REVIEW: Summer Reading by Jenn McKinlay

In Summer Reading by Jenn McKinlay, Samantha “Sam” Gale has never not had a chef gig since she finished school almost a decade ago. So, as she makes her way to her family’s small but historic house on Martha’s Vineyard for the summer, she’s all out of sorts. To add to it, her father and stepmother are going on vacation, leaving Sam’s fourteen-year-old half-brother Tyler in her care. A teen she doesn’t really know well who is leaps and bounds above her in terms of academics–Sam struggles with dyslexia–proven by his acceptance into a summer robotics camp at the local library. She hopes what will come of it is a chance to get to know Tyler better, maybe form some type of sibling bond, and that Sam will get to visit with her best friend since forever, Emily Allen, who works at said library.

“In all fairness, I should have told you about my dyslexia when we met, but it’s a surprisingly awkward factoid to work into conversation with a hot reader guy.”
“Did you just call me hot?”

But from day one when Sam visits her least favorite place in existence, the library, she knows she’s in trouble. Because the hot guy she swooned over on the ferry to the island–the guy whose book she accidentally knocked into the ocean–is the interim head librarian. Ben is handsome, smart, bookish, and considerate. Everything Sam could want in a guy. Too bad she’s not looking for a relationship, given the way her entire life feels up in the air at the moment. But as she helps Ben in his search to find out who his father is, and they give in to their mutual attraction, Sam has a feeling it’s the beginning of something real. The type of relationship that she’s only ever dreamed about.

‘Right now in this moment he made me feel seen and understood for the first time in my life, and it was everything.’

What’s better than a summer romance set on Martha’s Vineyard? How about one with two love stories, a family mystery, a neurodivergent heroine, and a bookish hero. Jenn McKinlay used these elements–and a whole lot of delicious sounding food–to create a story that readers will absolutely adore.

“I’d follow you anywhere, Samwise. You are my heart.”
“And you’re mine.”

I had *the* best time with SUMMER READING. It was a lighthearted novel overall with lots of laughter, sigh worthy moments, family and friendships. And the cast! I couldn’t help but lose my heart to Sam, Ben, Tyler, Emily, and even Sam & Tyler’s parents. There were two parts that gained my attention from the very beginning and that were rather uncommon–but welcome–in contemporary romance: the hero was an avid reader (and a librarian!!), and the heroine had dyslexia. Both of those elements factored into Ben and Sam’s lives and decisions without completely taking over the storyline itself.

Where this was told from Sam’s POV, we truly got to see firsthand how difficult being neurodivergent was–and how figuring out coping mechanisms on her own (she wasn’t diagnosed as dyslexic until her teens) made all the difference for her. Sam was one smart cookie as well as one heck of a talented chef. I loved the memories she had of cooking as a child with her beloved vovó and how that passed the traditions of their favorite Portuguese food down to the next generation. It also gave Sam a way to feel in control when nothing else in her life did. Ben, being the caring, observant guy that he was, saw right away how intelligent Sam was and how adept at reading a situation or a person she had become. The way Ben shared his love of books with her was so very sweet (and sexy!) yet in a way that boosted Sam’s confidence. How could I help from falling for Ben after that, right?

Sam’s pretty much nonexistent relationship with her half-brother Tyler was another bonus to the story. An awkward, wicked smart fourteen-year-old who was sort of mad at the world, he didn’t realize Sam had been there, done that herself as a teen. McKinlay wrote their scenes with honesty, humor, and a whole lot of acceptance. From Sam giving Tyler dance lessons to him going all chaperone on her when Ben visited, I couldn’t have cherished them more. And the fact that he had his own blossoming relationship with a girl in his robotics class was just the cherry on top of an already wonderful story.

Personal Note: As a voracious reader who struggles with dyslexia myself, many thanks and kudos to Jenn McKinlay for not only including a neurodivergent heroine in her story, but for doing the research and getting feedback from those living with dyslexia every day so that Sam was as authentic and realistic as possible.

QOTD: Sam became a chef because of the delicious Portuguese family recipes her vovó taught her. Do you have any family recipes handed down that you treasure?

Book Info:

Publication: May 16th, 2023 | Berkley |

When a woman who’d rather do anything than read meets a swoon-worthy bookworm, sparks fly, making for one hot-summer fling in New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay’s new rom-com.

For Samantha Gale, a summer on Martha’s Vineyard at her family’s tiny cottage was supposed to be about resurrecting her career as a chef, until she’s tasked with chaperoning her half-brother, Tyler. The teenage brainiac is spending his summer at the local library in a robotics competition, and there’s no place Sam, who has dyslexia, likes less than the library. And because the universe hates her, the library’s interim director turns out to be the hot-reader guy whose book she accidentally destroyed on the ferry ride to the island.

Bennett Reynolds is on a quest to find his father, whose identity he’s never known. He’s taken the temporary job on the island to research the summer his mother spent there when she got pregnant with him. Ben tells himself he isn’t interested in a relationship right now. Yet as soon as Sam knocks his book into the ocean, he can’t stop thinking about her.

An irresistible attraction blossoms when Ben inspires Sam to create the cookbook she’s always dreamed about and she jumps all in on helping him find his father, and soon they realize their summer fling may heat up into a happily ever after.