In a Nutshell Reviews - Library Loans

In a Nutshell Reviews are my version of mini-reviews, because sometimes, you just want the highlights.

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The Summer Girl by Elle Kennedy
Published by St. Martin's Griffin on July 18, 2023
Age/Genres: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Goodreads

College student Cassie Soul hasn’t spent an entire summer in Avalon Bay in years, not since her parents divorced and her mother spitefully whisked her away to Boston. Now that her grandmother is selling the boardwalk hotel that’s been in their family for five decades, Cassie returns to the quaint beach town to spend time with family, ring in her twenty-first birthday… and maybe find herself a summer fling.

On her first night in town, she finds the perfect candidate: Tate Bartlett, Avalon Bay’s fun-loving golden boy.

Tate, sailing instructor and lovable player, is no stranger to flings. In fact, he’s always down for a good time. But the moment he meets Cassie, he knows she’s not the girl you play games with. Cassie is gorgeous, hilarious, and, frankly, the coolest person he’s ever met. The last thing he wants to do is risk breaking her heart, and so he reluctantly puts her in the friend-zone… only to realize he made a huge mistake. Soon, his attraction to Cassie becomes impossible to ignore. He wants that fling now. Big-time.

And maybe even something more.

As Cassie and Tate walk the line between friends and lovers, they’re about to discover that their situation is the least complicated part of this equation. Because Avalon Bay is full of secrets—and their relationship might not survive when those secrets come to light.

Cassie was looking for a summer fling, but Tate had put her in the friend-zone. Will they be able to resist their mutual attraction?

This was another solid book in the Avalon Bay series. The pros, for me, were definitely the hero and heroine. They had great chemistry, and I loved the way they talked, like really talked. These talks ended up revealing a lot of buried things, like pain and regret, and would result in them providing comfort and encouragement to each other.

Though their issues seemed different on the surface, underneath, it was easy to see that both Tate and Cassie often kept quiet about their own wants and needs because they did not want to rock the boat. I liked that they pushed each other to confront these issues, to be assertive, and to put their needs front and center. It was especially important for Cassie, as hers involved her parents and was quite damaging to her.

I kept reading reviews talking about "the twist". I saw parts of that coming. I understand we needed some sort of "conflict", but I didn't feel it had to involve all the parties it did in order to have an impact. I could take or leave parts of this, but at least I felt it was used well in the story.

Overall, I throughly enjoyed my return trip to Avalon Bay. It was wonderful catching up with our previous couples while watching new love bloom. The changes and new experiences in Tate and Cassie's lives were fantastic, and I was left excited and really happy for them.

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Agatha Arch is Afraid of Everything by Kristin Bair O'Keeffe
Published by Alcove Press on November 10, 2020
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Fiction

Goodreads

A quirky, nervous wreck of a New England mom is forced to face her many fears in this touching, irresistible novel from author Kristin Bair.

Agatha Arch's life shatters when she discovers her husband in their backyard shed, in flagrante delicto, giving the local dog walker some heavy petting. Suddenly, Agatha finds herself face to face with everything that frightens her...and that's a loooooong list.

Agatha keeps those she loves close. Everyone else, she keeps as far away as possible. So she's a mystery to nearly everyone in her New England town. To her husband, she's a saucy, no-B.S. writer. To her Facebook Moms group, she's a provocateur. To her neighbor, she's a standoffish pain in the butt. To her sons, she's chocolate pudding with marshmallows. And to her shrink, she's a bundle of nerves on the brink of a cataclysmic implosion.

Defying her abundant assortment of anxieties, Agatha dons her "spy pants"--a pair of khakis whose many pockets she crams with binoculars, fishing line, scissors, flashlight, a Leatherman Super Tool 300 EOD, candy, and other espionage essentials--and sets out to spy on her husband and the dog walker. Along the way, she finds another intriguing target to follow: a mysterious young woman who's panhandling on the busiest street in town.

It's all a bit much for timorous Agatha. But with the help of her Bear Grylls bobblehead, a trio of goats, and a dog named Balderdash, Agatha may just find the courage to build a better life.

This was one of those funny books about something that isn't funny. Agatha's husband cheated on her and left her for the other woman. Gone was her "boys" - her husband and her two children. This man who had served as a buffer between Agatha and her fears was now making a new life without her. Her children now had a life separate from her, and the only person Agatha had to turn was her therapist. I have to admit, I felt bad for her.

And though it was hilarious at times, watching Agatha unravel was also sort of sad. But, there was hope. Agatha started to make connections with the very same women she normally ridiculed. She put that transitive property of love to good use and made some friends who gave her the support she needed to accept that her marriage was over. She took steps to move forward, and she faced her fears. I was rather proud of her by the end of the book.

Overall, this was a tale of healing which was punctuated with lots of humor.

What are you afraid of?
Let us know in the comments!