Elle Kennedy can always be counted on for a reliably entertaining, fast-paced read! Every single one of her books delivers, and THE SUMMER GIRL is no exception. Highly recommended!

This is one of those great summer, beach reads! It's low angst, feel good story that will leave you with a smile. Cassie and Tate are a great couple that I felt connected to while reading. Definitely a must read this summer!

Something about the Avalon Bay series that makes me picture myself on a coastal beach town wearing a bathing suit and beach sweater and nothing else, with Taylor Swift playing softly in the background while I smell the salt water air.

Who doesn't love the old switcheroo - the guy says "just make sure you don't fall in love with me, I can't give you what you need" to practically begging for the girl to commit to him and basically becoming obsessed. Tate Bartlett, you are that man, sir.

Cute, summer, warm, passionate, family, grief - this has it all. Definitely my favorite so far of Kennedy's AB series and please excuse me while I play 'august' by Taylor Swift on repeat until I die

3/5. 7/18/23.

For when you're vibing with... small town college romance, truly beachy reads, and very classic New Adult ish.

Cassie is in Avalon Bay for the first time in years, with her grandmother selling the family hotel. On the lookout of a summer fling, she quickly settles on golden boy (and perhaps local fuckboy) Tate Bartlett. But Tate doesn't view Cassie as fling material--their connection is deeper than that. He'll offer friendship... until he can't resist the pull between them.

I wanted to try Elle Kennedy, and I did here. While I can't say I disliked this book, I also feel that it veered too closely towards YA versus New Adult for me, and there just wasn't enough to set it apart and keep my interest. I can definitely see the audience here, I'm just not a part of it.

Quick Takes:

--So here's the thing for me. Tate is meant to be kind of a town bicycle type guy. He sleeps with a lot of women, he's good natured about it, and he's nice for a quick lay. But he also drinks his respect women juice--which I'm fine with! A guy being promiscuous and upfront about it does not equal a guy not respecting women.

Buuuuut, I think he drank a bit too much for me to buy him as a character. I needed more flaws. The thing is that he's not just a fun, slutty guy. He's a YOUNG fun, slutty guy. He just seemed way too mature about everything, and far too evolved. I'm not saying I needed him to be an asshole, but it felt like this book was striving for a level of realism that was undermined by his general perfection. Also, perfection is boring (to me). Tate felt written for readers who don't want to worry about liking problematic men, while also wanting to read about men who get around. And while you can get around as a man without being problematic... I think it takes some growing before you really know how to live that life without hurting feelings (and even then, it's always a risk). I just didn't buy that this young guy would be there.

--The writing style and Cassie's POV in general definitely read younger than college senior for me. This book has an issue that you do often come across in New Adult--the explicit sex of a book about adults and a less mature quality than you expect more from YA. While I would never say that most college students (having been one) are in the mental place adults who've been out and truly independent in the world are in, there's also a big gap between the mentality of a typical college senior versus a high school junior or senior. Years of big life experiences, you know? I didn't see that gap here.

That younger quality takes away from the romance for me. I read romance because, even if something is more on the Happy For Now side, I want to read about a love story I can see potentially lasting forever. There's a reason why I don't read YA romance--at my age now, it's hard for me to buy any high schooler finding their forever love, though obviously it isn't impossible. While it's theoretically pretty plausible for someone to meet their forever partner as a senior in college, it's less easy for me to believe it when the characters read younger.

--This is an easy read. If you want to just sort of vibe for a bit on the beach and you're down for a college romance, then you will probably enjoy it. It's not hard to follow, the pacing is good (though it would have benefited from a parring down of side characters, in favor of a tighter focus on the romance). There's nothing super unlikable about it, if that makes sense. You do get a bit of NLOG syndrome when Tate sees Cassie as like... too Real and Serious to have a fling with. But it's not intense.

For me, I just think that in general I want MORE intensity with romance novels. Not just in terms of heat, but in terms of story and passion.

The Sex Stuff:

One thing I did like here is that these two worked up to penetrative sex, and while it was treated with care (because Cassie is a virgin, of course) it was not treated as the only thing that *mattered*. It's well done, it's very tender "her first time". Honestly, I think that a lot of the book, including this scene, would work better as a somewhat cliche summer movie for me.

I see a lot of reviews indicating that this book is "super spicy", and my issues with spice levels~ aside... It's not. If you've read a lot of romance, especially a lot of self-published romance, especially a lot of like... erotic romance/mafia romance/paranormal romance, so on, this will not shock you. If it is shocking to a lot of people, I tend to wonder if marketing of this one is confusing? I knew Elle Kennedy didn't fuck around going in, but there seems to be a lot of "I thought this was YA" in the reviews.

A lot of what didn't work for me here, I think, was a mismatch in reader and book, so I can't complain too much. But I do think this is an example of some confusion regarding the YA/New Adult/Romance intersection here, both in terms of execution and marketing.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Cassie Soul is back in Avalon Bay for the summer before graduating from college. Her grandma is selling the family’s hotel that has been in their family forever. What better way to spend the last summer at the beach! Cassie is in search for THE GUY to be her fun summer fling: enters Tate Bartlett.

This is the third book in the series and I wish I had started at the beginning but I did not know it was a series! It can be read as a standalone .. I just love starting a series off with Book 1!

This book was fun and perfect for summer loving!

I was very excited to once again visit Avalon Bay. As usual, Elle Kennedy captures the perfect essence of summer. I loved the additional look into The Beacon, the mentions of Evan and Cooper, and the Beach Games. However, Cassie and Tate felt like one dimensional characters. I was extremely put off by the amount of times Cassie’s chest size was mentioned and really wish Elle Kennedy would do a better job with the representation of bodies in her books. A skinny girl with big boobs as body conscious is absolutely absurd and honestly that aspect of the book completely threw me off the story. I rounded up from 2.5 to 3 stars.

I love everything I’ve ever read by Elle Kennedy and this was such a fun read. I love the storytelling and the characters.

The Summer Girl is the 3rd book in the Avalon Bay books by Elle Kennedy. I didn't read the first two because I honestly didn't know it was the 3rd book until I picked it up...oops! Luckily, this books works well as a stand alone and is a perfect vacation or beach read. A stunning beach town filled with locals and seasonal rich "clones," summer romance, family dynamics, young adult drama, and end-of-an-era vibes...all in one book. There is a feeling of will they/won't they and a build up of anticipation throughout the book that has more of an authentic feel than some romance novels. This book comes out mid-summer, which is the perfect time to scoop it up.

The Summer Girl by Elle Kennedy is definitely my favorite of the three released so far in the Avalon Bay series.

Cassie Soul hasn't spent time in Avalon Bay in a long time, not since her parents spilt up when she was a teen. Now, since her grandmother is selling the family hotel, she is down for the summer helping tie up loose ends. The potential for a summer fling is also high up on her list.

Tate Bartlett, boat instructor, loves to have a casual fling. Yet, he's hesitant to be with Cassie as she is everything that he isn't. Until he grabs his head out of the sand and realizes that she may just be someone he wants to "hang out" with and check that summer fling off her list with.

Cassie and Tate are fast turning from friends into lovers with some complications. Will Cassie be just "that summer girl" to Tate?

Dual point of view made this book a hit for me and I enjoyed the pacing of both character. I smiled while reading when characters from the previous novels were mentioned! However; this book can be read as a standalone. I feel that some trigger warnings at the beginning of the novel (miscarriage) would've made this book a five star read for me.

Summer Beach Read PERFECTION! I absolutely adored The Summer Girl by Elle Kennedy! It's perfect for a binge read poolside, on the beach, or anywhere all year round!

Cassie & Tate were the friends to lovers goodness I had no idea I needed in my life! These too had the best chemistry and hilarious banter. I laughed, I swooned, and totally cried. I read this one in one day it was just that good, and now lives rent free in my mind! I can't say I'm mad about that though!

If you need the perfect escape head to Avalon Bay!

Thank you to Net Galley, Elle Kennedy and St. Martins Griffin for this ARC copy. This is the third book in the series of Avalon Bay and personally I think it was my favorite. I really loved Tates character and enjoyed seeing his developing feelings and growing realizations about how he felt about Cassie.

I liked that they showed the challenging dynamic that Cassie had with both her parents and how it differed. The subtle and not so subtle digs from her mother felt very realistic and are something that many people experience. Cassies challenges with her parents really helped to ensure that Cassies character felt fully developed.

I really enjoyed how the series was interconnected and we saw the same friend group from the previous books. Loved the rivalry everyone had during the Beach Games! The nod towards Briar U was also cool as it shows that all the books can be interconnected.

Overall this was a fun summer read and I finished it quite quickly. I would definitely recommend it for people who like a romance book.

Let's just agree, Elle Kennedy is the queen of college-age romance.

4.5 stars for The Summer Girl

I adore the Avalon Bay series! Good Girl Complex and Bad Girl Reputation were excellent and I was very excited to see what would come next.

Tate and Cassie hit it off right away, and their connection just grows so naturally throughout the story. I was so caught up in this story that I flew through this book in less than a day. I just couldn't put it down!

I love these books because there's a great romance, but there's also a great storyline too. This one has complicated family dynamics, with Tate having the most in-love, adore-each-other parents and Cassie having a strained relationship with her dad and stepmom and an awful relationship with her mother. The way that Cassie and Tate have each other's back for the hard moments definitely made me a little misty-eyed.

There were also a ton of laugh-out-loud moments in this book. It was great getting to see the couples from the first two books, seeing how their relationships were progressing, and seeing the connection to Briar U!

I highly recommend this series!

A huge thank you to Elle Kennedy, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced ebook! I loved every page.

I read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I think I may have enjoyed this book more than the previous two in the series. It wasn't the relationship between the two main characters, but how the family issues were presented and resolved. It was dramatic, but also real. I guess it was longer than I was expecting, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I wish I could give this one separate star ratings for the start and the end of it, but since I can’t, I have to average it out to a 3.

Cassie is a summer girl, spending the summer before her senior year of college in small town Avalon Bay. The pretty South Carolina beach town is a fun setting, with the talk of its restaurants and bars and the fun Beach Games event. It is also full of gorgeous young men, and Cassie wants to find one to “fling her.” which may be the oddest way I’ve ever heard someone describe finding someone to hook up with. She finds Tate, and the two have a quick connection both physically and mentally,

The book is written in a less mature way than I am used to, which may be purely due to the young age of our main characters. Cassie is a virgin, and she actual blushes when she says the word virgin at one point, making me cringe. Tate talks a ton about her breasts, with he and his friends constantly referring to her (and the other girls’) tits. I got very annoyed with some of this and wanted my 30 year old protagonists back!

If you can get past those things, I did enjoy the connection between the two and think Tate will grow into a fantastic man once he grows up a bit more. The story was chock full of family drama, adding a deliciously juicy secret and some great open conversations.

This was book 3 in the Avalon Bay series. I haven’t read the first two, but can guess exactly who they were about while reading this one. It worked as a standalone.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really liked this one! Getting to see all the growth that Cassie and Tate go through together was really sweet. I loved the friends-to-fling trope that we got to see happen. Also can I just say that Cassie’s relationship with her half-sisters was the most wholesome thing I have ever seen in my entire life. I loved each interaction we got to see of the three of them.

I was a little surprised that this book was about a new red-headed girl instead of the Avalon Bay girl with red hair we all already knew. But, I was still happy with the outcome of this story anyways. There was a sprinkle of found family in this book, as we see Mac kind of adopt Cassie into their friend group.

I loved Lydia Tanner and am so glad we got to see more of her in this book! And the descriptions of the updated Beacon. Cassie's mom - sucks.

This one was a little spicy so if that’s not your thing, maybe skip this one or look for the chapters to skip over! But overall, this book was sweet and I really loved the ending!

🤍 Thank you so much to the publisher @stmartinspress & @netgalley for this advanced reader copy!

⚠️TW: body shaming, emotional abuse, miscarriage, cursing, infidelity, panic attacks/disorders, biphobia, abortion

OK so, I do have to start with one complaint:
From the very beginning, when the character is introducing herself to the reader, and throughout the first couple chapters, when we get the point of view of other people meeting her for the first time, the very first thing they talk about is how she is this tiny, petite girl, but just has GINORMOUS boobs. Like if this little pixie sized girl had boobs as big as they are saying, she would just be in constant pain.
Beyond that, I was so pleasantly surprised by the depth that these characters and this story had. This book dealt with traumatic parental relationships, and grieving in such a REAL way. The characters were loveable and complex. Every issue wasn’t magically resolved. It was real and it was lovely.

Normally, I would be so mad about a major bombshell with only 50 pages left, but for some reason, I was so sucked into this story that I didn’t even care.

ANOTHER 20/10 FROM ELLE KENNEDY. Out here rocking my world in this little beach town.

I love Tate.

Cassie is visiting her family in Avalon Bay for the summer and is on the prowl for a summer fling. Tate is a typical local guy who is known to have no strings attached relationships. He also happens to be house sitting next door to Cassie's grandmother's. Their friendship turned casual fling just might be the real deal; or will it come crashing down when summer is over and Cassie has to go back to college?

Elle Kennedy does it again! This was such a great summer read! It was fun and steamy, but also hit some heavy topics that were very real and raw. The way that Cassie dealt with her narcissistic mother and her feeling of abandonment and replacement in her father's life really had me in my feels. I highly recommend The Summer Girl!

Thank you to Elle Kennedy, St Martin's Press, and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange of my honest review.

The Summer Girl was a fun summer read! Though, a bit more immaturely written than what I typically read, it was a nice “vacation” from thrillers 😉

Cassie returns to her summer stomping grounds in Avalon Bay, to help her grandmother pack up for her move up to north, to be closer to friends. Her family has sold their famous Beacon Hotel, and this will be Cassie’s last summer in the area. Cassie is inexperienced in the romance department, and hoping for a summer fling. Due to her family’s stature in the town, she’s got the label of a little rich girl, who spends more time at country clubs than with the locals. UNTIL one night when Cassie’s friend bails on her at a party full of locals, and she meets Tate. He is described as the hottest guy she’s literally ever seen.

As you can assume, cheeky banter turns into sparks. But awkward family drama threatens to a rift between the two.

The Summer Girl was solid summer read - perfect for a lazy pool day or sitting Oceanside!

Cassie is in Avalon Bay for the summer and is looking for a summer fling! Tate is the guy that is always up for a good time but Cassie isn't someone he wants to be with because he will end up just breaking her heart. So he becomes her wingman and surely nothing more will happen between them, just friends...right?

Cassie comes from a divorced family and has a strained relationship with both her parents which makes her upbringing a little tough. Tate is so into Cassie from the beginning he helps her through some of the things she had to endure during her childhood.

I just love when the guy who won't fall in love, starts to! There is just enough humor. heartwarming moments, and spice in this one. This is book 3 in the series and I haven't read any of them prior. Some of the friends in this story had their own books prior but nothing took away from the story. The secret revealed at the end was so surprising!