★★★★☆ 4.5/5 (5★ on GR)

𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞: 🌶️🌶️ 2.5/5
𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: Cassie spends the summer in Avalon Bay with her grandma to help prepare her for her move to Boston. While there, she decides she wants a no strings attached, summer fling. After befriending Tate, one of the locals (also her grandma’s temporary next door neighborhood), he immediately puts her in the friend zone. Tate quickly realizes he can’t actually keep his feelings for her to himself and decides to give her summer fling idea a chance.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭:
» Girl Next Door
» Summer Fling
» Friends to Lovers
» Rich Girl x Local Nice Guy

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: 💭
Welcome back to another · h o t · g i r l · summer at Avalon Bay! Honestly, I think this one may be my favorite of the three. If not favorite, it definitely came close to Good Girl Complex. Summer time, girl next door, and friends to lovers vibes. I’m here for it!

Tate [mmc] was very very like-able. We love a nice local guy who sails boats and climbs up the side of our house to come in through our window…. Just another Elle Kennedy book boyfriend to add to the list. Also, Cassie [fmc] is a fellow red head. So obviously I was easily convinced I’d love her 👩🏼‍🦰

Thank you @ellekennedy33 , @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. Make sure to add this one to your preorder list! Publication date is July 18th, 2023.

I was hesitant to start this book as I liked Kennedy’s Briar U and Off-Campus series but I didn’t make it past the first few pages of the first book in the series. However, I need not worry as this was fun to read! Kennedy does a great job at making comedic and light reads with just the right amount of serious matters to make it have depth. Cassie and Tate exuded chemistry and I loved their open communication. It was a friends to lovers story well done.

Oh man, I loved this story so much! Cassie and Tate were hot.

I loved all the sailing and boat references with Tate. And so happy he was able to do that trip. Honestly, dream goals, right there.

I loved Cassie's character. She is so relatable. Especially her not want to stir any pots and avoiding conflict. I loved that Tate helped her and gave her the confidence for her to speak out about herself and her needs. He didn't let her fade into the background.

Summer flings are hard to navigate. And I loved seeing their fling unfold.

The Beach Games were so much fun. Zale was an instant favorite (I hope we see more of him in the future). Loved catching up with Coop and Mac, Evan and Gen and the opening of The Beacon! I could picture the hotel beautifully in my mind.

That twist, never saw coming. I was in shocked.

Summer Girl is the third contemporary romance in the Avalon Bay series. Cassie Soul is visiting Avalon Bay over the summer to spend time with her grandmother. While she is in town, Cassie is hoping to spend time with her family and find some cute guy to have a summer fling with. Enter Tate Bartlett, a fun loving guy who also has a degree in flings. Will Tate give Cassie the fling she’s been hoping for or something more?

This is the second book I’ve read in this series and I surprisingly wasn’t a fan of the first book I read, but this one was completely different. I connected with these characters from the very beginning and I was so invested in what was going to happen between them. I loved this book and it was the perfect summer read! Cassie and Tate were perfect together and I loved their banter and friendship, as well as the romance. This book was more like what I expect when I pick up an Elle Kennedy book, I connected with the characters and couldn’t wait to see what played out for them. The family secrets and relationships in this book also added a lot to the story. I am team Cassie and Tate all the way! If you are looking for a fun summer read with strong vibes and just the right amount of steamy romance, give this a try!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC version of this book!

This is the 3rd book in the Avalon Bay series. I did not read the first two books, might have missed the connections with the other characters a bit but honestly didn't feel like I had to read them in order!

Cassie Soul is headed back to Avalon Bay for the summer and is staying with her grandmother. Her parents divorced years ago and she feels like her dad replaced her with a new family and she can't stand her judgmental mom. Cassie decides this is the summer she wants to have a fling, before heading back to college. On her first night in town Cassie meets Tate Bartlett and they decide to be friends instead of a fling. But can they just be friends?

This book has a lot of spice, family drama, and quite a surprise ending. This is THE PERFECT summer read!

At first I had a bit of a hard time getting into this. It seemed like every other romance. But the more I got into it, the more I started to like it. I enjoyed Tate. I was waiting for the typical bad communication breakup about 3/4 through but there was a twist I did not expect which made me enjoy it that much more. I would recommend this to romance lovers.

Thank you to Net Galley for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the perfect summer read! I look forward to visiting Avalon Bay every summer, it is a vacation within a book. Elle Kennedy has a wonderful way of writing these books as an escape into the world of the people of Avalon Bay. I was excited to see we were going to get to know Tate better in this book and I was not disappointed. He surprised me by having so much depth and that he was such a gentleman. Cassie is the perfect summer fling for him.

Cassie was very easy to relate to and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her. She has an adorable awkwardness that makes her feel so real and made her someone I would love to be friends with. Her frustration with her parents was very well written and was a strong emotional journey that fit with this character perfectly.

Cassie and Tate's relationship in this book feels very natural and not forced. I could feel there feelings for each other grow and their desire for each other was amazing. They have the perfect friends to lovers relationship.

This is the third installment of the Avalon Bay series and my favorite of the three. It had the perfect amount of spice, the characters were easy to like and was a fun book to read. It could definitely be read as a stand alone book but I highly recommend reading the first two books before you read this one so you know more about the other fabulous side characters in this book. I am hoping there are more books in the Avalon Bay series!

I am grateful to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an digital ARC of this fabulous book in exchange for a honest review.

Cassie returns to the family beach house in time to celebrate her 21st birthday. She is hoping to find a summer fling and runs into Tate. He puts her in the friend zone immediately, but regrets it. Most of the book they’re toeing the line of being friends or having a romantic relationship. As they deal with their feelings about each other, more secrets come to light about their quaint beach town.

This was my first Elle Kennedy book and it will not be my last! This is the perfect summer read… the setting at Avalon Bay sounds like the perfect beach town. The story has a great plot line, but I did want more from the characters! Thank you so much to NetGalley and publisher for the ARC.

I’ve read most of Elle Kennedy’s books at this point, I’d consider myself a fan. That said the Avalon Bay series is probably my least favorite of her stuff. Just in general, I’ve found the characters not quite as likable and the plot lines a little less pressing.

I’m thrilled to get the chance to continue this series with an advanced copy and even more thrilled to say: I easily enjoyed this book more than the previous 2 in the series. The premise was definitely different from the others, a little less dark (until the twist towards the end…) and a fun, spicy, friends to lovers trope done well! I honestly also just felt like the main characters were a little easier to feel sympathetic towards, which helped!

Elle Kennedy always delivers a fun and enjoyable reading experience! This one fell a little flat for me when compared to the others in the series (and just other EK books in general), but it was still a fun read, and a great kickoff to my summer reading. Pick this book up if you want to be transported to the beach, or just want to re-live those golden days of summer from your late teens and early twenties.


Thank you to St, Martin's Press and NetGalley for this digital ARC.

Elle Kennedy’s works were my original foray into romance, and I’ve loved reading her Avalon Bay series. I was so excited for The Summer Girl - I love Elle’s banter, the relationships she’s able to build, and the friend groups. This definitely delivered!

I loved the way Cassie & Tate met, and the tentative friendship they developed. Cassie trying to break out of her shell by having a fling - and propositioning Tate - was sweet, funny, and you could feel the awkwardness of his rejection. Their playfulness in the aftermath, though, was so lovely to read. I SO enjoyed Cassie’s blabbing-when-nervous thing - I felt that in my soul! And Tate’s cocky assuredness that quickly melted away as he fell for Cassie (without realizing he was falling for her).

How they ended up being friends and developing into more was beautiful to read. I loved that Tate wasn’t a player - he was genuinely a nice guy, who communicated and shared his feelings. Cassie wasn’t a wallflower, either, and stood up for herself when the situation called for it. Plus, the accidental-next-door-neighbours trope is always really good for some forced proximity & steamy times.

This was the perfect summer beach read, and it was so fun to revisit Avalon Bay!

Elle Kennedy's Avalon Bay series is an escape to a sunny beach town where opposites attract and you can't help but fall in love with a high and low group of friends - townies and clones. Tate, a lady's man we've seen as a friend to the Hartley twins who have since been paired off, finds himself running into the girl next door, Cassie - she's staying with her grandmother and he's housesitting in the ritzy part of town. She's looking for a fling, but Tate doesn't want to treat her that way. So. Much. Fun.

This is your summer beach read - it might feel like a fling, but you'll want to go back for more.

Tate and Cassie are everything you want from a summer romance. Loved every second of this edition to Avalon Bay.

4.5 ⭐️

This is just a great summer read that will have you rooting for the main characters! I LOVED the guy in this romance, Tate, who is known around Avalon Bay as someone who doesn’t commit, but is still respectful to women. You fall in love with his family, too, who own a boat selling business in the bay. Then there’s Cassie, a red headed senior in college who is visiting the Bay Area for the summer and has issues standing up to her narcissistic mother, nonchalant father, and distant stepmother. I don’t always love kids in books, but her twin sisters are adorable and add comedy in places where it’s needed.

This is the 3rd book in the Avalon Bay series and it is by far my favorite. The spice is great, the friendships made include characters we’ve already met, there’s lots of familial conflict as a subplot, and the romance is unproblematic and just fun to be around!

Honestly think this was my favorite book in the series so far. I remember wanting to have more of a story about Tate while reading the first two books. And Cassie was such a likable character.
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And man, Cassie’s mom… I did not see that all happening. Really good twist coming there!
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🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

Elle Kennedy's books are so addictive and I think this was my favorite of her Avalon Bay series! The characters are so sweet even as they decide to be "just friends," and it was so funny when Tate agreed to help Cassie find a summer fling as if they weren't perfect for each other! How the family drama resolves was so dramatic but also so heartfelt! I also loved seeing the other characters from the series (no spoilers) throughout this book! It was so fun to read more of their stories!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I had so much fun reading this sweet, moving and steamy romance, it really is the perfect summer read! Cassie is visiting Avalon Bay for the summer and staying with her grandmother. She is looking for a summer fling, to get some experience before she goes back for her senior year of college. Tate is a local who hides behind his surfer/player reputation but is hardworking, smart, charming, and sensitive. They have a couple meet cutes that are awkward and sweet, and they soon become friends. Cassie wants him to be her summer fling, but he likes her too much, turning her down, but offering to be her wingman instead. They live next door to each other, and end up spending lots of time together, having fun and even flirting a bit. Their attraction grows, and they soon agree to a summer fling with no expectations. But the more time they spend together, the more they begin to wonder if they could be more. But when family starts to get in the way, are they strong enough to fight for something/someone they never saw coming, who now owns their heart?
I loved Tate, and Cassie together, they were sweet, awkward at times, and had fun together. I felt their fiery chemistry from their very first interaction. Cassie was a great character, she was strong, supportive, and fun. I loved Tate and thought he was charming, kind, and romantic. I also loved all their friends who added so much fun and humor to this story as well. This romance melted my heart instantly with it's fabulous characters, heartfelt emotions and beautiful storyline. I was completely captivated and couldn't put it down!

A big thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and the author for the ARC of The Summer Girl! Expected release date: July 18, 2023

This is the 3rd installment of the Avalon Bay series, but I do believe it can be read as a stand alone novel. If you don't want spoilers for the first two books in the series, you should read those first as both MC's from those books show up in this one.

This book is your classic friends-to-lovers, beach read, with quite a bit of spice. If these are all things you're looking for, then you can stop your search! This novel is told in dual point of views which is a great way to get an inside look at each character's motivations. Both Cassie and Tate are likeable characters and its easy to root for their success as a couple through the whole story.

There are some subplots to this book that give the story a little more depth. Both MCs have serious topic with their respective parents that culminates into some drama towards the end of the book. This was really the point where I couldn't stop reading.

Ultimately, this is a cute, yet spicy young adult (ish) novel that is pleasing to read.

A fun fresh story of a young woman on the cusp of life. Loved the romance aspects,didn't expect the depths of the character's personalities. Made you root for their happy ending,I found the fmc to be very relatable

"The Summer Girl" grabs your attention from the very first scene where Cassie meets Tate. The meet/cute was definitely chuckle worthy. The story follows Cassie who is spending the summer on Avalon Bay visiting with her grandmother and also trying to connect with her father and his family. Cassie grew up in Avalon Bay but ended up living with her mom in Boston. She is in pursuit of a summer fling. Tate is attracted to Cassie but wants to keep her in the friend zone. What starts off as a friendship grows. However, forces beyond their control bring their relationship to a crossroad. This story is laced with humor and poignancy as Cassie navigates her summer in Avalon Bay.