Samantha, a renowned chef at a top restaurant in Boston, quits her job having been turned down for promotion. She opts to take a short Sumer break and heads back to her former home in Martha’s Vineyard as she has offered to “look after” her teenage brother, Tyler, whilst her father and step-mother take an extended vacation. During the ferry crossing to Martha’s Vineyard she careers into a fellow, rather dishy, passenger and accidentally knocks the book he is reading into the sea. Profuse apologies later she leads him to believe she is a fellow bookworm whereas in actual fact she is severely dyslexic.

She drives Tyler to his college class and much to his dismay, as he resents her presence, follows him into the building, explaining that she wants to meet up with an old friend who works in the college library, Whilst there she suddenly spots the book loving passenger who turns out to be temporarily in charge of the college library and immediately regrets not being honest about her dyslexia., when it becomes obvious that there is a real spark between the two of them. One thing leads to another …

In typical teenage fashion Tyler eventually succumbs to her cooking and becomes a fan of the good food she produces and starts to even eat vegetables and fish, amongst other things that she teaches him ….

Can anything good come out of her stay or will she return to the mainland?

Jenn McKinlay has written a really good holiday read, that, as well as being a fun romantic comedy, gives a clear and very interesting insight in to the problems thar dyslexia can cause. I enjoyed every chapter!!

Thank you to Netgalley for this book in return for a fair and honest review.

I knew this would be a cheesey book when I requested it but it felt flat for me. I didn't like the way it was written, jumping about throughout. I did not feel the characters were very well developed either.

An engaging, frustrating, but great story!
Samantha Gales has returned to Martha's Vineyard to help her dad and step-mum with some 'supervision ' of her younger teenage brother while they leave for a few weeks. Life hasn't been easy for her, losing out on a promotion and ending up with no job.
Arriving at home, she is thrown against a hot, bookish guy on the ferry, and a not-so-typical relationship begins.
You see, Sam is not so typical, either. As a woman diagnosed with dyslexia as a teenager, she has struggled to find her niche in life, and that is where the kitchen welcomed her. So to find herself strangely drawn to a guy who appears to love books and one who appears to be way out of her league, that is a frightening situation,
Bennet, or Ben, is in Martha's Vineyard for the summer with a mystery to solve and hadn't foreseen meeting a woman in his plans.
I don't want to tell you the story; this is a review, but needless to say, it was a good read. A woman who has felt rejection keenly over the years, I feel Sam's pain purely because characters on a page won't sit still for her. She is a brilliant chef, yet still gets overlooked for so much, not knowing whether her condition or gender are to blame for her stilted rise to success.
And Ben is just a darling! He has his issues, obviously, but to see someone so caring and considerate, despite his own issues, was a pleasure.
There are a couple of steamy scenes, which added a bit of spice, too! And there are those key 'will-they/won't they?' moments, too!
Recently, there has been a slew of books with some neurodivergent MCs at the help. It makes my heart happy to see these stories out there, considering how many people operate in a non-neurotypical manner. Way to go, diversity and inclusive literature!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone, for an ARC.

Thank you to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get on with this book because the writing format and story was hard to stick with.

This was a simple, fun, easy and quick read. The perfect type of book for your holiday, beach, pool kind of read. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

A light romance set against a more serious background of dyslexia about which I have learnt a few things, especially about different fonts helping those who have difficulty reading. Set in Martha's Vineyard in the US which I know nothing about but the descriptions were good enough to imagine the place. A delightful easy to read book with a feelgood factor and fairly believable characters. Slightly predictable overall but nonetheless a light book to dip into.

I was looking forward to this one. But sadly it fell a bit short for me. I thought the writing was a little bit repetitive at times and I also didn't feel the chemistry. Sorry

I wanted to read Summer Reading because I've seen a few people post about it and I'm always up for checking out the new hot rom-com. This was an okay read for most of the book, if a bit heavy-handed and quite poorly written, but the last quarter was soooo stupid. The ending was seriously rushed and the sex scenes some of the worst I've ever read. Also what is the big deal about a relationship between a librarian and a dyslexic woman who doesn't read?!

What a lovely book. Perfect for summer reading. Rediscovering family, friends and a new relationship.
A wonderful look at the obstacles someone with dyslexia overcomes issues and succeeds in the world. Never give up their is a place for everyone to triumph.

Summer Reading by Jenn McKinlay is a delightful and heartwarming romance novel that tells the story of Sam, a chef who spends her summer chaperoning her half-brother to a robotics competition at the local library. When she meets Ben, the library's interim director and the Hot Reader Guy whose book she accidentally destroyed, Sam realizes that there may be more to life than just her career.

As Sam and Ben work together to create a cookbook, they begin to develop feelings for each other. Despite their initial resistance to romantic relationships, they find themselves drawn to each other in ways they never expected.

The characters are well-developed and relatable, and the story is engaging and enjoyable. The author's writing style is light and breezy, making it the perfect summer read. Overall, Summer Reading is a charming and entertaining novel that will leave readers feeling warm and fuzzy inside.

A sweet lighthearted read that would be perfect for a relaxing beach holiday.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending me an ARC in exchanged for an honest review.

This had a solid storyline and was an enjoyable read. It was nice to read about Sam reconnecting with her younger brother, her old friends and to generally slow down. The romance with Ben was sweet though I didn’t love the side story of his mum. It’s great to see dyslexia at the centre of a story but occasionally it did feel a little lecturing in tone. Overall I did enjoy the book

Not a huge fan of this unfortunately. Started off really promising but I found it quite repetitive and the dialogue a bit dated and unrealistic.

When Sam loses her job as a chef, she goes to stay with her father and stepmother to look after her step brother Tyler, whom she hardly knows.
At first there is tension between the two and I like the way they gradually become friends. Sam is dyslexic and it’s interesting how the subject is explored in the book, using special font and spacing in the text, which is easier to read for those who have this condition.
Romance enters the air when Sam becomes interested in Ben, the boss of the local library and chemistry sizzles between them. But she feels she doesn’t stand a chance with him as she has such difficulty reading. This is a light hearted, engaging story, introducing old friendships along with new, with serious issues also explored in some depth.
The humorous tone is infectious, and Sam’s passion for cooking, especially Portuguese dishes, along with her drive and enthusiasm to overcome all obstacles, combine to make her a positive role model. A steadily paced story, recommended.

JennMcKinlay is my go to book author! There is not one book of hers I haven’t acquired and loved. I read this awhile back and it was perfection. I love how she always highlights a persons disability without being preachy. I can’t say enough good things and I will be sure to add my full thought and review here asap.

A lovely summery romance.

Samantha is on her way home to Martha's Vineyard for the summer, Bennett is on the way to the same place to take up an temporary job with the added quest of looking for the father he never knew.

Sparks fly when they bump into each other on the ferry to the island.

But can romance bloom for the book-phobic and the librarian?

A super easy read, perfect for your summer reading list.

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC in return for my unbiased review

Summer Reading was, sadly, a romance that turned out pretty blandly for me. So blandly, in fact, that I can’t even remember the main characters’ names. I’ve had to look it up just to write this review. Not a good sign.

Anyways, in brief, this story is about Sam, who, fired from her job, comes back home to the island she grew up on. Here, she ends up chaperoning her 14 year old step brother who, it has to be said, she doesn’t seem to have much in common with. Oh, and there’s also the hot librarian whose book she threw in the water by accident on the way over.

So far, so solidly romance.

It’s probably clear how this review is going to go, so I’ll try keep it short. Nothing about the romance in this one made me feel at all like Sam and Ben were attracted to one another. It fell so completely flat it was almost unbelievable. Genuinely I couldn’t tell you much about either of the characters besides Sam was dyslexic and a chef, and Ben was a hot librarian, trying to discover who his father was. And that is gleaned from the dusty recesses of my mind where, it turns out, I have stored the slightest bit of information about this one.

Not enough information, though, to actually be more than vague in this review. My notes here say that the third act break up pissed me off, but I think it was less what happened than the pacing of it. For me, the final 30 pages of a book is never enough time to properly develop a conflict and resolve it believably. Either the conflict feels blown out of proportion (side note: why does everything end with them feeling they’ve had such a bad argument as to have to “break up” or never see each other again? Just needing space would be fine!) or the resolution feels rushed. Here, I think it was the latter. While the conflict did, I’ll allow, make sense given the rough characterisations, it really didn’t have time to breathe. If this was going to be such a big thing, it should have taken longer to be dealt with. Not this final 30 pages rubbish.

Really, the most positive thing I can say about this book is that it didn’t take me that long to read. That and the fact it featured a dyslexic main character, which was the reason I picked it up in the first place. Sadly, that was as good as it got.

Sam gave up her job because of he horrible boss. She ends up doing happy hour aperitifs for a local restaurant which go down very well

I really enjoyed this. The characters were really well written and the relationships developed in a really good manner. I especially liked seeing the relationship between Sam and her brother grow.

When I came to start reading this book I wondered why I had requested it. I hate the cover and thought it sounded predictable. Then I found myself completely drawn in to this lovely heartwarming tale. The chemistry between Sam and Ben is so well written and the developing relationship between the siblings is lovely. A thoroughly enjoyable read.