Bwahahahaha! Just….insert lots of snort laughing. And what a brilliant concept for a rom/com — featuring every trope imaginable (and a few micro-tropes I’d never thought of!) in a desperate bid to find a happily ever after with somebody somehow and most definitely by the end of the summer. Oh Jane!

Think a series of worst first dates only themed. So many laugh-out-loud scenes as Jane tries to force sparks upon the unsuspecting single men of Sunset Harbor. Only, of course, those dreamy romantic tropes that play out so wonderfully in fiction don’t quite translate the same way in real life.

Unless it happens to be with the only man not on her list — Walker Collins. And the way that Keisel works Walker into the chaos that is Jane’s summer campaign is so well done! And oh my! The man is flirty and outrageous and knows how to rile Jane up without even trying. 🙂

And while ‘Summer Ever After’ is a lighthearted rom/com, it also has some deeper emotional layers that make the read even more satisfying. Oh — and that ending? — Wowza — silver screen worthy and toe-curling good!

I listened to the audio edition brilliantly narrated by Amanda Friday and Andy Harrington. They delivered the teasing banter to perfection and really captured the charm and eccentricities of these characters — especially Jane’s Pollyanna-on-steroids persona. Such an easy and captivating listen. Highly recommend.

My thanks to the author, Dreamscape Media and Net Galley for providing me with an audio edition of this book.

If you’re looking for the ultimate summer romance, Summer Ever After by Kortney Kelsey is an absolute must!

From the moment I dived into the Falling for Summer series and the charming world of Sunset Harbor, I was hooked!

Jane, with her sunshiny personality and endless optimism, is on a mission to find love using every romance trope imaginable, and watching her navigate this hilarious journey with Walker, the swoon-worthy pro-golfer, is pure delight. Their chemistry is electric, the banter is on point, and the tension? Off the charts!

This audiobook is fantastically done and is a perfect blend of fun, flirtation, and heartfelt moments, making it an unforgettable start to the Falling For Summer series. Trust me, you won’t want to miss this delightful, trope-filled adventure!

Huge thank you to @netgalley and @dreamscape_media for the opportunity to listen to this amazing audio book!

Book Review:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Summer Ever After by Kortney Keisel is the first book in the Falling for Summer Series (a multi-author, interconnected series).

Jane is a hopeless romantic. She grew up watching her parents’ storybook love story unfold before her own eyes. Naturally, she assumed her love life would follow in their footsteps. Unfortunately, finding her own Prince Charming is proving more difficult than she anticipated. Will Jane be able to manifest her very own happily-ever-after, or is she destined for singleness?

I had the pleasure of listening to this as an audiobook. Amanda Friday and Andy Harrington did a fantastic job narrating. Not only did they bring Walker and Jane to life, but the entire town of Sunset Harbor.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this book. Being able to enjoy it as I went about my day made the ten plus hours fly by!

I highly recommend giving it a listen or picking up a physical copy if you enjoy:
-clean, sports romances
-the best friend’s brother trope
-dual POVs
-interconnected series by multiple authors

Special thanks to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, and Kortney Keisel for allowing me to listen to this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

What a way to start a series! This was such an entertaining palate cleansing book to read! All of us romance loving bookish girlies get to see what feels like every single one of our favorite swoony moments played out in one book.

The story line was so cute and flowed perfectly in every way. I was hooked from the beginning to the awesome epilogue. Jane is such a fun FMC to follow through her “Summer Of Jane Hayes” as she tries to find a man by forcing some fun tropes that we all know and love. Our MMC, Walker, is the sweetest charmer of a man who is super witty and always seems to be there to save the day. There were so many other great characters that made this book hilarious and lovable. It really sets the stage for us to find out more about each person.

I listened to the Audiobook version and let me tell you… the narrators were perfect. I enjoyed and appreciated the way they filled their roles, even when in the other character’s POV. Most audiobook narrators just use a different pitch of their voice when reading what the other person says, but the way that the opposite narrator steps in for their parts throughout should be how it is always done! It made it so much easier in my brain to see the characters develop.

This was the perfect introduction to Sunset Harbor Island and all of its occupants. I can’t wait to get to see and learn more about them through the rest of the books from the other 6 authors. I absolutely loved this sweet, entertaining, happy read. It left me feeling refreshed and excited for more!

Cute story idea but I found the narrator really irritating, which made it hard to like this book! I love the idea of this fictional island though, and hope to pick up a physical copy of this and future books!

✨ 𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 ✨

Summer Ever After
Kortney Keisel
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Available on KU

Did I listen to this book in less than 24 hours? Yes
Did I love it? ALSO YES!

This book, well really the whole series, was high on my summer TBR. So when I saw the audios go up on NetGalley I knew I had to grab them. Thank you @netgalley and @dreamscapemedia for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

This book follows Jane. A single woman living on the island of Sunset Cove in Florida. Jane is ready for love even though her small island isn’t teeming with eligible men.
So Jane deems this summer the summer of Jane Heyes. She will use tropes to try to find love.

I absolutely loved the premise of this book. This is the first book of Kortney’s I’ve read and it will definitely not be my last. This story is filled with laugh out loud moments, (the fake choking) packed with swoony romance, and will have you feeling giddy (and I don’t use that word often, but it’s the best one to describe it😂)

Walker and Jane’s chemistry was PERFECT! I love the extra dynamic of the best friend’s brother trope. I feel like I could just go on and on about how cute this book was… I’ll just end by saying GO and read this book. 🥰

Fav Quote:
“Because when you finally figure out who you want to spend the rest of your life with, the rest of your life can’t start soon enough”

Narration is done by Amanda Friday and Andy Harrington. It was amazing. Amanda Friday is quickly becoming one of my favorite narrators!

Based off of this book I cannot wait to continue the Falling for Summer series! 😍

I love Jane and Walker’s story. Best friend’s brother, small beach town, and all the micro tropes in their love story. It was cute and swoon worthy. However, I was not a fan of the dating based on book tropes subplot in this; it took away from the story and main plot. The narrators on it though! They were super talented, and the production was fantastic. I will definitely be looking out for the rest of this series’ audiobooks.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC.

•𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭!•

This is my second audiobook ever and my second in the Falling for Summer series. I’m quickly becoming addicted! I didn’t love the female narrator in this book as much because her voice was just a touch obnoxious and she didn’t switch up her voice when the character was actually talking rather than just thinking. It made it a little harder to follow along with, but I still adored this book!

“𝙱𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎, 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎,”especially when it comes to finding romance and love. (the mantra that Jane has decided to live by) And of course the more she says it, the more it ups her chances of it working. It’s the Summer of Jane Hayes and she’s on a mission to find love!

I love that Jane is a romantic at heart because I can totally relate to her there! The despair while thinking you might not find that love that you have always longed for and looking at every guy as a possible candidate for marriage. It’s not a particularly fun phase, but it definitely keeps life interesting. Jane’s forced romances kept me highly entertained as she did everything in her power to get guys to fall in love with her. Her pink list of tropes was legendary 😂

The grandmas really are stealing the show in this series. Grandma Deedee is absolutely hilarious and I love her! From her scandalous romance books to her bluntness when it comes to Walker and his ex-girlfriend at his golf games (or a Hooter’s commercial as she put it).

“𝚆𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚛 𝙲𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎.”

Walker was absolutely perfect for Jane in every way possible! His constant flirting, his deep attraction to her, his protective nature all combined together to form the most romantic man Jane could ever hope for. I love how he never gave up on her and how he allowed himself to be humbled and work on his attitude when it came to his family. They helped each other become better versions of themselves and I loved it!

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance the listen to this audiobook! All opinions listed above are my own.

I love this audiobook! It is so much fun and I love this small town set on a tiny island. Makes me want to go back to Florida! The narrators were incredible and I can’t recommend this series enough

Thank you so much for this wonderful ARC!!

I had the best time on Sunset Harbour and CANNOT WAIT TO READ/LISTEN TO THE REST OF THE SERIES!

I really needed a cute summery book with characters that felt like real people and this book was exactly that!
I love how genuine and lovely Jane is and how much she cares for her community and about her friendship.
The love story was sweet and very believable!

I can’t wait for Capri’s story!!


The narration was great too, both actors did a great job at narrating both protagonists aswell as an ensemble of other characters!!

A love story for lovers of all the romance tropes.

“My red flag is that I believe in happily ever after. And the romance tropes that get you there”

📚 small town
📚 sports romance
📚 best friends brother
📚 dual timeline
📚 dual POV & narration

🚫 clean romance

|Synopsis|
Jane decides this summer she is going to try and artificially recreate romance tropes in order to find her happily ever after. She isn’t expecting her best friend’s brother, the pro golfer, to keep on ruining her perfect set ups.

|Thoughts|
This was such a sweet read that had me feeling giddy.

“I’m falling in love this summer. And I’m doing it with all the tropes you think aren’t real”

This was the cutest and the way the tropes played out should make all the lovers of romance hearts flutter. With the classics and some micro tropes thrown in too, forced proximity, he cares for her when sick, one bed.

“You look good wearing my jersey”

This story left me wanting more of their story.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher & author for an arch in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own

So so good! That ending in the rain! 🫠 love this original spin on best friend’s older brother and I have loved this whole series so far! I listened to the audio and the narrators were amazing

Summer Ever After by Kortney Keisel

Series: Falling for Summer bk 1
Genre: Island Rom-Com
Romance Level: Closed-door 1
Audio Release Date: July 21, 2024
Narrators: Amanda Friday & Andy Harrington
Indie published
Characters: Jane Hayes and Walker Collins

My Favorite Parts:
Best Friend’s Brother/Forbidden Romance
The Heimlich
Trope testing
Intro to men of Sunset Harbor
Damsel in distress
Nickname
List discovery
First kiss
Blind date
Boating
Loopy Jane
Learning golf
Grand gesture and Epilogue

This book is like a buffet of tropes! Not sure what is your favorite rom-com trope? Well, read this one and try a whole slough of them out! Trope Buffet might be my new favorite trope!
Jane is this happy go lucky, optimistic gal who grew up with both parents who loved each other and only wants the same. She decides to instigate the Summer of Jane Hayes, in which she makes a list of tropes to try out on men and fall in love before summer ends.
Walker is coming back to the island for the first time in a very long time to escape a bad round of golfing tournaments. He runs into Jane, his sister's best friend since they were very young. In their eyes, they are off-limits to each other. He is such a flirt, in the very best way. I loved the way he quickly falls for her, but can't admit it. He is smooth as molasses and knows it too!
Oooh boy, I adored Jane and Walker’s chemistry. They are the epitome of opposites attract in this best friend’s brother, forbidden romance rom-com.
When Jane mentions the song Somewhere Only We Know by Keane, I had to look it up and listen to it. And discovered I had never heard it and rather enjoyed it.

This book was such a fun way to start off the series, even if it was not my first intro to the island and characters. I enjoyed this one immensely due to the mix of tropes, hilarity, and fun! I laughed out loud during so many parts, I kid you not and swooned so many times.

Review on Audio: Amanda and Andy do a fantastic duet narration of Jane and Walker’s dual POV!

Content warning: minor amount of blood from cut, minor s*xual innuendos, kisses
Trigger warning: Estranged family, death of family member (past), grief from said death (present)

I received a complimentary copy of the audiobook from Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own and true!

This is the first of the Falling for Summer Series. Jane Hayes is desperate to fall in love over the summer. She creates this plan of setting herself up with every single, available guy in her small town, and uses every romance troupe she can think of. During her journey, she hangs out with her childhood best friend’s older brother, pro golfer, Walker. Yes, Jane is annoying at first with her constant need to fall in love. But, in the end I did enjoy her character. I loved the dual POVs and the two narrators that represented both Jane and Walker were spot on. The writing was good, and the storyline was easy to follow. I did want to keep going to see what would happen next to Jane. If you are looking for a clean romance summer read, then you should pick this one up! I am looking forward to reading the second in this series.

This was a cute listen! Looking forward to the rest of this big series!

Thank you to dreamscape audio and Netgalley for the chance to listen to this ARC!

I have read or listened to four of the other books in this series before I listen to this audiobook. The first book of the series. Perhaps that was my mistake. I didn’t really care for the female narrator. I’m not sure why it just didn’t sound smooth. The second thing that bothered me was from the very beginning so much of the talk was about scandalous romance books for their book club and I thought why are we even talking about this? This is supposed to be a clean and wholesome romance. Honestly, I was ready to give it up, but I persevered. I would say about halfway through the book, I became interested enough to at least finish. I didn’t mind the character of Walker. He seemed fairly genuine, but Jane was just childish. I thought she was reliving her teenage years or something. I’m glad I read some of the other books before this, because I probably would not have finished the series, I take that back, most of the authors are auto buy for me! Kortney is a new author for me and because I hear good things about her I would try another one of her books. I also may have liked it better if I had read it instead of listen to the audiobook so I’m pretty on the fence about recommending the book. I do think this series is fun and lighthearted and the characters all tie in together. received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was a really cute and fun summer listen - I listened while out on my daily beach walks and this added to the ambience!

There is so much to love with Jane and Walker! I love the Best Friend's older brother trope! Excited to see what comes next in this series! The narrators did a fantastic job with this sweet Summer Romance!

I received an audio ARC through Netgalley and all opinions are my own.

Summer Ever After is the first book in the Falling For Summer series. They all read fine as standalones. This one was a fun installment, with all the book and trope references, but my least favorite so far. It did get a little repetitive that she was so obsessed with finding romance with those tropes but shes a romcom/romance girlie and she wants her HEA.

Jane is very adamant to stay in that town and very specific about being in a relationship by the end of the summer. It was a little annoying and obsessive to say the least. Also, the fact that she was obsessed and in love with her best friend's brother for 15 years and never mentioned it because her best friend Capri was so specific in not dating her brother. I thought that was too excessive as it was to the detriment of her friend and brother's happiness. There's things that just really ticked me off in this one unfortunately.

It is also a really slow burn. I did think about giving up at a certain point because they only get together the last 10% of the book. I would've liked to see more. Even With all this it is still a fun and easy summer read that a lot of romance girlies out there will love.

✨️Thank you to @netgalley, @dreamscapemedia & Kortney Keisel for my gifted ALC in exchange for an honest review.

summer Ever After
A Sweet Romantic Comedy
by Kortney Keisel
Narrated by Amanda Friday; Andy Harrington

I received an ARC of this audiobook from Netgalley.

This audiobook was a bit too trope-tastic for my taste.

Jane is the hometown girl that wants to live right where she is forever. So, she hatches a plan to fall in love with someone else who wants to spend forever there too. The plan? Use all the reasonable or semi-reasonable or even ridiculous romance tropes to force love to happen.

Walker is a self-absorbed cocky pro golfer. He also happens to be Jane’s lifelong crush, but things could never work out with them - he’s her best friend’s older brother and he doesn’t live on the island anymore anyway.

This story had the potential to be better than it was. Jane was too happy-go-lucky while clearly experiencing deep loneliness for my taste. And Walker was hard to like or care about.

I love the theme of the book series: a fictional island off the coast of Florida and a group of friend’s find love one by one. It’s great. I love these types of romance series. I don’t care that they are fictional or unrealistic at all. It’s fun and an oasis away from the humdrum of the ordinary.

I just wasn’t that into this book. However, because I already listened to an accompanying book I do think this book is worth a listen for the series.