I struggled to connect with the characters and get invested in the relationship. The pacing was a bit off and at times It was difficult to keep reading. However, it was still an overall charming and enjoyable book!

Thank you to Netgalley for a pre publication copy. In return for an honest review! #thesummerofwishfulthinking #netgalley

Gemma is a single parent to a 15 year old boy. Renting a property and trying to get by on her Registrar wage. When Gemma and her best friend Diana go to Claremont Castle to marry the owners friends. Gemma's ex goes into her house and steals the laptop. Forcing Gemma to rethink her current living arrangements. It's not until she moves into the castle cottage that she gets more than cheaper rent!

The title of this book drew me into it whilst guaranteeing the perfect summer read.

I absolutely love the cover of this book with the beautiful sunny cottage. I do think the cover shown on netgalley is more inviting than the one chosen for the publication copy.

After some research this is a pseudonym for the writer and she writes under a couple of other names. As far as I can see she normally writes crime, YA and historical fiction and this is her first romance.

Once opening the book it is a page turner. The characters are all so loving but have hard exteriors due to the loss they have experienced. They each have their own secrets and hardships which they keep close to their chest. Whilst taking you on their journey of healing, showing you their emotions and allowing you to become invested into their lives. These characters show you their is not one single journey to take in grief but that each direction takes you to paradise if you believe in it.

This book is a great romance read and you never feel that you are missing anything from the story line allowing you to follow it through until the end with confidence that you will get a good ending. Although their are some emotional subjects included in this book such as financial issues, property development, marriage for money, dementia, suicide and teenage pregnancy. I do not feel this takes away from the romantic feel of the book but has your heart growing fonder of the struggles each character has faced. It really increases the mystery and twists of the book but used in a subtle and empathetic manner.

This book would make the perfect start to a Claremont Magna series. I hope this happens and if so I cannot wait to read the next book.

Sweet romance, but a little predictable, however easy to read and get into.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

The best things about this book was the wonderful cast of side characters, and also the absolutely lovely cover design. This is a book that would call out to me from the bookshop. I didn't think that this book did anything terribly remarkable - the two main characters had both been burned by past relationships and yet were able to make a connection with one another and find love again. But, I think this book just came to me at the right time in 2020, and I really enjoyed being able to just lose myself in a comfort read over the summer when things were really challenging. I think if you need a book with heartwarming characters, and an easy plot, this one would be a good pick.

Gemma Whitehall helps people tie the knot as the local registrar, but watching loved-up couples exchange their vows serves only to highlight what’s missing from her own life. Gemma can’t ignore the fact that life – and love – are slipping through her fingers.

Oh man do I connect with Gemma! I really enjoyed this book. I love a good romance with a nice setting. This ticked all the boxes for me.

The Summer of Wishful Thinking by Eve Edwards
Source: NetGalley and One More Chapter
Rating: 4/5 stars


**MINI-REVIEW**

The Bottom Line: I’m starting to feel like I may be reading books all wrong ☹ Yet again, I find myself quite enjoying a book that doesn’t seem to be fairing so well on Goodreads. Outside of one wonky plot twist, I found this book to be a fun little read. Gemma is a perfectly delightful if harried human trying to do the best for herself and her son. Sam is a former cop looking for a second chance in life. When Gemma, her son, Sam, and his aging father all come together on the grounds of Sam’s recently purchased estate, things get awfully interesting. Sam and Gemma find a new relationship and Gemma’s son and Sam’s father make the most unlikely but completely endearing partnership. There’s nothing new or groundbreaking here, but the story is solid, and the characters are interesting. I wouldn’t move this one to the top of your TBR, but I wouldn’t leave it at the bottom either. It’s worth a try and can easily be read in a sitting or two.

Unfortunately I was unable to get in to this story and had to put it down, however, I'm sure it is a highly loved book and appreciated by the right readers.

I absolutely adored this book!. It was full of humour, and also moments that tugged in the old heartstrings.... it's quite frankly the perfect rom-com.
The leading lady Gemma was, by all accounts, a force to be reckoned with! Despite the struggles she had faced, she was incredibly independent and had brought her son Leo up wonderfully by herself, despite the stigma of being a young mother.

Then there is Sam....the moody, brooding castle owner that you just can't help falling in love with yourself! Despite his reluctance to share his feelings at first, when he does start opening up to Gemma it is simply lovely.

I could carry on talking about this book all day long, it is definitely on my must read list!

All in all a cute summer beach read. Sweet romance. But that’s all it was. I didn’t get the tingly romantic head over heels feeling. It was well written and fast paced but that’s about it.

I greatly enjoyed this book, thank you for giving me a preview copy. The plot was interesting and fast paced and I sympathised with the characters. This is the first novel I have read by this author but I hope it will not be the last!

This was an enjoyable love story. Two people find each other against the odds. The plot was good and well written.
Many thanks to One More Chapter and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

What a charming read! Delightful beach reading. I really enjoyed the banter between Gemma and Sam. Highly recommend.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I’m in the fence with this one. On one hand it had a really interesting premise. Gemma, a single mother, who presides over weddings as a registrar in rural England. Sam a gruff castle owner/lord who has gone through a loss and has now cut himself off to love.

Their relationship fell a little flat for me. They never seemed to have that light bulb, tingly, sparky feeling towards each other.

This book is definitely a throw away summer read.

The Summer of Wishful Thinking is beautifully written and full of wit and warmth. I instantly felt for Gemma and her struggles and wanted to root for her. I love that Gemma and Sam had chemistry that felt real and authentic. This is a great read about learning to deal with your struggles and finding a way to accept joy again.

The Summer of wishful Thinking Eve Edwards.

Gemma is a single mother of a teenage son and works as a local registrar because she is struggling to get by and avoiding her waster of an ex husband who constantly steals from her. She moves to the country renting a small cottage from a local castle owner hunk Sam Ransworth who she meets whilst working at his gay friends wedding.

A fantastic book about the trials and tribulations of life. A wealth of characters into the making an excellent read laughter and sadness in equal measure. A real page turner and a potential for so much more about the village Claremont Magna Suffolk life . Loved it! Well done Eve hope There is a series in the offing the potential and characters are there.

Slow start but overall I thought this book was quite cute. I feel Gemma could have grown more in confidence and skill set rather than let everything get to her but other a cute little romance. Quick to read.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this ebook, all opinions are entirely my own.

I received the Summer of Wishful Thinking in exchange for an honest review here on netgalley. This one had sadly so much potential in the beginning but it let me down as I was getting along into reading. I ended up not finishing the book because I was genuinely no longer interested in neither the plot nor the characters.

A really strong, lovely read, perfect for evenings in the garden with no distractions. Quick and easy to pick up, this is highly recommended.

Actual Rating: 1.5

This had so much potential at the start, and I was really interested in the premise. The idea of the main character, Gemma Whitehall, being a single mother working as the local registrar for couples and yet not being able to grasp a relationship herself…it’s a feeling of being in the middle of everything and yet on the outside looking in, that I’m sure many of us can relate to.

And Sam started off as a very nice character as well, who had a tragic past I wanted to know more about. Gemma moving into Sam’s cottage on his estate also sets up the scene for two characters to be in close proximity at a place that was very intriguing.

By the middle, however, the book started falling flat, and it stayed that way until the end. Essentially, it all felt like I was watching a Hallmark movie, in which the writer was given a batch of tropes, and they just picked five at random to use. Unfortunately, a mash-up of tropes does not make a story.

Instead, we got a bunch of characters going through the motions, and I was really not feeling the relationship between Sam and Gemma, especially when both lacked character development beyond learning to “allow your heart to open up.”

They had really annoying, immature fights, and the third person perspective omniscient writing did Sam no favors because some thoughts just made him seem annoying and misogynistic:

“Why did women always have to spoil things by asking, probing, demanding? Couldn’t they just accept a good thing when they had it?

The writing was also a little weak, which is why I got Hallmark vibes from it — it felt like I was reading a rom-com movie script instead of a book, which can usually go into much more depth.

It might’ve just been my copy as well, but it was full of errors:
‘I had too.’ / ‘I don’t think leprechaun’s control karma.’ / Plugging in her numbers, only two…

Ultimately, I think there could’ve been a lot more to this, and I was so onboard with the beginning. But unfortunately the novel lacks depth and originality — though it might still be a nice read for someone looking to pass the time.