Summer Lovin' was my first time really dipping my toes into true romance of this style, with little much else to the plot. It features three novellas following three work colleagues each going to a tropical destination to complete volunteering work. Sounds like quite a nice idea to me.

It would make a great summer read, so I'm not sure what possessed me to read in January but here we are. I liked the characters although they felt a little under-developed for me, I'm sure if it weren't such a short book though then that wouldn't be the case. My main issue was that the three stories felt a little repetitive, all three of them being business women travelling to a tropical destination and having a lust to lovers relationship with someone they meet there. I could have just done with it being changed up a little bit more between the stories.

That being said, I still enjoyed the book. It was a nice, easy read. Perfect for mindless beach reading and with it being so short you can power through really quickly. I read most of it in one sitting. Its a new genre for me, but one I will definitely be trying again and I will also look at some more of Julie Cannon's back catalogue, especially for some longer novels.

Work and Play
This book is broken up into three segments, each featuring a woman an executive of the same construction company. Each story is heartfelt, interesting and engaging. I loved watching these women fall in love only to be heartbroken as they moved back to their regular lives. No need to fret however, Ms Cannon will give us the happy endings we’ve become accustomed to having. I adored this book and was so glad to have had the chance to read it. It was a fun and fast read and Im sure you will love it too.

Summer Lovin' contains 3 short stories about three women who work together and go on separate working vacations and all discover love. I picked to read this one because I liked the premise. Even though each story is about each woman - Addison, Samantha and Cora, they are all linked because it is there time to pick where they want to spend their volunteer time and report back at the end of the trip. What I liked most is that at the end of each story we wonder will they stay together with the women they each meet on their separate trips. What I liked least was that it really wasn't a HEA that we got to see. It was more of an implied HEA. I would have loved to see a final story telling us what happened to each couple. Either way this was just a nice quick read to pass some time while on a summer vacation.

4 stars.

This arc was provided by netgalley and the publisher for an honest review.

Three colleagues, three volunteering placements, three hopeless romances - one impossible ending. Great idea having three novellas in one book around three interconnected stories.

The women are interesting and well developed given the length of the shorts, The romances aren't quite instant given they have a month - in fact they take longer to spark than many full length novels - but the attractions are instant and overwhelming despite everybody 'knowing' these can only ever be holiday romances.

As always Julie Cannon's books are well put together, well written and thoroughly enjoyable.

I expected more from this to be honest. This is a set of three short stories about three women who work together who all go to different parts of the world to volunteer to help areas in need. It sounds better than it reads. If I had to pick a favourite it would be Maui Magic, because that couple had the most spark, but throughout all three books there’s not much in the way of character development, as you’d expect from short stories. There’s plenty of sexy time hook up stuff for those that appreciate such things, but honestly not much else.

All three stories just end abruptly and there’s a tacked on epilogue that I assume was meant to give us hope for these couples, but given the barriers for two of them with living location issues, etc, it’s hard to see how these would resolve. There was promise in the setup, and if the stories had been connected properly this could have been much better. 2 stars.

Whilst I did enjoy this book, I wish there was a little bit more development taking place in each of the plot lines. They were just a tad too rushed for me so I didn’t feel fully emersed in the romances. With that being said, I liked the writing style and the characters within each story.

I was a bit disappointed by this book, it's 3 different stories, rather short, not fully developed, we don't get to know much about the characters and it kind of ends without an end....It's a shame it could have been much better with a couple more pages for each story.

I like a good short story very much. And I also liked these here although I didnt love them. But still sweet stories for inbetween.

DNFed this book at around 30%. I just couldn’t get into this book. The characters and story didn’t grip me. The writing was not good in my opinion and I had to put this down.

Thanks to Netgalley for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

I was interested to read this. I don’t often read short stories and I think the characters could have been developed a lot more than they were. I did like the background of the stories and why they were in the locations they were and oh how I would love a boss like Addison but the ending felt really abrupt and not tied up enough

This book is about three romantic stories, lived by three co-workers and friends during a vacation more or less related to work. One of the three friends owns the company where the other two work. The three have a very different profile within the themes of the lesbian spectrum. The three stories have nothing to do with each other nor are they related to each other. The only coincidence is that all three end abruptly without a clearly explained ending, it is possible to intuit or hope for it. But neither the epilogue nor in each of the stories is there a resolution.

So the word unfinished can be fully applied here.

Of the three stories there is not much to really highlight, they are not original and they are quite predictable, clichés.

I ended up pretty disappointed overall, sorry to say.

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley #netgalley

Sweet and sexy summer read.

Sumer Lovin 'is the story of three co-workers who each year decide to dedicate their time as volunteers in different organizations to give something back to those who need it.
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Divided into three parts each with a different protagonist in a tropical destination, portraying strong womens in a little love at first sight that became something more. Each story is adictive like its heroines end up catching you to the point of wanting to continue reading more
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Characters with good personality and storylines in steamy, dreamy and heart warming scenes would catch your breath
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Maybe my favorite story is the first and last in the book but I certainly liked all three. It's the perfect book to take on holidays or for day dreaming
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Thanks to Bold Stroke Books and Julie Cannon, I really enjoyed reading it and I'm definitely going to look for more of her books

I enjoyed the author's previous books so was looking forward to this one, especially as the synopsis sounded very interesting. However, it fell a little flat for me. The first story was engaging, but the others failed to keep my attention. The three local main characters in the novellas were all basically the same character - very similar in looks and personality. The other main characters weren't particularly well developed either. The dialogue felt unnatural, with people constantly referring to one another by their first names. The beautiful places the novellas were set in were not explored at all, leaving me wondering why they needed to be set in those locations in the first place. There was an element of white saviourism with the three Americans' volunteering, with most of the native characters depicted as victims of some sort, and too many white and American characters. The ending was abrupt and left the reader hanging. The author is capable of writing great books, but I'm afraid this is not her best work.

What's not to love about lesbian romance in tropical locales? Especially three for the price of one!

Summer Lovin' deftly combines 3 novellas that follow co-workers Sam, Cora & Addison, as they set off around the world to volunteer their time. What starts off as a good deed, quickly turns into something more when they each meet someone they can't stop thinking about. No slow burns here; these stories heat up fast!

My favorite scene of all was the poo bucket scene. My cheeks flushed, I laughed and gagged all at the same time. I’m giggling now just thinking about it.

What’s great about this book, is that while all of the stories are connected, they can also be read as stand-alones. I often struggle to put a book down once I start it, so having three distinct sections made for three nights of perfect bedtime reading without agonizing over when to put it down.

The only downside for me was that the ending left me feeling unfilled, but based on the prologue I have to wonder ... is a part II in the works?

Perfect summer read. Three novellas with an overarching theme of volunteer work, friendship and the company they work for.

All the stories are set in some tropical place where the main characters go to do their volunteer work (oh the hardship); a massive hurricane cleanup in the Bahamas, stray animal shelter in Jamaica and building a house with habitat for humanity in Maui.
I like Sam’s story best because of the diversity in the supporting cast and the setting in the Bahamas. The work is laid out clearly and the characters are fun. Cora’s story that is set in Jamaica is the second one and the one that I had a hard time to keep my attention with. It has some funny moments, but I missed a bit of animal interaction I guess. Addison is up last and for her part I think it was just too short, like there was more to be told but had less pages than the others. I’m not sure if this is true, but that is how it read for me. The epilogue is also a bit short and rushed, but overall a very enjoyable summer read.

As good as you can expect from novellas, I like the overarching themes, maybe the author could have done a bit more with it, but it’s ok as it is. The characters are fun and strong independent women, even in these novellas you feel like you get to know them. Fun and easy read, recommend it to anyone just wanting a bit of escapism with heart, 4 stars.

This was a feel good read. Not to much drama and just enough angst to make it interesting. The three stories were tied together by one company that sent the main characters to different parts of the globe. I liked all three stories but the last one was my favorite which was Addison and Erin in Maui their story was really cute and the chemistry between them was of the charts. I really hope that there's more coming about all the women portrayed in this book, because all three stories ended on a cliffhanger. I look forward to what's next from this author,and would recommend this to my friends and family.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

The author used the word “plump” a lot/overused it, but no main characters were bigger. Also used the term “African American” rather than black.

The book ended sort of flat and unresolved. The settings of international destinations wasn’t really highlighted and I was not sure if that was due to lack of research of the settings?

I enjoyed this book. It follows the journey of three women ( Sam, Addison and Sara as they travel to different parts of the world to volunteer. Its was quite an easy read. I would recommend 4 stars.



Thank you Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

Ended up skipping the third part of this book because I wasn't connecting with any of the characters. I just wanted to see the epilogue that other reviewers mentioned and it was just terrible.