OMG! Absolutely gorgeous story! I cannot stop gushing about it!
I absolutely loved every bit of this book!

As the story begins, we see Leah having problems setting boundaries with her mum (or making her mom respect the boundaries she's set), trust issues and beating herself for her past mistakes. When Brendon comes into Leah's life, things start to look better. Leah learns a lot of things from Brendon - from forgiving herself to forgiving her overly protective mum.

For the 'horror'/'humorous bit of the story, we have Roger the seagull who hovers around wherever Leah and Brendon go.

Highly recommended!

A seagull summer was initially quite hard to get into but I’m glad I persevered as it grew on me as the story unfolded!set in deepest darkest Devon it portrays friendship building against the odds, love amongst the previously damaged and a coming to terms with your lot!
Leah is away working with her able assistant when Australian Brendan happens upon them, then her mother and brother arrive unexpectedly to add to the mix and not forgetting roger the seagull!A totally dysfunctional /eclectic group of people who against the odds flourish, change and embrace new things!
Thank you net galley for this early read.

I enjoy Jane Lovering's books. She is an excellent storyteller who creates wonderful storylines with engaging characters. I thought this was a sweet, slow burn romance. I enjoyed the storyline and the characters, but I really struggled to connect with the main character, Leah. I understand that the way she is is due to her upbringing. However, I found her irritating and it took me a long time to warm up to her. I think Roger and Brendon made it a more enjoyable read. It is a good story and a fun book in which to escape.

I would like to thank Jane Lovering, Farrago Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Wrap yourself up in a warm blanket of a sunny Dorset seaside cottage and a rather special seagull! This delightful tale tells of the influence of an unlikely bunch of characters drawn together by family, work and a few chance encounters. Leah and Tass reside in a tumble down cottage for a few weeks of summer vacation research. By chance a wonderfully traditional Aussie dude and a rather obnoxious seagull pitch in for the ride. Initially they find it hard to gel, with somewhat opposite personalities and outlooks on life, but as the weeks unfold, they find similarities that draw them together and challenge their deep rooted beliefs and behaviours.

Jane writes with great depth of feeling and expresses eloquently some of the internal troubles that Leah in particular faces. She is more than once spot on with her inferences and expressions and this heartwarming tale draws you in to finish almost as soon as you have started.

Some 500 pages devoured in just a couple of sittings, I recommend this book to all lovers of a good chick-lit with a bit of grip. If you’re looking for a holiday read this is a perfect choice. It’s a story that will leave you feeling warm and tingly inside and send you scouring the British coast for a cheeky but affectionate seagull with a grey tuft of feathers on his head (but watch you guard your cake in the process!). 😂

Just lovely 😊

With thanks to NetGalley for arranging an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second book in the Seasons by the Sea series, but it can definitely be read as a standalone.

Leah is a scientist who goes to Dorset to research seaweed samples and stays in a fairly remote cottage tied to the job. Leah has been damaged by an unconventional upbringing which results in her being lacking in social skills, as well as the recent loss of her best friend to cancer.

Leah’s research assistant is Tass, and the author has dealt with gender fluidity and the use of preferred pronouns in a well-researched, sympathetic way.

Brendon is an Australian who has come over to the UK to research his family history, in particular his vanishing great-grandfather. Being a genealogist myself, I loved Brendon and his research!

Leah and Brendon meet, and she offers him accommodation in one of the outbuildings at her cottage. They’re very different from each other, but they strike up a friendship.

This is a lovely, summer read and I recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrago for an advance reader copy in return for an honest review.

I felt the first half of the book, which sets up Leah’s issues, was the best part. As an introvert myself, her behavior and thoughts are spot on.I also tend to take things as literally as she does. Seeing her struggle and despair at not being “normal” made me cry with sympathy. The second half of the book had a few incidents that seemed a bit more staged and I could sense the strings being pulled to move Leah and Brendon closer together and towards self understanding. I guessed who was behind something that was spooking Leah and wondered that she never made any attempt to discover who that person was. Brendon’s search for information about his family was also a plot point that seemed to fizzle out.

The romance is the slow burn variety but then given how unsure of herself that Leah is, nothing else would have worked for her. I was delighted that it appears that Brendon and Leah are on the same page about parenthood (neither wants it). This is almost never the case in romance books and I wanted to stand up and applaud. They are also going to keep taking things quietly and see how the relationship goes which makes perfect sense to me. Leah takes great strides in self discovery but the HFN ending is fine for me. But I did learn some new slang words: Lairy, drongo, and bonza. B

This book is the second book in the series, but it is definitely a standalone novel. There were references to the first book, but they did not have much of a part in this book.
I found it a little difficult to get into this book, but I was able to carry on reading it. It is a bit of a slow burner. This book is well written, but I did not warm to some of the Characters. Tass was my favourite, but they were only a minor character.
This book was good, but it is not a book that will stay with me. I am however looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC.

This book didn't do it for me. While I generally love a book about self-discovery and acceptance, I felt it too easily resolved lifelong issues as if one stern conversation could fix everything.

Tass and Brenden were the only stable characters and the message that they had to come and save the day and help bring about a huge epiphany was not a great message. Yes, sometimes people need help -- real help and therapy. But one stern conversation with a stranger doesn't suddenly change a person's entire personality or cure them of agoraphobia.

I hoped to like this book but the issues didn't feel properly addressed or resolved leaving me wishing I'd never even started the book.

1.5 stars, rounded up to two for Goodreads.

Leah has come to the Dorset beach for a special scientific research project and Brendon has come from Australia on a mission to learn more about his family history, specifically his Great-Grandfather. They are an unlikely pair. Leah is closed off and uncomfortable in relationships and Brendon is more happy-go-lucky and laid back. There is also an annoying seagull named Roger who swoops in and ruins the mood more often than not.

I have to be honest here and admit that I had a hard time getting into the book until I reached about 45% of the way through. I wasn't connecting to the characters and I especially had a hard time with the character of Leah. The second half of the book was better and I enjoyed it more. Overall, it was just good for me. The writing was good, I just didn't connect to the story or setting personally. I can see others enjoying this book more than I did and will recommend it to them.

My thanks to Duckworth Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read A Seagull Summer and give my unbiased opinion of this book.

Meet Leah, a 34 year old scientist lacking social skills spending the summer in Devon collecting seaweed samples for a research project. Joined by her gender-fluid research assistant Tass she runs into an Australian tourist called Brendon, spending the summer researching his long lost great-grandfather.

Leah and Brendon are chalk and cheese but his persistence and good nature lead Leah into sharing secrets about her life with him, secrets she's never shared with anyone except her best friend Claire, who died a year ago from cancer.

If you want a feel-good summer romance with a few laughs and a few tears, some self-discovery and a deranged seagull called Roger, STEM heroines and good-natured heroes, family issues and warm Devon summers then this is definitely the book for you.

I read the first book in this series Christmas Secrets by the Sea and loved it. This is pretty much tangential to that book, the only connection is that Davin O'Riordan lives and is filming his TV series in the village below Leah's accommodation (and well maybe a bit more).

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

A cute slow burn romance, I enjoyed this but struggled to really connect with Leah, I understand the way she was is due to her upbringing, but it just didn’t work for me, I found her irritating a lot of the time and took me a long time to adapt to her. I think Brendon made it more likeable for me, totally against type of a male lead but so funny and likeable, a good story and fun escapism overall.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Normally I love Jane Lovering's quirky characters, but this time, I'm afraid the heroine, Leah, missed the mark just a bit. Leah has difficulty reading social cues and is awkward around others. She's a sweet people-pleaser, however, because she's both socially awkward and emotionally stunted due to a truly horrible mother who has emotionally abused her for her entire life, she comes off as detached and not particularly pleasant when she meets Brendon, the hero, a laid-back Aussie.

Leah has a lot to deal with. She still can't break free of her mother even though she's a successful ph.D researcher, she's coming off a divorce from a guy who also starved her emotionally, and she lost her best friend and surrogate mother a year ago. While I understood and sympathized with her, I still had a lot of trouble with the way she let her mother manipulate her.

The romance between Leah and Brendon is very much a slow burn which I normally love but in this case, I couldn't figure out why Brendon hung around and was even willing to try to get closer to Leah. His motivations and back story also didn't make much sense. He was in the UK to get away from home for a bit and do genealogy research on his great-grandad, but when his reason for leaving Australia was finally revealed, it was anticlimactic. He was also kind of clueless in his research, yet he was apparently a decent businessman back home.

As in the first book in the series, the Dorset setting was beautifully depicted. The first book was set in winter and had a cold, chilly feel while this book was set in the summer and felt like vacation time and slow, lazy days. I will definitely continue to look forward to Jane's future books even though this one wasn't a favorite. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A perfect summer reading! I liked the characters, the plot and the setting.
It's recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This was a rough read. Between Leah being a doormat, her mother being insane, her brother being a 32 year old boy child and the crazy seagull Roger I admit to only being interested in Roger. Leah was a terrible main character. Anyone reading this would wonder how and why Brendon would be remotely interested. Tass was a bright light in a sea of trash but they didn’t get any real story in the book.

The ending and wrap up was worse than I could have imagined as well.

A fun enjoyable read with a great set of dysfunctional characters. Fundamentally a romance but with plenty of sub plots therein driven by the quirky characters who are somewhat believable in their own way. Tongue in cheek and made wonderfully funny with the antics of Roger. A much needed lighthearted read.

A good read with a interesting mix of characters. There was romance, humour, family drama and a seagull named Roger!! I liked Leah and her awkward, overthinking self and I liked her connection with Brendon and how the story developed. There was also a lot of emotional depth and character growth in the story . Worth a read.

Jane Lovering is one of the authors that I wait impatiently for new books from. A Seagull Summer is the second in the Seasons by the Sea series.
At face value, it’s the story of when research scientist Leah meets Australian visitor Brendon. Put like that, it’s a simple tale but the reality is quite different. Jane Lovering excels at creating characters who are slightly damaged.
As usual, no spoilers here, I would hate to ruin this beautiful story for future readers.
Leah finds it hard to connect with people. She’s got a lifetime of baggage and is testament to a series of poor decisions which begin with her conception to a teenage mother.
The Devon coast plays host as Leah discovers that making mistakes is human and not the end of the world. There’s a gentle nod to book one of this series as Leah and Brendon unpick the tapestry of Leah’s past.
In particular, I enjoyed the respectful inclusion of gender fluidity as we are introduced to Tass and given a gentle introduction to preferred pronouns.
The star of the show is, without a doubt, Roger the Seagull! His presence heralded many of the twists in the plot from a random dunking to a life or death situation.
I hope you enjoy this story gentle story which takes a good look at social unawareness and how love and understanding can heal most wounds.

A charming book with a lot of heart. Our main character is a sweetheart and you can't help but cheer her on as she meets the hero of the book. The setting is vividly painted and the book well-written. Prepare to sink into. book of comfort for a few lovely hours.

This was rather a strange story. Leah has major psychological problems stemming from being brought up by a clueless teen mother who never showed her or her brother any love. Instead she suffocated them while forcing Leah to be the one to care for the family. It’s unclear how this helpless mother actually funded the family until Leah grew old enough to earn money. The author specifically mentioned that the mother was too clueless to sign up for welfare.

Leah seems so unable to relate or understand how other people relate to each other that I soon suspected that she was somewhere on the spectrum with a case of Aspberger’s. However, the author goes out of her way to tell us that she has taken tests and isn’t on the spectrum. She is just a stunted personality.

She meets this friendly and funny Australian guy, Brendon, who seems to fall for her right away. It’s not clear what he sees in her since their first interactions are so stilted and uncomfortable that it’s hard to imagine any man being instantly attracted to her.

If you can accept that, then the book can be enjoyable. There is a bit of a mystery as to who is sending Leah regular emails encouraging her to come out of her self-imposed isolation. I didn’t find it much of a mystery since it was rather obvious who had sent them, but they helped serve as a bit of a plot device to help move Leah along.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

Leah is in Dorset collecting seaweed samples for her research. She's socially awkward and possibly not neurotypical. She's really, really bad at talking to people.
Brendon is a Australian tourist who is visiting the area trying to find out what happened to his great-grandfather. He has absolutely no problem talking to people. He's the ray of sunshine that Leah is not.
Brendon is terrified of seagulls. Roger is a hand-reared seagull who has taken a shine to Leah.
Leah is a person with a lot of baggage and the reasons why she is like she is are revealed slowly as the story progresses. The supporting characters are realistic (and sometimes funny) as they always are in Jane Lovering's books.
There were some very dramatic parts and some bits that made me laugh out loud. I really enjoyed reading this book.
I received a review copy of this book from Netgalley.