Blog tour: Review of The Summer Deal by Jill Shalvis

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. ~ Goodreads

Source: ARC was provided via the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Review: In my early days of blogging, Jill Shalvis was one of my go to authors. Somehow I drifted away from her books (too many books - too little time syndrome) for a few years but noticed I had Rainy Day Friends on my book cart from a conference years ago. Wondering if my reading tastes had changed and if she was still a “go to author”, I picked it up to read with a little trepidation. I should not have worried – it was like coming home to a good friends and family.

Shalvis’s books are filled with love, family and connections. The characters are real and flawed but struggle to do the right thing. And there’s always an adorable pet or two!

The Summer Deal has all these things but surprised me with three POV’s. Brynn – coming home after a bad break up, moves in with her wonderful but hovering moms, Kinsey – Brynn’s childhood nemesis, prickly af, and dealing with serious health issues and one humdinger of a secret, and Eli – Kinsey’s best friend and Brynn’s childhood crush (it was very mutual).

Once Brynn is home, she realizes she can’t live in the same house as her overbearing mothers and takes up Eli’s offer to move into his place to help with rent. One problem. Kinsey lives there too.
Well, really multiple problems. Kinsey and Brynn's growing feelings for Eli. Can she trust either of them? Or her own judgement?

These three carry so much baggage – from their childhoods, with each other and the present day secrets they all keep. Secrets is not a trope I like. At all. But I think it was done really well here.
Being able to see each POV and the why of the secrets really helped me to understand where they were all coming from. It wasn’t malicious or done out of selfishness. In fact, it was born out of love and trying to keep each other safe.

I don’t want to say too much because the blurb keeps things vague so I will too but watching all three learn to open their hearts and learn to trust again was a beautiful thing.

The supporting characters were just as wonderful. Eli’s brother (hopefully he gets a book!), Kinsey’s boyfriend (if he gets his way), Brynn’s mom’s with their open hearts.

I’m SO glad I rediscovered this author and I won’t be taking a break from her again.


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Photo Credit: Susan Zweigle, ZR Studios






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