I enjoyed this! The characters were sweet and the storyline was super cute. I didn’t really connect with the characters or the storyline but that’s okay! I did love the little touch of magic and the “is it a coincidence or destiny?” it added to the cuteness. Overall it was a cute read and i’m glad i ended the month with it!

3.5 Stars

This is my fourth read by the author, and they were all three or four stars. I loved Through the Snow Globe and The Charmed Friends of Trove Isle and The Finders Keepers Library was pretty good as well. I am happy to say this is closer to the loved side.

This was such a heartwarming and sweet story. I love realistic contemporary romances, especially ones that take place in small southern towns. In this story, our main character, Lyla Dune, goes back to her hometown after her fiancé dumps her. When she gets there, she finds she is living her last summer home over (and over) again. I loved how the author seamlessly weaves together many themes like second chances, self-discovery and the overwhelming power of friendship, to name but a few.

As our main character tries to get through the repetition of living in the past, I never once felt bored; it was repetitive, but it didn't feel that way. The author showed this skill in her book Through the Snow Globe as well. She manages to keep it fresh. The best part of the book, in my humble opinion, is Lyla realizing her love for her best friend, Travis. Both characters were utterly charming and relatable. I was cheering them on and willing them together. I was so happy when Lyla found the strength to go after what she wants and tries to change her destiny.

Echo Cove, I want to live there! Small towns are so alluring to this big city gal. The graphic descriptions and sense of sentimentality, and Lyla reminiscing, will get to anyone who has wished they could change something about their past or has a "The One Who Got Away". The magical realism doesn't hit you over the head, and it adds a little something extra to your typical friends-to-lovers romance. Overall, I found this an amusing read, and it left a smile on my face long after I turned the last page

This was an entertaining book. It was fun, heartwarming and held my interest. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

Ever felt stuck in life? Well, that is exactly how Lyla Dune feels in Summer in a Bottle by Annie Rains. I thought the title was a strange one but after reading this story it is the perfect one for this book. With some magical realism the second chance story has events that feel as if they are do-overs where better choices could be made, regrets could be examined and fixed, misconceptions corrected, and love could form from friendship without fear. Because all these characters, including Lyla and Travis, are older now it is even better. If this doesn’t make sense now it will be if you read the book. I highly recommend Summer in a Bottle. One last thought, I really hope there is a sequel where Allison gets her HEA too.

Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC.

I am beginning to love the small town romance trope. It just has this cozy feeling! You just want to sit on a couch, wrapped in a blanket. One of the best feelings in the world.

The FMC returns to her hometown to help her parents with selling the house. Once there, she reconnects with her childhood best friend, a handsome handyman.

The opinions and parts of the FMC's diary in every chapter are so fun to read. So well-thought! I am also a fan of the new friendships in this book. The romance could be better. I did not really feel that spark between the main characters at times.

Overall, this was a great, cute read.

I want to start off by saying this book, Summer in a Bottle, is a cute second-chance romance with a fun concept.
When Delilah Dune left Echo Cove, she thought she'd be getting away from her small, simple town and starting life anew in a big city. She had huge dreams for herself, however, years later, she finds herself lost and questioning herself and her life choices. She heads back to Echo Cove to help her parents sell their house and, in the midst, figure out her next move. However, when she arrives, she quickly notices that events of her last year at Echo Cove are replaying themselves. From being struck by lightning to her father getting sick after eating eel, Delilah is more than certain these cannot be simple coincidences. Delilah is convinced that life is trying to teach her something.
This is a cute read, with the cutest romance between two childhood best friends. It's a story of finding oneself and finding true love along the way. It really focused on not trying too hard and everything being right in front of you, which I loved. What I did not love, however, was how remedial the entire story was. I get that the events were repeating, so it would make sense for the author to work off that idea, but did the same details need to be brought up several times per chapter? Or did Lyla need to question the exact same thing (her feelings for her best friend) as often as she did? Or did every incident need to go back to Lyla's ex? The repetition just seemed overwhelming and brought a damper on the book a bit, however, it was still sweet.
Thank you NetGalley, Kensington Publishing, and Annie Rains for this ARC!

This was an interesting book about Lyla returning to her childhood home in Echo Grove. Her parents needed her to help get their house ready to sell by cleaning out her bedroom so they could travel. I liked that Lyla learned a lot about herself after digging up her time capsule bottle she buried during her senior year of high school. She made new friends, reconnected with old classmates, including her best friend Travis whom she had ghosted. He is now a handyman who comes to her rescue many times in the book. He might even have to rescue and fix her heart. She also faced her fears while finding herself and tackling her high school bucket list that was in the time capsule bottle. I received an advance copy of this book and I willingly chose to write an honest review.

A second chances romance. A sweet story that will have the main characters reconnect as they get past their hurt and damaged friendship. I liked it was told from dual POV. It’s an entertaining and sweet read.

This entertaining novel has some deep truths in it and I really enjoyed the way the author brought them to the forefront as she weaved the tale of Lyla and her life. Lyla, dumped by her boyfriend, returns to Echo Cove, North Carolina, a small town that she gladly fled when she graduated from high school. She had great plans to be an author and she has kind of met that goal by becoming an opinion columnist who is well-known for her columns. Once she is back in Echo Cove, with the task of helping her parents sell their home there, Lyla is confronted with her past and her present dilemmas and has to decide what she will do about her future. I thoroughly enjoyed the light-hearted banter between Lyla and her friend Amanda and Lyla’s gung-ho attempt to win over Bernadette as a friend. The friendship between Travis and Lyla was realistically portrayed as was their gradual realization about their romantic feelings for each other, even if they didn’t want to pursue those feelings. I loved Lyla’s compassionate nature and how she reached out to Amanda when she knew she was hurting from all of her losses. Bernadette was feisty and reluctant to accept friendship, but her fun-loving and warm heart won me over. All of the characters were relatable, so much so that I just wanted to go into the pages of the book and tell them what they needed to do. The novel’s plot is fast-paced and engaging, with some complex elements woven into the simple tale of a girl who just wants to escape from her small town and never look back. The author masterfully creates a story around the central characters of Lyla and Travis and even includes snippets of Lyla’s opinions, some of which are humorous and others that are thought-provoking. I especially enjoyed the magical element that was included with the fireflies, noting that Lyla needed those little guys to point the way for her. What a clever way to get Lyla to pay attention and what a great reminder of the fun I had with those little bugs in my childhood! I loved everything about this book and even ordered my own copy so that I have one to keep and re-visit Lyla’s story.
Disclaimer: I voluntarily received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.

I wanted to love this one. That cover was so engaging. And the blurb promised me Rebecca Serle and Josie Silver vibes. I was underwhelmed. 🍾

The premise was so intriguing, but I did not feel it delivered.

(view spoiler)

I loved the small town setting of Echo Cove, but too many things just didn't add up. Sorry to say it is my least favorite title by Annie Rains. Thank you to Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars. What a cute story! A woman returns to her hometown to get her parents' house ready to go on the market. One of the first things she does is dig up a time capsule she buried years ago that reminds her of things done and those left unfinished. She encounters many people from her past, and she goes about making new connections with them. She makes contact with Travis, her old best friend, a woman who wasn't her friend at all, and a woman she had humiliated in high school.

Lyla is a great character. Hers is a story of friendship, making ammends, believing in yourself, and trusting your heart. There's a little magic/fantasy thrown in when Lyla discovers that past events seem to be recurring in her current life. Is she destined to leave Travis and break his heart again?

I really did enjoy this. It was more women's fiction with romantic undertones. The secondary characters were great. I would love to be friends with them!

Thanks to Kensington and NetGalley for the e-book. All thoughts are my own.

2/5 stars

This book started off promising. I liked the characters, it was lighthearted; it drew me in. Halfway through, I was counting down the pages til I was done. It got so repetitive, so predictable, and in all honestly, just ridiculous. There are only so many times that a character can be told something or wonder something themselves before the reader starts to scream at them that it’s just too obvious for this to be possible. In this case, after both main characters admit that they like each other currently as well as liking each other in the past, and having all surrounding characters mention it, it’s ridiculous for the main character to still be unsure. I get that the author wants to draw us in with their love story, but they drew it out way too long. It was too much, and I hated this book by the end. Also, what was with the magical elements? They were sprinkled in randomly, and they didn’t add anything to the story.

Oftentimes, a book will just hit me with exactly what I needed at the moment! This was one of those books for me. A feel-good, light read, this was a fun and entertaining story about Lyla and her return to her small hometown. Facing several obstacles, she ends up finding exactly what she was searching for when she left the small town years ago.

It was cute?! I usually do love a small town story with a nice friendship but I kept thinking the main character was early twenties not thirty 😂 ~but who am I to judge~

The Plot: I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I enjoyed the small-town vibes and the friendships, but on the other hand, I was underwhelmed by the romance and the plot. At first, I thought it was going to be one of those stories where the main character wants a do-over after they realize they messed up their past and, with the help of some magic, they get that chance and fix the mistakes they made. But I guess I forgot what the book was actually about because that didn’t happen. 😂 It was still fun to see how past events were integrated into the present so Lyla can fix her mistakes. As I said, there were things I liked. Echo Cove sounds like a cute place to live, and the people there seemed to be pretty cool. And I liked the summer bucket lists Travis and Lyla did as kids. That part was cute. I also rooted for Lyla when she wanted to make amends with her friends and neighbors after bailing on them when she turned eighteen. Okay. Maybe not bail on them because it’s her life, but she did seem like a selfish person. I’ll get into more of that later. But everything else seemed…unnecessary. A lot of the situations the characters got themselves into wouldn’t have happened if they did this wonderful thing that we call communication. It’s not that hard. And the romance? It seemed like Lyla and Travis let their hormones act instead of their brains or hearts. They needed to talk things over before they got into each other’s beds. (It’s a closed-door romance, in case you were wondering, and it’s something I appreciate.) Anyway, it wasn’t swoon-worthy or cute because of the characters, which brings me to my next point.

The Characters: Where do I begin? I tried to feel sympathetic toward Lyla and her situation, and I did for the most part, but she continued to give me examples as to why I find her exasperating. This might be a bit of a spoiler but her boyfriend cheated on her and, man, that sucks. No one should have to go through the pain of finding out that their partner is being unfaithful. Besides, he was a crappy boyfriend. I’m glad she found out before their relationship escalated. However, that does not mean that Lyla could make everyone else’s lives miserable just because her life was. You are the captain of your own ship, and if it’s heading toward destruction, it is on you to steer your ship away from danger. A lot of the consequences she dealt with were either because of her selfishness, fear, or her own warped thinking that you can’t have the best of both worlds, of having love and a dream. I kinda blame her mom for that because it seemed like she made a point of telling Lyla that she chose her and her dad over a dream, and that you can’t have both, which scared Lyla and caused her to do what she did, which she regretted. Sometimes parents try to help, and I love them for it, but not all advice is helpful advice. They unintentionally instill fear in their kids that they will make the same mistakes. Keep your regrets to yourself, please, or keep them to a minimum.😂 Anyways, I liked Travis and his willingness to let Lyla come and break his heart again. He was just too understanding, which is a fantastic quality, but the poor guy had already been through enough as a kid, and now this grown woman is playing games with him because she doesn’t know what she wants? It’s funny. Lyla was afraid of being heartbroken when she was the one who was breaking hearts. Goodness gracious, girl. I’m trying to like you. I’m trying, but the more I think about it, the more I can’t stand you. 😅 Maybe I'm just being too harsh. But hey. At least everyone else in town was pretty cool. Small towns are the best. 🤗

The Writing: I know it wasn’t the author’s intention to make me dislike the FMC, but if you can make me feel a certain way about a character, whether it be good or bad, then you are good at what you do.😆 Therefore, Annie Rains is good at what she does. I did feel that the story dragged just a little bit, but it flowed well, it was engaging, and the message she was conveying about not being afraid to do what you love with the people you love was a great reminder for me to just shut up and do it. I intend to read more of her books in the future, hoping to find a favorite. ☺

Overall Thoughts: I think I said enough. The cover is cute, the romance wasn’t that cute, and the story was kind of disappointing. If Annie Rains weren’t such a good writer, I wouldn’t have finished it. But don’t let my rambling dissuade you from reading the book. I think you might like it, and I honestly hope you do. So I recommend it if you like second-chance, friends-to-lovers romances that take place in a small town. ❤

I received a digital ARC from Kensington Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and statements are my own.

#SummerinaBottle #NetGalley

Lyla gets a second chance when she returns to her small home town and opens the time capsule she stowed away all those years ago. And it's not just a second chance with Travis, it's with her whole life and life choices. Her Groundhog Day experience shows her what she's denied herself. This is a sweet easy read with good spirits and a big heart. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Fine storytelling.

In Summer in a Bottle Lyla returns to her home town to take care of the selling of her parents' house. Also she is just out of a relationship gone bad. Then the last summer she was in small town Echo Cove seems to be repeating. Odd!

She is an opinion writer for a newspaper but she is becoming more out of sync with it and really would like to be a writer. When she digs up a list of things she and Travis were going to do there are some things unchecked. Should she and Travis who has returned finish ticking off the list?

Lyla has thought leaving town was the way to go. Why get stuck in a backwater place, why develop further in a relationship at eighteen? She is sure she has the right of it. However when she returns to Echo Cove she begins to see differently.

I liked how some relationships were mended and the reasons for the break were clarified. I liked that Lyla begins to see things more clearly as Ground hog Day plays out for her. Travis had a lot of patience but even he can only take so much. It was good to see Lyla finally face her fears and see where happiness lay.

I had expected to like this a lot more but I found the pace slow and I didn't eagerly turn to pick it up each time. It sort of dragged for me.

If you like small town life, a little magical realism, a character who realises that finding yourself might not need to include leaving town, and a closed door romance then this book will be for you.

I did enjoy Annie Rains The Finders Keepers Library so I will read another book by this author at some point.

I like Annie Rain's writing. I know the towns will usually be small, the characters will have some depth and if there is a romance the door will stay closed. I have enjoyed several of her books previously. This one is general (women’s) fiction with a slice of romance.

Lyla Dune returns to her small hometown of Echo Cove to prepare her parents house for sale. She has broken up with fiancé and her job as an opinion columnist is being threatened. Since it is shared in the blurb, she decides to dig up a time capsule filled the summer before she went to college. It brings back memories and includes a bucket list of things she was going to do before leaving town. In a twist, this isn’t a Groundhog Day story. She isn’t relieving the same day but instead she is seeing some of the things that happened in that summer happening again to her.

Lyla calls for a handyman and it turns out to be Travis, her one time best friend. He helped her write the original bucket list and is willing to help her check off the remaining items. The story is sweet but with some cute moments. And I loved the idea of the bucket list. But this felt a little young for me as I was reading it. I think because her emotions and feelings are from her high school days and her desire to leave the town behind. She has a lot of fears and I was genuinely surprised that she hasn’t sought out help for them. There are opinion comments throughout the book as well that brings a folksiness to the story. And I didn’t get the romance interest at all other than they were long time friends.

It is still a very cute story but I didn’t invest emotionally like I have with other books from the author.

Summer in a Bottle
Annie Rains

Lyla - opinion writer
Travis - handyman
Allison - friend
Bernadette - friend - coffee Cafe owner

Lyla goes home to get the house ready to see so her parents can travel. Her parents has Allison check on her. Echo Cove where she grown up and she didn't think anyone from high school still lived there. She took her bike out and she get a flat tire and Travis her best friend from high school stops and helps her get home. Travis and Lyla start talking when she need a handyman to fix a few things around the house so it can be sold. First was a water leak. Then he came to get her ready for the next person to look at it. That buyer was afraid hurricane Bill would damage the house. In the meantime she did her opinion spot in the newspaper. And hangout with Travis and Allison.
Travis came to board the house up before the storm. Travis and Lyla hangout and continue getting feeling for eachother.
She hangs out with Allison goes to the bar and Travis shows up there.
Travis didn't like one of the opinion peices in her article got mad.
Annie did a fantastic job with description of the story. She matched characters up very well.
Annie knock this one out of the field and I just couldn't put it down.

aww this was a sweet and heartfelt book. it had a dash of magic and was a little bit deeper than your average. but it was feel good all the same. id happily take this on holiday this time of year. or as the sun starts to shine take it to a corner somewhere. it feels like just the right time to get cozy with a book that is light but not too light, that is romantic but not too much squish and is full of things many of us can actually relate to.
Annie makes you picture every scene with such vividness. you can see the interactions and feel the connections. all the emotions feel really relatable to how wed all feel if we were going through similar things.
lyla heads home to help her parents sort out some things in the home. whilst there she takes out her old time capsule. it doesnt escape her how important the things inside feel. how much she thought she would have once leaving home. the job, the man and yet now she doesnt have any of it. infact it so far away from what she ran away to succeed in that its quite a sucker punch. inside is also a diary from high school. before everything went so wrong. before she decided not to be brave and tell her best friend how she feels. before she left to become a high flying writer. and before none of those things ended up coming true.
the trouble is these things now seem to be mirroring and happening the same as back then. in that last summer before she left. everything is the same, so might she have the chance to change things. to make things finally ok. to make herself finally ok?
i found her relationship with Travis so sweet to read. he was her best friend but so much more than that. and looks like he felt exactly the same.
this story is so gorgeous. it felt like it hit my heart and held it there with all the emotions that wrapped round that,