel I’ve read in a long time. A very enjoyable story of two sisters and their boy next door.

I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about this read until about halfway through, but it was when I realized that I had started to root for the characters to find love and happiness that I knew I had it bad for this sweet, silly book. It's everything you want an escapist beach read to be, bringing a smile to your face & warm fuzzies to your heart! The protagonist, Ruben de Lacy, is written as somewhat of an anti-hero and although I was truly annoyed with him for much of the book, I ended up loving the way in which he finds his feet & owns up to his shortcomings, despite his best attempts to preserve his "ladies-man-about-town" persona. Jenny Oliver does a beautiful job of writing these characters, striking the balance between relatable, flawed and genuinely likable, and telling a story that deals with the way that shared past events have affected and continue to affect this group of people.

While i thought the title of this one didn't exactly reflect the story, i enjoyed it a lot. The main characters--Ruben, Dolly, and Olive--had spent their childhood growing up together by the sea, until a shocking event took them on separate paths. A surprise discovery brings them back together for a bit of fun and reckoning. A great light read!

This was just ok. Three childhood friends reunite when a clue about a treasure hunt is found. Treasure hunts were the staple of their childhood. The descriptions of the land were great, but one character in particular annoyed me. She was a cop but she seemed so immature. The side characters of the aunt and the child, Zadie, were my favorite. They really stole the show. Zadie' s father just made me mad of how selfish he was. The story was ok but because the characters were annoying, it kept me from fully enjoying the book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance copy in exchange for my honest review. I was definitely not expecting this one from Jenny Oliver, I went in thinking this was going to be a fun, lighthearted romance but this actually had a really nice character development and touched on the basis of family, memories and life’s journeys. I found myself craving more (I’m a very plot-driven reader, and I think I thought at times “I get it, let’s move on), but that might just be the literary nature of how it was written. I’d still recommend to readers as it was a fun journey. Again, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance reader copy!

One Lucky Summer was a lovely read. It was fresh and evocative, with a delightful cast of characters. It was not a typical summer romance. The plot was full of twists and turns. A treasure hunt added a fun mystery. The well-developed storyline offered intrigue. Each of the characters had past trauma that they were coming to terms with. This was a story of self-awareness and personal growth. It touched on many family dynamics. Jealousy, resentment, anger, and sadness all filtered into the story. It was interesting to see how their past unresolved feeling molded their personalities.

 At some points, the story was boring. The dialog dragged on. It left me feeling like I was trudging through the pages. The frequency of uncommon words seemed like the author was trying to be flashy. I love vocabulary but felt like sometimes a simple word would have made the story flow easier. Sometimes, it felt forced and made the prose uninviting. The ending was worth the struggle. It was pleasing how well everything worked out. This is a good book to read if you enjoy less romance and more intrigue.

The book was 3 out of 5 stars for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper 360, HQ for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to receive an arc in exchange for an honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own!


I haven’t read anything by Jenny Oliver- until now. I am so shocked that she hasn’t crossed my radar! I thought this book was just so cute, perfect summer reading/beach read- character growth is at the forefront. I’ll be adding so many of Jenny Oliver’s books to my TBR- she writes so well, you can almost see this play out as a drama series or movie. Loved it!