This might be favorite book ever written by Elle Kennedy! This series is so fun and enjoyable. I highly recommend!

This is a pretty basic rom-com. Story is pretty standard. I had an issue with the main dude being 23 and calling girls “chicks” like, really?

Also this felt a little too long. There’s a bunch of characters that are mentioned occasionally but then don’t amount to anything even though they’re supposed to be Cassie’s friend group for the summer. The reason Tate doesn’t date her in the beginning is also silly because a girl tells him not to and then we never see her again.

The whole thing with the grandma’s hotel could have been taken out, along with a random section of beach games? They didn’t contribute to the story and dragged it out longer than it needed to.

Then we had a huge drama bomb hit at like 85%? That was wild. I thought we’d be avoiding the third act breakup, but they snuck that in at 96%. Again, why bother?

Can we also talk about how Cassie is supposed to have a fuller figure, and it’s something she’s self conscious about and her mom gets on her about it cause she’s awful, yet the girl on the cover is thin? Not sure why they didn’t portray Cassie on the cover as she’s described in the book.

Overall though this a decent summer read. It’s a summer rom com that if you’re looking for something fluffy and easy to read on the beach, this is what you grab.

3.5⭐️

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

A fun summer read that I could not put down!

The Summer Girl is book three of the Avalon Bay series of interconnected standalones. Cassie is back in Avalon Bay to help her grandmother pack up her home so she can go live closer to her family. while she is there, she wants to have a fun summer fling before heading off to college and after seeing Tate at a bonfire approaches him with the idea of a friends with benefits situation. He turns her down because he is afraid, she would catch feelings. He agrees to be her wingman for the summer but of course we could have told them that would not end well! I loved the banter between the two and I loved that they developed a real friendship before diving into a romantic relationship. I did not see the twist coming at all !!

In my opinion, this was the best book in the series! Tate and Cassie were amazing and their chemistry was there right from the beginning, making their friendship so fun. I loved Tate's character. Cassie was such a great FMC. Her mom was awful, and I felt terrible but was glad when she learned to stick up for herself. The third act conflict was heartbreaking. I usually am not a fan of a 3rd act break-up, but saw this was a unique plot device. The cameos the other Avalon Bay books was so fun!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC. This was a fun and cute summer romance read. I did relate to the relationship with the mom, and the relationships with dad, grandma, etc were heartwarming. As others have said, the objectification was a miss for me, I don’t know why it needed to be a focus. But overall, this was a fun easy read.

This one was okay. It’s always sort of a hit-or-miss for me every time I read and Elle Kennedy book.
That’s probably why it took me months to finish this one.

Anyway, it’s about a girl who grows up with a lot of insecurities thanks to her horrible mother; and then one summer she comes back to her hometown and meets a guy who is all sunshine and they sort of start what’s supposed to be just a fling but obviously turns into something more.

It had its moments of cuteness, but mostly I feel like it dragged. And I have a suspicion some people will love appearances by characters from other books but I couldn’t keep them straight so most of the time I was just blank.

The whole plot twist was a little late in the game for my liking, but it really made the ending a lot easier to go through after a bit of boredom from the middle of the book.

I'd like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I mean it's Elle Kennedy! So of course, it will be steamy, and Cassie and Tate were the cutest couple!! Perfect summer read!

If Elle Kennedy writes it, I’m going to read it. Super fun, young, summer romance. Steamy and full of drama! *swoon*

Cassie and Tate were cute, but I thought it was really dumb that he snuck over into her room when he had an empty house. The split POVs were not at all even.

I absolutely loved The Summer Girl by Elle Kennedy! It's the perfect escape read, filled with relatable characters and a delightful romance. Cassie and Tate's story is heartwarming, and the book's blend of romance, family drama, and friendship made it a joy to read. Definitely a must read!

Elle Kennedy never disappoints with her books! I have loved every one of the Avalon Bay books! The Summer Girl is top tier! Cassie and Tates evolving relationship was so beautiful! I can not recommend enough!

A fun and swoony read, packed with heartwarming moments and lots of steam. Cassie and Tate had so much chemistry and were the cutest friends. I loved that both of them went through major character developments and helped each other grow.

I loved this book! The premise was great. I think it’s my favorite of the series so far.

The bit of fwb-lover situation was so nice. The spice?! 🥵

I loved that the conflict was so different. It packed so many emotions. Cassie and Tate were so great to read about.

Cassie is looking for a summer fling while she visits Avalon Bay — the town where she grew up and where her dad and grandma still live. Tate seems like the perfect fit for the role — he’s super hot, never interested in anything serious, and no one has a bad word to say about him.

This is the third book in a series but it’s a companion, so you don’t have to read the other two first. I’ve read them, but I don’t think that anyone would have trouble just jumping into this one. The characters from the first two do show up, since it’s a friend group, so the couples would be spoiled, but that’s about it. This one was actually my favorite of the three!

This was a cute romance and a super quick read for me even though it’s not necessarily short — I just had to keep going to see what was going to happen next! It was fun watching the characters grow and learn to stick up for themselves and what they want.

I was quite attached to both Cassie and Tate and I loved not only the tension and chemistry between the two but the friendship they built at the basis of their relationship. Tate is a hugely lovable cinnamon roll despite his playboy image and I loved that! Cassie is a character you root for standing up for herself with her life circumstances and finding her inner strength with the support of those who love and care for her. Her ability to learn to reframe how she views things and learn it's ok to expect more than what she's given is exactly what you hope to see from her story.

I also loved the relationship Cassie had with her grandmother and enjoyed how the relationship between her dad and mother in law changed by the end of the book. Her mom was a piece of work though! 😖

Elle Kennedy has quickly become an author whose books and characters I love and I might dare say she's becoming an autobuy author for me. 🤔

Highly recommend this quick read with lovable characters with beautiful character arcs!

I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

The Summer Girl is definitely the best book so far in the Avalon Bay series. Despite all of the messy family dynamics, I did really enjoy Cassie’s journey to becoming more assertive. While I didn’t care for the family drama that caused it, the inevitable third act “breakup” was tastefully done and resolved in a mature fashion by the main characters. Overall, I really enjoyed this and would give it a solid 3.5!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Generally a fun read with a good mix of humor, spice, and feelings. Characters had a reasonable amount of depth.

However I was a bit thrown by the playboy vibes of the MMC and the book leaned a bit too much into objectification of women. Not my cup of tea.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. This book was the perfect mixture of a fun, lite read with enough emotion to make the characters seem real. Cassie and Tate had such amazing chemistry I would have read so many more pages of them just interacting with each other. Cassie I felt was an incredibly relatable FMC and I really enjoyed being in her POV. I didn’t once wish I was in the other characters head when reading a Cassie POV, not that I didn’t enjoy Tate’s POV chapters. Tate managed to make me love a light haired MMC. I honestly wish there was more chapters in his POV because of how enjoyable those chapters were to read. Overall this was a really great book and further shows how amazing Elle Kennedy’s books are.

I don’t think I’m the target audience for this particular book; which always makes it hard to rate.

I did finish the book… but there were so many cringy moments from the start, that by the end I just couldn’t care anymore. Anytime a guy (I refuse to say man here) wants to talk about a woman’s rack, just ain’t gonna work for me. What happen to thinking about a girl for her brain? Or her ability to be a future mother? But sure, let’s build our relationship on the size of a rack.

I despised the MMC. Do women really love playboys? Does anyone want a playboy? Gross no thanks.

If these things don’t bother you, then by all means, proceed to read.

I did enjoy the bits with the grandmother, and the stepsisters and turtle.