The Summer Deal
(Wildsone #5)
Jill Shalvis
June 2, 2020
William Morrow Paperbacks
Blurb: Brynn Turner desperately wishes she had it together, but her personal life is like a ping-pong match that’s left her scared and hurt after so many attempts to get it right. In search of a place to lick her wounds and get a fresh start, she heads back home to Wildstone.
And then there’s Kinsey Davis, who after battling serious health issues her entire twenty-nine years of life, is tired of hoping for . . . well, anything. She’s fierce, tough, and she’s keeping more than one bombshell of a secret from Brynn — her long-time frenemy.
But then Brynn runs into Kinsey’s best friend, Eli, renewing her childhood crush. The good news: he’s still easy-going and funny and sexy as hell. The bad news: when he gets her to agree to a summer-time deal to trust him to do right by her, no matter what, she never dreams it’ll result in finding a piece of herself she didn’t even know was missing. She could have real connections, possibly love, and a future—if she can only learn to let go of the past.
As the long days of summer wind down, the three of them must discover if forgiveness is enough to grasp the unconditional love that’s right in front of them.
Purchase Links:
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As I mentioned before, I’m going through my TBR pile and extracting the comfort food, regardless of when it’s publication date is, which is why some of the books won’t be available for a couple of month. That may help you groom your future TBR list.
So, yes, without a doubt, Jill Shalvis novels are comfort food and The Summer Deal, the fifth novel in the Wildstone series, is no exception.
The story of Brynn, a young woman seeking the ability to say “no” and become stronger and not be taken advantage of, is interwoven with Kinsey’s story, a young woman who can easily say “no” but is as vulnerable as Brynn. Likewise, Brynn’s crush and Kinsey’s best friend, Eli is vulnerable as he trusts no one he loves to stay in his life. I quickly came to care about each of these characters, even the very prickly Kinsey who takes a little longer to warm up to. And then the secondary characters, Eli’s playboy but loveable younger brother, Max, Brynn’s mothers, and Kinsey’s love interest, Deck, who really deserved to be a hero in his own book.
The Summer Deal is a nice balance of humor and drama. I like that the characters feel like real people who sometimes need it pointed out to them when they’re being hypocritical. The romance between Brynn and Eli went from slow burn to steamy and made a nice contrast to Kinsey and Deck’s relationship.
The Summer Deal is a good book, which should not be a disappointment to any of Shalvis’ die hard fans.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
rating:
4 out of 5 butterflies
We all need a little comfort reading right now, and this one certainly sounds like it fits the bill. I’m not overly familiar with this series, and now I’m wondering why I’ve skipped it over in the past. Fantastic review.
I remember when I read the first one it definitely felt more like women’s fiction/relationship novel. This series does seem to deal with more serious topics than her usual books. Thanks! 🙂
I read so many of her Lucky Harbor books, but I haven’t picked up any of her recent ones, think I might have to change that.
The Heartbreaker Bay series is lots of fun too!