I really wanted to like this book but I just had a hard time connecting to it. It felt like it would have worked really well as a Hallmark movie where I could be distracted by all the pretty scenery, but as a novel it didn’t dive deep enough into the characters’ motivations and there wasn’t a ton of real chemistry? Also, the author seemed to have a misunderstanding of what an event planner is? It was pretty well written but the story was too surface level for me.

Thank you to Harper Collins for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Avon for an advanced copy of An Irish Summer by Alexandra Paige which comes out July 1st.

I'm always down for a book in Ireland. The author did a great job of making you feel like you're in Ireland and experiencing visiting this wonderful country, but I couldn't stand Chelsea.

The B&B where Chelsea worked is closing and the owners let her know their sister has a hostel in Galway, Ireland, where she can work if she wants the opportunity. She begrudgingly takes it and in my mind, does everything she can to have a miserable time and always retorts to I'm trying to find a job in Boston. Which honestly, there was nothing specific to Boston in this book, it could have been any generic city.

I was hoping for a super cute Irish romance which are my favorite, but this just didn't work for me.

Chelsea Gold loses her job at a B&B and ends up in Ireland working at a hostel for “just the summer”. At the beginning of her stay she is so rigid about her plans and leaving to return to Boston. Once she finally relaxes and makes a few friends she finds love and a new place to call home. This was cute, but I feel like it would make a better Hallmark movie than book.
Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars for me. 🍀🇮🇪🍺

An Irish Summer by Alexandra Paige ☘️

⭐️Rating4.5/5

☘️Slow-Burn
☘️Friends to Lovers
☘️Found Family

Book Overview:
An Irish Summer is a romcom that brings us the story of Chelsea who was living up her best life in Boston working at a Bed and Breakfast when suddenly the owners announce they have sold the business out of the blue. This was devastating news for Chelsea because not only did she work at the Bed and Breakfast but she also lived there. The owners however, do off Chelsea the opportunity to go work at a hostel in Ireland which is owned by the owners sister.

After much debate Chelsea takes the offer and is off to Ireland for the summer while she figures out her next steps in life. On Chelsea’s first day in Ireland she meets Collin, who happens to be the stunning tour guide at the hostel. Collin offers to show Chelsea all the magical things Ireland has to offer and as the summer goes on she start taking a liking to Ireland. As summer comes to an end Chelsea is faced with some tough choices on what her future holds.

My Review:
Ahhh can I just say how much I ate this book up!! I loved what an authentic character Chelsea is. Yes, while given the opportunity of a life time of being able to work in another country she was often moody at times about the new lifestyle she was adapting too and that is very real! I loved the slow burn this book offered. It had me laughing up a storm because Colin just is THAT GUY😍 An Irish Summer gave me everything I crave in a fun romcom! I definitely ordered the physical book to have as my trophy and I’ll definitely be rereading!

Publish Date: July 1st 2025

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Voyager and Avon Books for an electronic ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Found this book to drag out and very repetitive. I knew from the first few chapters being dedicated to her deciding to go to Ireland (when the reader is aware from the title she goes to Ireland) that this book lacked depth needed some serious editing. Then throughout the same conflict was repeated over and over.

I did like the characters, mainly Collin and the secondary characters, and enjoyed the Irish backdrop here. The scenes when the characters relationship was developing were well written.

Thanks to Avon Books and NetGalley for both a physical and ebook ARC in exchange for my honest opinions. The author also wrote Weekends with You, released last year, which I read and enjoyed.
An Irish Summer was a cute, fun cozy read. The book centers around Chelsea, who was living and working at a B&B in Boston which unexpectedly announced it would be closing. Luckily, the owner’s sister runs a hostel in Galway where Chelsea is welcome to work and live for cheap. While she only wants to be in Boston, until she moves to the suburbs and gets married - she has a “plan” - Chelsea decides a temporary job in Ireland is better than working at her parents’ podiatry office and living at home with them. I thought the book did a great job describing the hostel atmosphere and some of the key sights to see across Ireland
However Chelsea is a rather plain main character. Considering she was raised in Boston and attended UMass, it shocked me that she had no Boston pride. She mentioned not having the desire to help visitors fall in love with Boston, unlike the way everyone in Galway did for visitors to Ireland. I’ve lived in Boston for the last 16 years and I always love showing friends, acquaintances, and even authors around this wonderful city, and in my experience that is typical. Maybe because she grew up here and hadn’t ever really left she never had anyone to introduce to the city? I’m not sure. It also bugged me that nothing in the book was Boston-specific. If you replaced every “Boston” with “Manhattan” the story wouldn’t have changed. And maybe these aren’t things that wouldn’t even be noticed by others, but I do pay attention to them. Overall, I enjoyed the story and hope that others will enjoy it, too.

AN IRISH SUMMER – Alexandra Paige
Avon
ISBN: 978-0063316560
July 1, 2025
Contemporary Romance

Galway, Ireland – Present Day

Chelsea was born and raised in Boston and has enjoyed working at a bed and breakfast since graduating from college. But one day, the owners inform her that they are closing it down, which leaves Chelsea with no job. The wife offers her a job at her sister’s hostel in Galway, Ireland, for the summer. That would give her a chance to work on getting her resume out for a job in the fall. Arriving in Ireland, Chelsea isn’t sure she is going to like her new job. Her room at the hostel is small, and she feels like a fish out of water. But her fellow employees are nice, including the tour guide, Collin. He likes to tease her and flirt with her. She isn’t looking for a summer romance, but love has a funny way of making you forget that.

Collin gives Chelsea a tour of Ireland and helps her fit into the local environment. She has already made up her mind to find a new job in the USA and get away from Ireland as soon as possible. While she works, she applies for jobs. Yet, the longer she is in Ireland, the more she comes to like it and the people she is working with—including Collin. While he might tease her, he helps her find her footing in the area. Their romance builds slowly, as first they need to get to know one another, then it’s the connection that grows between them.

Will Chelsea remain in Ireland by the end of AN IRISH SUMMER? She clearly doesn’t want to be there, but feels she has no choice after she lost her job. Her parents would welcome her back into their home, but who wants to live with their parents after living independently, especially since hers are the smothering type. This tale only has Chelsea’s point of view, so we don’t know what Collin is thinking. However, it’s soon clear that he’s smitten with her. She tries to resist him, but the attraction is too hard to deny.

AN IRISH SUMMER gives readers a romance with a view of Ireland. Go on a trip to that country without leaving your book. Along the way, Chelsea learns something about herself, and that she can be adaptable. Will love win in the end and lead to a change she never expected? Find out the answer by grabbing a copy of AN IRISH SUMMER.

Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today

⭐⭐⭐⭐🌶️🌶️☘️✨ An Irish Summer by Alexandra Paige

I had the chance to read an eARC from NetGalley & this one totally captured that perfect blend of cozy romance and personal growth. 💚 I really connected with the FM. Her struggle between holding onto long-term goals & learning to live in the moment felt so real. It’s a tension I think a lot of us can relate to, especially in our “what now?” season of life.

The romance was sweet & subtle, just enough to tug at the heartstrings without being the ONLY thing about her journey. Add in a charming Irish setting & some heartfelt emotional beats... I’d love to see this adapted into a movie 🎬✨

A lovely summer escape with a touch of soul-searching—definitely worth the read.

Thank you NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager and Alexandra Paige for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5⭐️ this was cute and made me regret not traveling when I was younger.

Some reviews mention not loving the FMC but as someone who likes a plan and isn’t a massive fan of change, I understood that part of her. That being said, I don’t feel like we got a lot of backstory or insight on who she is and what makes her so set on her plan.

I enjoyed reading about Ireland without it feeling like we are being taught about Ireland. The culture, phrases, the castles, the sights - it was natural within the story as our characters explore.

My biggest complaint - long chapters. Ugh, I really dislike such long chapters…do I have time to squeeze a 22 minute chapter in before pickup, dinner, bedtime, etc. probably not. But give me a 5 minute chapter and I’ll fit 4 of those in no problem. It’s reading math.

Overall, it was a cute and easy read.

I was drawn to this book by the cover, and the synopsis seemed to have so many of the things I love to read. While there were parts I really enjoyed, other things about it fell flat for me.

It started off really promising with Chelsea’s move to Ireland for the summer. It set up a lot of potential for exploration and excitement, and an handsome Irish man being quickly introduced didn’t hurt. Part of what I did enjoy about the book where the times Collin took Chelsea around on their days off to show off the country he loved. Collin was great in general. I really liked his outlook on life and his drive to share the beauty of his world with anyone who was open to it.

Aside from those outings though, the bulk of the story really felt as though it could have been set anywhere. Discussing this book with a friend who was also reading had us concluding it would be great as a Hallmark movie (complimentary — we both love a Hallmark movie) to get to see the beautiful setting as a bigger part of the story.

Ultimately, I struggled with Chelsea. I felt like I didn’t really know anything about her. She was so determined to stick to her plan for her life, but I never learned why she had that plan or at least why it was so important for her. I suppose it’s authentic to her American-ness for her to be so work-focused as a measure of her success, but outside of that context it just seemed like some kind of backstory was missing to really explain what shaped that outlook on life for her. I also have to say that I think the author and I have a different definition of the work an event planner does. Chelsea was great at hospitality and concierge services, but that’s very different than event planning in my mind.

I wish I had enjoyed this one a bit more than I did. Thank you to Avon via NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

An Irish Summer was a very cute story! I loved the imagery of Ireland, I was able to truly picture it. Collin was very insightful and I enjoyed the early banter between him and Chelsea. Chelsea was not my favorite, but I liked that she was able to loosen up and finally admit what she wanted.
It was a good book and definitely makes me want to visit Ireland!

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley for review. My opinions are my own.

5/5 stars

I found this so relatable! As a recovering type A personality, I related with Chelsea to a T. When you feel your life must go a certain way, it must stay on that trajectory. But… what if it is derailed? And what if it is meant to go in a different direction? Do you… let it?

That’s what this story is about. Letting life happen.

This, unfortunately, was a miss for me. The plot had potential but the characters fell flat. They felt very one dimensional and singularly focused.
Chelsea’s place of employment, a bed and breakfast, is closing. She also lives on the property so she has to move. The owners offer her a seasonal position in Ireland while she figures out what's next.
She knows Boston is where she's meant to be and she needs to get her life back on track. This is despite the fact she's never really left Boston and her plan is pretty vague with no actionable steps. She goes to Ireland but has already decided she won't like it and she's not going to bother seeing any of it.
Collin seems to like her from day one. Being the resident tour guide, he decides he will get her out and make her fall in love with his country so she never wants to leave. They have fun together, we see that, but I really don't get why they fell in love. They don't have many meaningful conversations. We get very little background on either of them.
We get a little bit of tell and not much show. All of this to say, there needed to be a lot more character development of all of the characters in this book.
The book leaned into stereotypes of Americans and Irish people and both countries, which also bugged me.

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC and share my honest opinion.

This book didn’t work for me. I really liked the premise but I felt like the execution fell a little flat. In truth, this felt like a hallmark movie to me; a little cliched but still worth reading if that’s something you’re into.

Unfortunately, my biggest issue with this book is that I just could not stand the main character. Chelsea is annoying and cynical and whiny, and acts like the opportunity to move to Ireland for the summer is SUCH a hardship for her. Not to mention, she acts like it’s the moon rather than a 6 hour flight. Additionally, I genuinely cannot understand why all these people gravitate towards her and want to be her friend. Collin especially just immediately falls for her for no apparent reason.

Right off the bat, I’m from Boston so I always perk up when a book ever mentions my city. The way this author wrote about Boston in general truly made it feel like she had never stepped foot in this city. And then, Boston is kind of like harped on for being so much worse than Galway all throughout the book, which felt weird to me. It just felt weirdly (and unnecessarily) disparaging about Boston - a city with a long history of Irish immigrants and traditions.

The writing here just never kept me engaged, I was bored and debated DNFing even before Chelsea got to Ireland. I was reading the book but never felt immersed in it. The pacing was a little weird at times, and while it didn’t like jump around a lot there was very little acknowledgment of how much time has passed, even though the whole point is that Chelsea is only there for the summer. And the character development was not there, everything felt very surface level and nobody felt particularly fleshed out, so I found myself apathetic towards both the characters and the story.

That being said, I think the author did a decent job at portraying Ireland and I especially liked how Collin wanted to show Chelsea around and show Irish culture to her.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in return for my honest review.

Honestly, this book is just...not very good.

The writing is really clunky and the situations don't really follow the best logic, it also feels rather childish at times. There's a ton of telling and over explaining.

The FMC is insufferable - not in a "she's just a complex character" way, in a "she's entitled and stupid" way.

Some of my thoughts may be due to the current political and economic climate of the world but to see a character lose her job and living accommodations but immediately be offered solutions and help just for her to scoff about it is just not the move right now. Tone deaf to the max.

None of it is believable, even for a romcom. It needs so much editing and honestly I'd even go so far as to say a rewrite. Honestly, I'm being generous with 3 stars.

3 out of 5 stars

An Irish Summer is a cute little romance set at a hostel in Galway, Ireland. It is a fun and quick read but ultimately forgettable.

Chelsea faces a life crisis when she discovers her beloved bed and breakfast is shutting down. Given only one month to find a new job and apartment, Chelsea choses to take an offer to work at a hostel in Galway, Ireland. There she meets the handsome Collin, but her determination to make it back home threatens any relationships that start to blossom.

I liked this book well enough. I enjoyed Chelsea’s journey from a reluctant traveler to coming into her own skin and welcoming the new life presented to her. But I did not enjoy every aspect of Chelsea’s character. Some of her interactions with Collin seem unnecessarily rude. I think it is supposed to be read as fun banter, but it did not always come across that way. The book also has interesting side characters. I liked the different personalities working at the hostel and how they interacted with Chelsea.

Even though the characters are fun and interesting, the plot is fairly basic; it has the typical romance tropes. You will not be surprised by what happens in this book. However, I think that kind of classic plot make the book more comforting. It is perfect if you want a comforting read where nothing too drastic happens. On the other hand, that same basic plot makes this book forgettable. None of the characters stood out enough to be very memorable.

This is a good book to pick up if you are looking for a quick, easy read. The writing is good and it has an interesting setting. You might find yourself rooting for the characters, even if Chelsea gets a bit irritating at times. But overall, this book is pretty average.

This was a fun read about becoming an adult and embracing the adventure of life. When Chelsea has the opportunity to spend the summer working in Ireland at a hostel, The Wanderer, her main concern is getting back to Boston. Fellow worker Collin has a different idea: show Chelsea the beauty of Ireland. I loved the adventures that they went on together and learning some fun Irish phrases, but I struggled with the feeling that Collin wanted Chelsea to view life his way and was bitter whenever she talked about her life plans. Their chemistry was a bit lackluster, but I loved the family that Chelsea made for herself in Ireland and witnessing her growth throughout her summer there!

4 stars for An Irish Summer, and I want to visit Ireland even more now! This is a lighthearted, cozy read set in Ireland where Chelsea moves to for a new job. She falls in love with the country as well as a handsome tour guide, Collin. This wasn't a knock-it-out-of-the-park 5 star read, but I greatly enjoyed it. I loved the author's descriptions of Ireland; I really felt like I was there with the characters. Chelsea experiences internal conflict over wanting to be back in America and what her future looks like. This would be a great book to take on vacation this summer.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the advanced copy. An Irish Summer publishes on July 1, 2025.

Any time I hear a book is set in Ireland, I’m in. There’s something about the atmosphere — the setting, the people, the charm — that always draws me in. That was exactly what happened here. The moment I saw it took place there, I didn’t even hesitate.

The story follows an American woman arriving in Ireland, and right away, I was pulled into her journey. Watching her settle into a completely different world, meet new people, and slowly build connections felt warm and comforting. She found friends, a new rhythm to life, and maybe even something deeper.

But of course… there’s always a “but.” Things weren’t perfect, and that little edge gave the story something extra. Not too heavy, not too dramatic — just enough to remind me that even the most beautiful places and fresh starts come with their own challenges.

In the end, it was a really nice read. Heartfelt, cozy at times, and with just enough depth to keep me invested.

Be WARNED!!! This book will have you wishing to go to Ireland within the first few chapters—and by the end? You’re googling flights and trying to justify an Irish summer of your own.

And who wouldn’t, if it came with all the playful banter, found family, and an undeniable connection the way Chelsea’s did? (I’ll take mine without the existential angst about the future though, if possible. Oh, it’s mandatory? Welp. You and me, Chels.)

In all seriousness, An Irish Summer is a beautiful love story, and an unwavering love letter to Ireland, its people, its culture, and its stories. It’s a gentle reminder that it’s okay to change, and to realize that your old dreams don’t feel right anymore or that you’ve outgrown them.

I’m left a little in love with Collin and Galway both, and so very grateful to NetGalley, the publisher, and Alexandra Paige for the ARC!!