Review: The Summer Share by Jenn McKinlay

 

The Summer Share by Jenn McKinlay

Publication Date: May 26th 2026 by Berkley

Pages: 368

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Hannah, a van-life travel blogger, and Simon are shocked to learn they’ve each inherited half of the same beach cottage courtesy of their grandfathers,. Hannah wants to keep the cottage, since it’s been a while since she’s put down roots and Simon wants to sell for financial reasons.

 

They butt heads over that, but part of the will stipulates they live there for two months before making any decisions. Cohabitating gives them a chance to see the other’s side and a chance to get to know each other. Of course, (this is a romance!) sparks of attraction fly between them.

 

The Summer Share is the perfect summer read! The small town of Cape Split in the Outer Banks of North Carolina sounded so charming and beautiful!  Exactly the kind of place I’d want to spend a summer! The quirky, friendly community welcome Hannah and Simon right away and give them glimpses into their grandfather’s lives. I loved the gentle slow‑burn romance and the way both characters find peace, acceptance, and love.

4 Stars

Book Description:

When two misfits discover they’ve inherited the same beach house, sparks fly in the most unexpected ways, in this hilarious and heartfelt rom-com from the New York Times bestselling author of Summer Reading.

Free-spirited travel influencer Hannah Spencer has spent five years touring the country in her vintage van. An unexpected inheritance from her Pops brings Hannah to Cape Split, North Carolina, where she learns she’s the new owner of a worse-for-wear seaside beach house. Or, rather, fifty percent of one. Turns out Simon O’Malley inherited the other half from his Gramps.

As Simon and Hannah spend the summer tag-teaming repairs on the crumbling cottage, they discover the house was once home to a timeless love story. Soon, they begin to wonder if the house’s romantic past may be a good omen for their future together. But there’s one problem—Simon is set on selling the property at the end of the summer.

Hannah thought one summer at the Split would be enough, except it isn’t like any place she’s ever been, and Simon isn’t like any man she’s ever known—and she’s thinking about putting down some roots. She just needs Simon to see their budding relationship and this newfound community the same way or their first summer share might also be their last.

Review: Love at First Book by Jenn McKinlay

 

Love at First Book by Jenn McKinlay

Publication Date: May 14th 2024 by Berkley

Pages: 368

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Love at First Book warmed this book lover’s heart! Such a winning combination of humor, romance, complicated family dynamics, friendship, and dealing with grief! The quaint, beautiful setting of Finn’s Hollow, Ireland was just icing on the cake!

Emily Allen, a librarian in Martha’s Vineyard, felt inspired by Samantha and Ben’s HEA (the couple from Summer Reading) to take life by the horns move to Ireland to take her dream job all the way in Finn’s Hollow, Ireland. Working for her favorite author, Siobhan Riordan, as assistant part of the time and filling in at her son’s bookstore, The Last Chapter the other part. While she’ll miss Sam, her best friend, taking the job removes Em from her mother’s manipulative clutches. That woman was something else!

What Em doesn’t count on is Kieran Murphy, Siobhan’s son, being less than happy with her arrival. This still doesn't dim Em’s elation with the whole situation. Siobhan is a dream to work with and the town and its quirky occupants are just lovely!

I find enemies-to-lovers a tricky trope. If the exchanges are too mean I’m not a fan. Not the case here. I absolutely loved the slow journey Em and Kieran took to love. They had some fun push and pull between them, and I was thrilled to see Em stand up for herself.  I was so happy Em had done the work to get free of her mother’s bullying and used that going forward.

I didn’t expect the story to quite so emotional and break my heart, but it did, but it also left me with so much joy!! I won’t spoil the story by elaborating. There was plenty of humor and lightness to balance out the grief and it just felt right. Love at First Book is a definite recommend!

5 Stars

Book Description:

When a librarian moves to a quaint Irish village where her favorite novelist lives, the last thing she expects is to fall for the author’s prickly son… until their story becomes one for the books, from the New York Times bestselling author of Summer Reading .

Emily Allen, a librarian on Martha’s Vineyard, has always dreamed of a life of travel and adventure. So when her favorite author, Siobhan Riordan, offers her a job in the Emerald Isle, Emily jumps at the opportunity. After all, Siobhan’s novels got Em through some of the darkest days of her existence.

Helping Siobhan write the final book in her acclaimed series—after a ten-year hiatus due to a scorching case of writer’s block—is a dream come true for Emily. If only she didn’t have to deal with Siobhan’s son, Kieran Murphy. He manages Siobhan’s bookstore, and the grouchy bookworm clearly doesn’t want Em around.

When Siobhan’s health takes a bad turn, she’s more determined than ever to finish her novel, while Kieran tries every trick in the book to get his mother to rest. Thrown into the role of peacemaker, Emily begins to see that Kieran's heart is in the right place. Torn between helping Siobhan find closure with her series and her own growing feelings for the mercurial Irishman, Emily will have to decide if she’s truly ready to turn a new page and figure out what lies in the next chapter.

About the Author

Jenn McKinlay is the award-winning New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of several mystery and romance series. Her work has been translated into multiple languages in countries all over the world. She lives in sunny Arizona in a house that is overrun with kids, pets, and her husband’s guitars.

Review: Summer Reading by Jenn McKinlay

 

Summer Reading by Jenn McKinlay

Publication Date: May 16th 2023 by Berkley

Pages: 438

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Sam quit her job after being passed over for a promotion as head chef she suspects is due to her dyslexia.  Now she’s spending the summer at Martha’s Vineyard to watch her younger half-brother, Tyler, while her parents are off on a European vacation. The timing couldn’t be more perfect. She can figure out what her next move will be while getting to know her younger brother.

On the ferry ride out she has an unfortunate accident with Ben, who she finds out is the library director. A man she’ll be seeing daily thanks to the Tyler’s robotics program taking place at the library where Ben works. There are sparks of attraction, but Sam wonders how a relationship would ever work when she has such issues with reading and Ben’s so very bookish. They end up thrown together over and over, and Sam offers to help Ben with his search for his father, and while Ben helps Sam write a cookbook with all the recipes her beloved grandmother shared with her.

Summer Reading was an easy romance to settle into and enjoy. I didn’t realize the hurdles some with dyslexia have to navigate and I appreciated learning about it through Sam’s story. My heart went out to her and the insecurities she struggled with because of it. I loved how Ben helped her realize how talented and smart she was and how wonderfully she coped with her disability. He was a sweetheart and a bookish hottie! Hard to resist!

Besides that, Sam was a spunky extrovert and a lot of fun! I enjoyed seeing her get to know her younger brother more, bond bring him out of some of his teenage angst. I really liked Em, Sam’s best friend, and enjoyed seeing them reconnect. Em’s story is next, and it sounds like a good one! Set in Ireland at a bookstore, I’m so there!

4 Stars

Book Description:

When a woman who'd rather do anything than read meets a swoon-worthy bookworm, sparks fly, making for one hot-summer fling in New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay's new rom-com.

For Samantha Gale, a summer on Martha's Vineyard at her family's tiny cottage was supposed to be about resurrecting her career as a chef, until she's tasked with chaperoning her half-brother, Tyler. The teenage brainiac is spending his summer at the local library in a robotics competition, and there's no place Sam, who's dyslexic, likes less than the library. And because the universe hates her, the library's interim director turns out to be the hot-reader guy whose book she accidentally destroyed on the ferry ride to the island.

Bennett Reynolds is on a quest to find his father, whose identity he's never known. He's taken the temporary job on the island to research the summer his mother spent there when she got pregnant with him. Ben tells himself he isn't interested in a relationship right now. Yet as soon as Sam knocks his book into the ocean, he can't stop thinking about her.

An irresistible attraction blossoms when Ben inspires Sam to create the cookbook she's always dreamed about and she jumps all in on helping him find his father, and soon they realize their summer fling may heat up into a happily ever after.