Samantha Gale is heading back home, to Martha’s Vineyard. She hasn’t been back to the island in years. After she didn’t get a promotion, she quit her job as a chef. With free time on her hands, she agrees to watch her teenage half-brother while her father and stepmother enjoy a cruise.
Samantha isn’t sure she’s cut out to be in charge. Her brother isn’t thrilled with being under her supervision. While she has time off, Samantha’s determined to figure out her next steps.
Samantha doesn’t read; she is dyslexic. She can’t imagine dating a book nerd, let alone a library director. But she can’t stop thinking about the man she met on the ferry either. Sharing her secret has never gone well for her, but maybe this time will be different.
Jenn McKinlay pens the novel of the summer! SUMMER READING is the ultimate beach read. From the meet-cute, to the brother-sister moments, to the mouth-watering food, I didn’t want to put this book down. The banter was amazing all around – from the Samwise moments between Samantha and Ben to the teasing between Samantha and Tyler. It was also interesting to read a book about someone who doesn’t read. The frank discussion of dyslexia and how it impacted Samantha was both fascinating and heartbreaking. I do love how Ben found a way to help Samantha see herself through his eyes in regard to her dyslexia and her self-esteem. Of course, the Easter Egg to McKinlay’s previous novel made me chuckle. I’m so glad that there’s a companion novel with Samantha’s best friend because I don’t want to leave these characters.
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 has dyslexia, 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.