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Summer Girl by Elle Kennedy
Book 3 - Avalon Bay series

I really enjoyed Good Girl Complex; however, Summer Girl was by far my favourite of the Avalon Bay series though. It was a light summer read, with some original and unexpected twists and developments that kept me coming back for more.

Teddy Hamilton & Caitlin Elizabeth did a wonderful job of the narration, and represented their characters well.

The dynamic between Cassie and Tate was fun and flirty, yet mature and not dramatic. The straightforward and direct communication they had with each other was a refreshing change for a college age romance. It was fun and romantic and a little spicy. A perfect combination for a quick summer read!

Thank you to Elle Kennedy & Macmillan Audio for this ARC to review through Net Galley.

THIS REDEEMED BOOK 2!

I really really enjoyed Cassie and Tate's story!! What started out as a flirty and banter-filled friendship turned into a sizzling summer affair which then grew to even more. There was a lot of family drama (honestly didn't see THAT twist coming) but I just loved the evolution of these two and how well they fit together! I even got a little emotional at times!! 🥹

⛵️ friends to lovers
⛵️ virgin heroine
⛵️ sizzling chemistry and fun banter
⛵️ CUTE NICKNAMES
⛵️ great communication (so refreshing!)

Okay, here’s my honest rating: 3.5/5 stars, and I actually rounded down to 3 stars. I was honored to be gifted the audiobook for Summer Girl from Netgalley, and I seriously hoped that this would make me an Elle Kennedy fan… but it didn’t. Honestly, it’s not the author or her stories. It’s me. I’m not into the lovey/sexy books anymore, and I just skim over s*x scenes nowadays! I like a whole plot where the romance is intertwined. This book is all about the romance… and THAT’S OKAY! My review is truly based off of my life right now. Had I read it 7 years ago, I would’ve ate it up!

The book itself has really relatable characters that brought me back to my early 20s! The characters are lovable and propel our main female forward. My favorite dynamic is how Cassie engages with her narcissistic mom. I am lucky not to have a narcissist as a mom, but I know a person or two who I would label on the narcissist scale. It was nice reading something that validated what I go through when I’m around those people, and it’s really nice not feeling alone.

I hope everyone who reads this book enjoys it even though it wasn’t for me! I can see this being a top read for the generation in their early twenties! And guess what?! You don’t have to read books 1 and 2 to get the full effect of book 3!! They’re all different stories with character appearances in each book!

This book was fantastic!! I loved it!! Couldn’t put it down! I have read the first two books as well . You don’t have to read them in order to enjoy this book but it does bring to life all the side characters. Bravo to the author and the audiobook narration was on point! They did a fantastic job with this book and I loved it!

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 I also listened to the audiobook of this and I was stoked to see that Teddy Hamilton was narrating Tate, he was perfection. This was also the first book narrated by Caitlin Elizabeth and was also phenonomenal!

This is my favorite book in the Avalon Bay series!

If you're looking for a perfect summer read with the beach vibes, look no further. Cassie is looking for a Summer fling when her neighbor puts her in the friend zone. She also has a manipulative mother, who constantly tears her down. Tate has such large dreams, but wants to support his family business.

I adored this small town, summer romance and the wide variety of characters. Easily devoured the entire book in a single day and was so glad to have another adventure in Avalon Bay with some characters we've previously met and loved.

The dual narration was perfect, especially with the amazing Teddy Hamilton and Caitlin Elizabeth.

Hands down - The Summer Girl is the best of this series. I love this beach series by Elle Kennedy. I think the town and the hotel and the group up friends is just great. Summer Girl is a fling romance. Let's do this just while I am here for the summer. A fling. It won't last. until it does. Filled with great friends, summer fun and family drama that blew my mind, The Summer Girl is the book we want to read poolside or at the actual beach. You can totally read it as a stand alone. But there's some history in the first two books that you won't be sad to get.

I absolutely loved this book. I loved the characters in this book. I especially loved that both MC’s voiced their opinions and communicated with each other and had a relationship that didn’t feel toxic. The only reason it was not a 5 star audiobook is because of the female narrator. She sounded like a my little pony character and I couldn’t see how anyone would want to listen to that. It wasn’t 100 percent her voice but her tone where it sounded like a children’s show narrator.

The Summer Girl is book three in the Avalon Bay series. The Good Girl Complex is my fave of the three, but this one was a very close second!

I love the setting & how previous characters, and their stories, are woven into this book. Cassandra & Tate's story is sweet and I enjoyed their banter. At times Tate seemed immature but it was nice to watch him mature as their relationship progressed. Not a huge fan of the twist that is sprung on us late in the story, but overall I have really loved this series. Hoping it will continue with a book 4.
Caitlin Elizabeth & Teddy Hamilton really brought these characters to life. I, like most audiobook lovers, have favorite narrators but these two are giving the best of the best a run for their money! Thank you to Macmillan Audio for allowing me early access to The Summer Girl in exchange for my honest review. 4 stars.

Leave it to me to start my Elle Kennedy journey in the middle of a companion series. Oops. While The Summer Girl is book three in the Avalon Bay companion series, and the past characters do show up in this book, my reading was not hindered by starting here. I liked the past characters and plan to go back and read their stories.

After Cassie and Tate's initial "meet cute," I struggled with this book until the 30% mark. I even considered DNFing at one point. I struggled with the dialogue, and the inner monologues of the two main characters. Once I got used to it, the story fell into place.

Cassie and Tate are great together. Their banter was good, and they had a lot of chemistry. I liked seeing a playboy-type character who cares about the girl's feelings.

There is a lot of family drama involved here, and Cassie's character grows significantly because of it. The third act break up wasn't even obnoxious, it made sense with the story, and neither of them is the "bad guy."

I think a lot of people will enjoy this. It is the perfect, mildly steamy beach read.

The narrators were both great. Teddy Hamilton does Tate's narration, so it is perfection.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this. I initially started reading not realizing it was part of a series, but ironically, I read the first two. Loved the storyline, loved the character development. I could see this group of characters grow and even more written about them.

The perfect spicy Summer romance story that will take you for a ride. From stranger, to friends, to a Summer hook-up to maybe something more but will it last after Summer?

Thank you to NetGallery and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

Let's start with what I liked about this book. The narrators for sure. Elizabeth and Hamilton were a perfect duo and I enjoyed both (especially over having only one narrator). Their tones were perfect for this summer beach read and they really captured the characters. Onto the story itself. It was binge-able and perfect for laying out in the sun by the pool or the beach. Cassie did have some growth throughout which was nice to see. The romance was cute, swoon worthy, and spicy. (And there was no miscommunication troupe which is such a win)

My biggest issue with the writing was that some of it seemed to fall flat. Besides Cassie, none of the characters seemed to have much depth. Sadly, for me, the secondary plot also fell flat. It tackled some serious topics, but I think there was too much overgeneralization and keeping things light and happy.

Overall I enjoyed this novel, but I do wish more had been put into the side plots.

okay wow!!! I think I might have found my first favorite read of the summer!!! when I started this book I immediately knew that it was going to be a five-star read from the very first chapter! I loved the storyline and the friendly banter between Cassie and Tate. It's not your average boy-next-door rom-com, this book has everything you might want in a summer book, dirty talk, some voyeurism, a small town, town games/competition, a dog dad, a sexy man who sails, a crazy plot twist and a friendship with the goal of helping our FMC find a summer fling. This was a great audiobook to listen to and I loved that it was a duet.

"The need to belong is deeply ingrained in us. I think its because there is no worst feeling in the world than being on the outside looking in"

I loved this narration and felt the narrators really brought the characters and their emotions to life. I always love dual narrators. Well done.

This is the perfect summer romance.
Cassie returns to Avalon Bay to say goodbye to the inn that’s been in her family for years. She spends the summer with her grandma and meets Tate, a hot guy at a beach party, who she runs into while he’s getting dumped by his FWB.

It just so happens he’s house sitting her grandma’s neighbors house and after trying so hard not to become flings for each other, they decide they can’t keep their eyes or hands off each other.

This was perfectly spicy. There is some Seggsy boat time and sneaking into bedrooms at night. The chemistry between these two was just what I needed. I loved following their friends to flings to lovers.

Cassie’s mom was a narcissistic bish, and the worst character in the book, but all that aside I liked this one a lot and it made for a great summer romance!
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HEY EVERYBODY DID YOU KNOW THAT CASSANDRA IS A LIL TINY GIRLIE WITH A MASSIVE CHEST? SHE ONLY MENTIONS IT AT LEAST THREE TIMES IN EVERY SCENE IN CASE YOU MISSED IT THE FIRST 8,000 TIMES.

This is my first Elle Kennedy, so maybe this isn't the norm, but if someone tried to drop a "you'll never guess which popular romance author is actually a cishet man using a female pen name" I would in face be able to guess IMMEDIATELY.

I'm rounding up to 2 stars because I actually finished the whole thing, but it was a ROUGH 1.5 for me.

4.5 Stars rounded up! We return to the beach town of Avalon Bay in The Summer Girl, where rising college senior Cassie spends the summer at her grandma’s home at the Bay. She’s determined to have a summer fling, and when she meets the very attractive and charismatic Tate, she’s immediately smitten. Even though there are immediate sparks, Tate wants to keep their relationship platonic and work on being friends. As the summer goes on, they form undeniable chemistry and explore the possibilities of a situationship for the rest of summer.

I feel like each book is better than the last in this series, but The Summer Girl can definitely be read as a standalone with minimal spoilers. Even though the characters definitely feel young and a bit surface-level, this was a nice summer escape read that would be perfect to enjoy by the pool or beach. Teddy Hamilton and Caitlin Elizabeth voice these characters flawlessly in this 12 hour audiobook.

Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for the advanced review copies.

This was another great addition to Elle’s Avalon Bay series! These are perfect summer beach reads! I love seeing the characters from previous books come back into the next one. Looking forward to more!

I am thankful to have been able to listen to this book as an ARC! I have never read this author before, but I’ve heard a lot about her. I am pleasantly surprised how much I ended up liking this!! It is extremely well rounded and developed. It is full of fully developed characters, emotions, fun *and* lots of spice! At one point, I was pretty sure I was going to DNF this book, but I decided to stick it out since I was given the privilege of receiving it as an ARC and I am so glad I did! It ended up being a five star read (well, listen) for me!!! I can’t wait to go back and read books one and two in this series!

Add this to your TBR for release day July 18, 2023!!

The Summer Girl is the third installment in the Avalon Bay series by Elle Kennedy. It’s about Tate, a character introduced in the first two books, and Cassie who grew up in Avalon Bay until her parents divorced and she moved to Boston with her mom. She’s visiting for the summer to spend time with her grandma who is the previous owner of the beacon hotel. Cass wants to find a fling for the summer and Tate seems like the perfect choice given their mutual attraction and that he’s house sitting the neighbors house. Tate however doesn’t want to risk a friendship with her being ruined so they decide to be just friends. Their attraction pulls them together again and again until they finally start to see each other and swear it will only be casual. However there are secrets neither of them see coming that threaten to tear them apart.

I really enjoyed this book, Cass and Tate had a great dynamic and banter. It was a really fun friends to lovers summer read. The relationships each of them had with their parents felt really flushed out and added a lot of character development. I thought Cassie always finding a silver lining to avoid dealing with tough emotions would grate on me but Elle really gives you insight into those motivations. I love the growth/healing Cassie has and how Tate aids in that. We also get to see glimpses of how the rest of the friend group is doing and how seamless Cass fits into their group. This was my favorite of the series and I love that Elle through in the connection of Cass attending Briar University. Ultimately I felt this book had great lessons about finding your voice, forgiveness and learning to sometimes put your needs first to find happiness.

The Narration:
I’m a big fan of Teddy Hamilton and really enjoyed him in this book. He has really amazing range and does a great job distinguishing characters. I really felt like Caitlin Elizabeth was a great fit for Cassie. The two together really brought the book to life. The flow was moderately paced, with easy to follow transitions. If you like audiobooks this would be a great one to listen to.