The Summer of Yes is a cute romance that's perfect for summer reading. Kelsey Worthington has a dead-end job as an editor for a publishing company. Her life is pretty mundane, too. If that weren't bad enough, she wakes up in a hospital bed, unsure of how she got there. She shares a hospital room with a famous cosmetics company founder, Georgina Tate. Georgina's days are numbered due to illness. Kelsey's accident has made her realize that she needs a little change and adventure in her life. She's sure that Georgina could use a little excitement, too. It takes a lot of persuading, but Kelsey convinces Georgina to go on a road trip. The caveat is that they have to say yes to everything! Along the way, they both try things they've never done and find romance, too. This is a really fun, light read. The audiobook narration is well done also.

Thanks to HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Thomas Nelson Fiction, and NetGalley for a review copy of this book and audiobook.

I loved this charming story of two unlikely women becoming friends as they start saying "yes" to activities they normally wouldn't choose to do. I enjoyed reading about Kelsey and Georgina's adventures, their struggles, and how they helped each other improve their lives. I appreciated the sweet romance between the two couples. It made for a delightful summer read. The love between Georgina and Dylan was so touching. It was a wonderful example of what true love is. My favorite quote from the book was when Georgina said, "Don't wait to love the ones you love." It is such a true statement. Kelsey and Hayden were also a perfect match as they supported each other in the difficult life decisions they each had to make. I loved listening to the audiobook! Tanya Eby and Cathi Coles did an excellent job of telling the story. I especially loved listening to Georgina's voice. I felt it was spot on. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

When Kelsey wakes up in a hospital room after being hit by a car, she finds out her roommate is none other than Georgina Tate. Georgina is a very successful women who is the CEO of her own company and the subject of many business courses. However, she has sacrificed the most important things in her life to get where she is today. After talking to Georgina, Kelsey notices the similarities in her life and wants to make a change. She cashes out her vacation time and decides to do a summer of yes. Kelsey is determined to also help Georgina in her journey to help Georgina fix the regrets in her life before it is too late. The summer of yes starts a journey for both Kelsey and Georgina to figure what they truly want out of life.

This book was a lot of fun. I loved Kelsey and Georgina for the main characters. Their banter was entertaining, and I felt that Georgina was the perfect mentor for Kelsey, while Kelsey was the push Georgina needed to realize what aspect of her life was more important. The romance between Kelsey and Hayden added another aspect of this book that I loved. I feel in love with this book and at the end it made me think what is truly important in my life.

Audiobook: I would highly recommend the audiobook for The Summer of Yes. There is a narrator for both Georgina and Kelsey's point of view and felt that both narrators did an excellent job for their characters.

The Summer of Yes is out now!

Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas Nelson Fiction and Haper Collins Christian Publishing for the advance copy of The Summer of Yes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: contemporary fiction📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
I liked this one but I didn’t love it

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
All the adventures
Road trip
Themes of forgiveness
Great character growth
Light hearted summer reads
Second chances
Dual POV
NYC and NC settings
Unlikely friendships

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
The side of romance
Great audio narration
Sassy old lady vibes

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
Slow start

I loved this book. It made me feel happy. I listened to this one and felt like I was right there with Kelsey! I lived how she got out of her comfort zone and inspired others to get out of their comfort zones too!

I LOVED this feel good book. I was lucky enough to get an #arc of #thesummerofyes from #netgalley and flew right through it. The narrator was fantastic, the underlying messages of the book were great, and even the note from the author at the end added to the entire experience. If you are looking to say yes to a different kind of love story, say yes to yourself and this book!

Strong 4 stars! Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for allowing me to read this book! This was so good! This is about a woman who gets hit by a car and wakes up in a hospital with no memory of the event and nobody there to be with her. She ends up sharing a room with a 75 year old lady who is the CEO of a huge make up company. The woman is cold and very businesslike, but as the book goes on the 2 form a friendship (led by our main character, Kelsey). Georgina (the older lady) had put her career above EVERYTHING including her husband and son for her entire life, so now near the end of her life she has nobody. She serves as a cautionary tale of sorts for Kelsey because Kelsey is currently living a similar lifestyle as an editor. Kelsey convinces Georgina to join her in her "summer of yes" where she says yes to things that had formerly scared her. She starts putting her friends first, putting herself out there, etc. She and Georgina go on a road trip and, unbeknownst to Georgina, they're going to see her son and husband. The way they all come together was so interesting and heartwarming to watch. Realistic? probably not. Entertaining and sweet? YES! At first I was thinking, "please don't have a romance in this book", but when the romance did come I was so here for it! Overall, this was a great read!

What a cute summer story! I love the cover and this author was new for me. It was such a blow me away cute story! I kept smiling the whole time! I loved the character development and the banter so much!! A must read for summer! The audiobook was amazing! Great narration

Loved this book. It was such a sweet premise and I loved her bravery to say yes to things that scared her and she normally would say no to.

After sharing a hospital room with her professional idol, who she aspires to be like, Kelsey realizes that if she keeps going on her current trajectory (anti-social workaholic), her life may not be quite as great as she thinks it will be. So she goes on an adventure of saying yes to all the things she normally wouldn't, dragging her reluctant new mentor, Georgina, along for the ride. (Be warned, the adventure is just to one place... not very adventurous)

Let's talk Kelsey. I'm not quite sure why she thinks she's on the same trajectory as Georgina. G is a take-no-prisoners do-what-it-takes kind of woman, whereas professionally, Kelsey is kind of a doormat. She may want to be like Georgina, but she's not. Even as I say that, though, I have to acknowledge that she's persistent, at least with Georgina. But in a strangely weak, slightly petulant way.

Georgina: I identified the most with her. Not because I'm tough or hard core in anyway, but the way her innermonologue told the truth of how she wanted to react, but the wrong thing always came out because she was so afraid. To me, definitely the more nuanced character.

Hayden and Dad: Both complete cinnamon rolls. Like, to the point of being walked all over by their mother/wife. The romance wasn't super engaging for either of them... maybe a little more flutter with Hayden/Kelsey... but if you're looking for a swoony romance, this isn't it.

This is definitely woman's lit focused on the character arcs of Kelsey and Georgina, and I will say that in the end, Kelsey learned to stand up for herself at work, and Georgina learned to prioritize her family, so that was good.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, from whom I receive da complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Rating: 4 ⭐️
Pub Date: July 2, 2024
How I Read It: 🎧

Synopsis
Sometimes you’re too busy with work and you realize that you’ve missed out on your life. This is the realization Kelsey Worthington has after she is sitting in a hospital bed because she got hit by a car. After waking up next to Georgina Tate, a legendary business woman in NYC, she realizes that things need to change. Even though her and Georgina are very different, they are met with the same regret: they have said “no” to too many things in their life, and it’s time to start saying “yes.” Kelsey coaxes Georgina into a taking an adventure with her, to catch up on all the things they have said “no” to in their life.

My Thoughts
This was such a cute, feel good story, one that I really needed to listen to. I myself fall into the trap of saying no to everything because my priority is work. This story was so sweet and heartwarming, and I just loved that Kelsey and Georgina were so different because it made their banter was adorable. There’s a couple of love stories woven into it, which I won’t spoil for you, but were fun and cute to read.

Final Thoughts
You will fall in love with each of the characters and cheer them on throughout the book. Overall, this is a fun summer read and great for a day at the beach!

❗️Of Note
🏥 Illness/Death

Themes:
🎶 Friendship
🚗 Road Trip

Ratings
Characters: 5 ⭐️
Pace: 3 ⭐️
Enjoyability: 4 ⭐️
Narrator: 5 ⭐️

Thank you to HarperCollins Christian Publishing | Thomas Nelson Fiction and NetGalley for an ARC of this book!

I feel like this is one of those stories that everyone can benefit from reading and also is a book that needs very little description. Just pick it up and start reading!

This book pulled me out of my reading slump and had me invested from the very beginning. I really enjoyed following Kelsey and Georgie through this story, seeing the parallels and differences in their stories and watching how the two could help shape one another’s lives as they each figure out what’s next for them. Such a great women’s fiction meets romance story with awesome themes!

Many thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for an advanced audiobook copy of this story. Both narrators did a great job bringing these characters to life. All opinions are my own.

"The world is going to tel you all kinds of things about yourself. You're not good enough or smart enough or strong enough or thin enough or rich enough or talented enough. They'll come up with a million reasons you can't do the thing you want to do. The thing you were born to do."

I loved the relationship between Kelsey and Georgina! They played off of each other really nicely with their quick wit and ways they showed they cared about each other. I enjoyed that the romance(s) took a backseat to the themes of friendship and second chances. I can always count on Courtney Walsh for a clean and sweet read. I truly enjoyed the story!

Thank you to Netgalley, Thomas Nelson Fiction and Courtney Walsh for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Summer of Yes by Courtney Walsh and narrated by Tanya Eby & Cathi Colas is not only a perfect Summer listen/ Read but also, an inspo-novel for year round


Kelsey wakes up in hospital and finds out she has been hit by a car and sustained a non-life threatening but quite painful head injury. She is a workaholic, always doing everything she thinks is right to stay under the radar, work hard, get a promotion. Saying no to the majority of social events in her private life, work work work. But when the glamorous and very well known Georgina Tate is wheeled in to share her hospital room, life begins to turn in the direction that she chooses for herself

Georgina Tate is hugely successful as a businesswoman, a mogul of the cosmetics world, but like Kelsey, she is alone, a little bitter, and with kidney failure. Incensed at having to share a hospital room with someone who is as headstrong as she is, yet, this woman, kelsy, Calli, Kaley, whatever, has an idea. What if we start saying yes to everythig, what if we stop denying ourselves everything we want in life You know what? Road Trip!

I absolutely adore this book and it translates so well as an audiobook too thanks to Tana Eby and Cathi Colas' outstanding narrating. Bright, driven, dynamic and touching, this is probably one of my favourite Summer reads this year. Bloody wonderful

Thank you to Netgalley, HarperCollins Christian Publishing | Thomas Nelson Fiction, Courtney Walsh and the narrators for this fantastic ALC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

I said YES this summer to reading this book. It was a delightful summer read...all the good feels. The women get their men as we all know they will in the end, but it's the journey that makes this novel a delight. Although these are two rom-com tropes, I think they can apply here to the two protagonists, Kelsey Worthington and Georgina Tate. Trope #1 - Grumpy (Georgina) v. Sunshine (Kelsey) and Trope #2 - Second Chances...both protagonists get a second chance at life, and all because they braved their fears and said YES!!

I listened to The Summer of Yes as an audiobook and really enjoyed it. Whenever there is more than one narrator, it allows the story to move along well. The book was really pleasant and made me smile on more than a few occasions.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC The Summer of Yes by
Courtney Walsh (Audiobook version)
This is not my first title I have read from Courtney Walsh, so I was excited to get this one, especially during the summer perfect Summer time read.
It did start off a little slow, but picked up a few chapters in, I love the friendship between Kelsey & Georgina, I like the road trip aspect, for me and I think most people Kelsey is very relatable, Georgina is a blunt srong woman who speaks her mind. This was the perfect summer read! I recommend it!

A fun story! This book is a good choice for someone who likes a curmudgeon, second chances, sailing, and the publishing industry.

I loved the relationship between Kelsey and Georgina and how they each made a positive impact on the other. Saying yes to things you’d normally decline can be a real challenge to get outside your comfort zone and experience something new. 🤔

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Christian Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.

If Courtney Walsh writes it, I’m going to read it. The Summer of Yes was an absolute delight to read. I especially enjoyed how the narrators brought the audiobook to life. It had a slow start but once I got into the story I loved it. It got me thinking about life and the things I say no to. Also, I loved the message about second chances. I loved this book and will be thinking about it for a long time to come.

3.75* I really love the premise of this book. I love the friendship that blooms, and the parallels between Georgina and Kelsey. Though with Kelsey I had a hard time imagining her as a workaholic. In the first few chapters yes, but once we get into the story she seems so free and fun loving. Don't get me wrong she did have some struggles with saying "yes" but overall I felt like it was just too easy for her. I had a hard time remembering that she was supposed to be a corporate minion. The other problem that I have with this story is that they never present the option for a woman to have a family and be a successful business woman. Maybe that is impossible and I just have my head in the clouds. I don't know.
The plot is good, its light, and fun, we have a cute romance that blooms, there are some cute dates and adventures, the message is great.
I did listen to the audiobook, which is read by 2 narrators - one for each FMC. I really loved the narrator for Kelsey, which thankfully was the majority of the book. Georgina's chapters were fine, but the audio quality was actually terrible. It really bothered me in the beginning - I did eventually get used to it but I would expect better.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins publishing for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review :)