I just finished an arc of The Summer Girl by Elle Kennedy! Thanks so much @netgalley for the arc

Rating: 2.5⭐️ (rounded down)

This was my first Elle Kennedy book and I was so excited because I’ve heard so many good things. But honestly, this book was a huge disappointment.

I didn’t really like the fmc Cassie, she was a little frustrating. And the mmc, Tate, was honestly just a huge player. I understand in the beginning not wanting to get involved because they don’t want to catch feelings, but having a m**terbation scene in the window with each other? What?

The way they talked about sex and arousal in this book also grossed me out. “The filthy picture he paints makes my nipples tingle” like what? I honestly could not stand any of it.

Also, I understand being self conscious about having big boobs, but it was mentioned EVERY OTHER SENTENCE how she had a skinny body and DD’s. Like it felt like her whole personality.

Honestly, this book was just a disappointment and I probably won’t be reading any more Elle Kennedy soon.

I had such high hopes for this book with the immense Elle Kennedy hype I've seen all over the internet and after reading the Deal and loving it. However, I was left disappointed. The writing was fine, but the characters all gave me the ick and I had such a hard time rooting for anyone. Definitely didn't live up to my expectations.

This book was AMAZING. I loved it so so SO much, and if it wasn’t for life getting in the way, I would’ve read it in one sitting. It was a 10/5 star romcom for me. This book was so good that I changed my review of the first book in the series from five stars to four because this is what a real five star read is.

The Summer Girl is a dual pov romcom that revolves around Cassie and Tate. Cassie is a new character introduced in this series, and I loved that. I really liked getting a new character, and I loved that she was the granddaughter of the owner of The Beacon Hotel. She was honestly my favorite female mc out of all three books, and Tate was by far my favorite male mc. Tate was the breath of fresh air we all needed after the moody drama of the Hartley twins. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed every second of reading about the twins, but Tate was just so much better. He was light-hearted and funny and honest with himself about his feelings and never majorly messed anything up. It was great. They gave me Garret and Hannah vibes, and those two are some of my favorite characters ever.

Elle Kennedy absolutely killed it with this one. She always has good books, but not all of them have that extra spark. The whole Off-Campus series was great, but only The Deal had something magical. Do you know what I mean? The whole Avalon Bay series was great, but the Summer Girl had that spark. Hands down my favorite of the series, and a must read!

Cassie is looking for a fun, summer fling. Enter Tate who is the king of flings but after being warned off of Cassie he agrees to help her find another candidate for her fling. But the two cannot deny the chemistry between each other. They agree to be friends with benefits but their feelings just continue to grow.

This was such a fun beach read! Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the egally in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to the publisher, author and netgalley for a chance to review this book early. I was approved for both physical and audio ARCs. I listened to the audio. Love Teddy Hamilton! I've immensely enjoyed this series and was happy to be back in Avalon Bay for Cassie and Tates story!

So poorly written that I had to force myself to finish it. Do yourself a favor and save your money as it is not worth the cost.

“The need to belong is deeply ingrained in us. I think it’s because there’s no worse feeling in the world than being on the outside looking in.”
- Elle Kennedy, The Summer Girl (Avalon Bay, Book 3)

ARC review 📝 Am I the only one terrified of love triangles?! Just me?! Oh well. I am. I knew this would be Tate’s book and I skipped the blurb because I was terrified of seeing Wyatt’s and Alana’s names there. But I forgot that Elle Kennedy is a queen and would never do us dirty like that 👏🏼🤌🏼

And that’s how we get to meet Cassie. Now, Cassie is my favorite. Cassie is a Gen + Mac blend with her own shine. Cassie is also the best character-person I’ve ever met. And I mean it because that betrayal at the end by the one person I wasn’t expecting… I would’ve flipped. And she… understood. I’m telling you, best character-person ever.

And Tate knows it too. From the first time these two strangers meet under quite uncomfortable circumstances, you could feel the chemistry there. But more than any attraction, a chemistry of easy friendship. An easy friendship with tons of pull sure, but friendship nevertheless.

I really thought Bad Girl Reputation would be my series favorite. Boy was I wrong. This, this was the one. Although I’m still livid over that betrayal. Okay, others may not see it as a betrayal. But I trusted this betrayer. I thought, “we’re cool! You’re nice” 👀 and then… not cool. Not cool at all. Like I’m still not okay with the whole thing and I finished the book hours ago.

But back to the review. This book is amazing. Elle Kennedy is amazing. Tate and Cassie are amazing. LL Cool J aka Pierre is amazing. You get what I’m trying to say: go preorder like I did 😎

What’s inside:
🖤contemporary romance
🖤neighbor romance
🖤friends to friends with benefits to lovers
🖤close proximity
🖤small beach town romance
🖤dual POV

NA. 5 stars ⭐️

Thank you so much @netgalley @stmartinspress @ellekennedy33 for this eARC. This beauty will be out in the world on July 18th. 🫶🏼

Be prepared, you're going to fall in love with Cassie and Tate! This is hands down my favorite if the series. Favorite characters make appearances, there's a ton of humor, and just the right amount of angst. Not to mention the sweet and sexy romance that has you so invested. I love these escapes to Avalon Bay.

I’m not new the the Elle Kennedy game and this is my third time visiting Avalon Bay. Oh my, the men just keep getting better. Cassie & Tate are a top notch couple. Tate might be my fave Avalon bay man so far. I read this book in a day, somehow Kennedy’s books are filled with something that just captivates me and I end up flying through it. I was truly captivated and this one actually brought tears to my eyes

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

Quick Hitters:
💋Virgin FMC
👀F-Boy MMC
🫶🏼Friends-to-lovers

Quick Summary:
Cassie hasn't spent time in Avalon Bay since her parents separated, but with her grandmother selling her boardwalk hotel, she decides to spend the summer there. Cassie went looking for a summer fling, and finds the perfect candidate, Tate Bartlett. But when Tate meets Cassie, he feels differently about her than he has other girls and friend-zones her. But he soon realizes that was a mistake because he wants Cassie...

Thoughts/Feelings:
This is the third book in Elle Kennedy's Avalon Bay series. They are standalones but interconnected setting and people. Honestly, this was my favorite book of the three in the series! I really, really loved the characters. I loved their growth as well as their relationship and how it was shown on the page.

Thank you @netgalley and @ellekennedy33 for the #advancedreaderscopy of The Summer Girl! All opinions are my own!

This is a NA romance that follows Cassie spending the summer in Avalon Bay and searching for a “fling”. She meets townie Tate and they play will-they won’t-they and then (of course) they will but Cassie has to go back to Boston for her senior year of college in the fall so they ABSOLUTELY CANNOT FALL IN LOVE………

There were some hard-hitting topics in this one. It wasn’t all fluff. The biggest is Cassie’s toxic relationship with her narcissistic mother. There’s a cheating plot, an abortion, a miscarriage, a lot of fat shaming. Most of these revolve around Cassie’s mom but they’re definitely integral to the central plot.

I prefer romances where the characters are in their late 20s at the youngest but readers who like Elle Kennedy and her college and new adult characters will really enjoy this one.

The Summer Girl is a fun, banter-filled, easy and slightly spicy read to add to Kennedy's new adult backlist. If you've loved the Off-Campus books, chances are you'll love this one just as much.

I had a good time reading this book overall. I really liked Cassie's character, and Tate's most of the time (I'll expand on that later). Their teasing banter is what made the book for me. They've got an easygoing, fun friend-/situation-/relationship going, with chemistry from their first meeting. I was hooked from the very beginning. I really enjoyed seeing their relationship evolve.

Another aspect I really liked, was the portrayal of what a high-conflict divorce/separation does to a kid. The loyalty Cassie feels towards both her parents, the toning down and changing the conversation about one parent when talking to the other, trying to keep them from meeting each other face to face so they can't fight, feeling responsible to break up their fights... It was really well done.

So why only 3.5 stars then? A few reasons...
* The thing that bothered me the most was the inconsistency in Tate's character. Tate is written as this respectful player (isn't that an oxymoron? Or maybe it's often just bad execution, or like an endangered species... But I digress). He does seem like a mature 23 year old a lot of the time, one of the popular guys that just has a good heart, loves his parents, is determined and ambitious... HOWEVER. Kennedy then goes and gives his inner monologue these sleazy moments every so often, that made me yuck and I honestly felt like Tate would be more respectful than that? Yeah, he's young, but still? It bothered me to no end.
* The too-easy conflict resolution. Tate and Cassie fight two times, and each time the fight starts and is resolved in the blink of an eye, which gave me such whiplash. Also, I felt like Cassie was way too quick to forgive and forget, and then agree to do the deed.
* The diagnosis. Listen, I'm not a fan of diagnoses in general. But especially in books, if you're going to diagnose a character, get it right. It bothered me so much, because clearly, this was just to further the plot. Especially in a time period where everyone is labeled a narcissist, which I'm sick and tired of, it was disappointing to read this incorrect portrayal in a book that will most likely get a lot of readers.
* Another thing I cannot stand is core-family kids giving advice to non-core-family kids about how to resolve their issues with their parents. Tate giving Cassie advice about how to fix her relationship with her mother and father almost made me DNF the book because I got so mad. People who've only known safety in parental relationships need to stop telling others to confront parental figures, as if that situation is inherently safe and the child will be heard, validated and thanked for doing so. They most likely won't. Kids develop coping mechanisms for a reason. Sometimes, speaking your mind is not safe, and making it out to be like Cassie is a coward for not speaking her mind and taking up space-which she hasn't been allowed to do-was a d!ck move on Tate's part.

Without these gripes, the book might've received a solid 4 stars.

*thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

Loved every minute of this book. It was fast paced and I liked the characters developments. I liked Cassandra and Tate together and how their relationship evolved.

The drama at the end was a surprise but I liked how it ended and the lesson about how you can still change the outcome of certain relationships and cut ties with a toxic relationship.

I also liked how the characters were new adult age. I liked seeing MacKenzie open her hotel. This was well paced and a five star read.

I'm in between moving now but will post this on my blog later.

My favorite of the series by far.
Swoon worthy at times. The perfect summer beach read. Was sad when it ended because I wanted more.

Romance

This is definitely a light summer read. The author tried to give the story some substance by having the two main characters - Cassie and Tate - deal with some complex family dynamics. Those small bits of depth are the only things that redeemed this novel, for me at least.

Cassie travels home to Avalon Bay with the determination to have a summer fling and lose her virginity. She meets several guys, but the only one she connects with is the local F***boy Tate. Tate is handsome and popular, has multiple jobs - one of which is housesitting for the people that live right next door to her grandmother.

What starts out as nothing, becomes a fling and turns into love. There is some major family drama as Cassie's parents are divorced. Her mother is a narcissist and her father seems to only care about his new family. Tate's parents are awesome, but an incident from the past threatens their happy family.

Ok - so what's the problem? The dialogue is awful when it comes to the Tate and Cassie relationship storyline. "Hey babe, nice tits" type of conversation. Yuck!

This took me forever to read as I was not engaged - at all. I should have probably just DNF'd it, but since it was an ARC from NetGalley, I felt obligated. Of course, by the time I finished the book, it was already published.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is a classic Elle Kennedy book; very readable and a great summer read! Cassie and Tate had great chemistry, and I really enjoyed reading their story.

I adore Elle Kennedy's writing and am absolutely addicted to The Avalon Bay series. I was so excited to be getting Tate's book and our fun-loving golden boy did not disappoint. We also have our FMC Cassie, who was once a summer girl in Avalon Bay but hasn't spent a summer there in years. Her parents went through a bad divorce and her mother moved her away to Boston. But now Cassie has returned for one last Summer since her grandmother is selling her beloved boardwalk hotel (we know this place well from the first Avalon Bay book!). Cassie has big plans for the summer, spend time with family, celebrate her twenty-first birthday, and have a summer fling. As fate would have it, Cassie meets Tate on her first night out and he seems like just the guy for a summer fling, but he is reluctant and doesn't want to break her heart even though he is no stranger to summer flings. He soon realizes his mistake after putting Cassie in the friend zone. He realizes he can't resist her and wants the fling with her badly. As we know, things in Avalon Bay can get complicated and Tate and Cassie's relationship is no different.

Tate was so swoony and I adored Cassie. This book was just the right mix of spice, emotion, humor, and cuteness. I can't wait for the next book in the series! I can't recommend it enough, especially for summer <3

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️.5

Tropes & what to expect:
- friends to friends with benefits to lovers
- summer fling
- small town romance
- family drama

A fun summer read featuring Elle Kennedy’s signature humor and swoonworthy romance.

The summer girl follows 20 year old Cassie (a Briar University student, iykyk) who returns to her hometown of Avalon Bay for the summer to spend time with her grandmother and dad. Oh and she’s looking for a summer fling, which is convenient since Avalon Bay is apparently exclusively inhabited by hot people.
She meets Tate when she accidentally witnesses his fwb ending things with him (talk about a meet cute) and they (kinda) hit it off. There’s a lot of banter, and the sparks fly (Taylor’s version) from the moment they meet.
After a few bumps in the road, they decide to have a summer fling, on one condition: they aren’t going to fall in love.

Elle Kennedy is the undisputed queen of college romance. While this book doesn’t technically have a college setting, the overall vibes were similar to her Off Campus and Briar U series. Elle’s writing style is engaging and easy to follow and I really liked the characters. Cassie was so fun to read about, with a strong personality and a vulnerability that really made me feel for her. I also applaud Elle Kennedy for representation because I’ve never ever seen my body type represented in a book before and that alone made me connect with Cassie. She does have some insecurities (as well as mommy AND daddy issues) that were explored in such a realistic and healing way.
Tate is definitely book boyfriend material (even though he’s blonde) and some of his actions and words made me melt. He’s… experienced but still a genuinely good guy and not in a cliché kind of way.
The romance was so sweet and swoony, and in typical Elle Kennedy fashion, the spice was of course immaculate.

I really enjoyed their story but ended up not giving a full five stars as the plot was mostly predictable and all the family drama felt a bit forced and unnecessary at times.
All in all a quick and fun summer romance — adding the entire series to my TBR as we speak!

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Elle Kennedy for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed The Summer Girl! This was such a quick and fun read for me. The romance was adorable and the spice was excellent. Elle Kennedy is known for her addictive writing, and this book is no exception. I just devoured the story of Cassie and Tate — by the way, I’m obsessed with them. I also love how Cassie’s self confidence grew throughout the novel and she was finally able to connect with her family in the way she wanted and deserved. This is my favorite book in the Avalon Bay series so far, the perfect summer romance read!

This was a great beach and escape read..I-loved Cassie and Tate and their friends to lovers romance. It was a delightful read.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.