ARC Review: Summer Reading by Jenn McKinlay

Summer Reading
Author: Jenn McKinlay
Publication: Berkley (May 16, 2023)

Description: When a woman who’d rather do anything than read meets a swoon-worthy bookworm, sparks fly, 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.

My Thoughts: Samantha Gale has quit her job as a chef after being passed over for promotion and is spending the summer on Martha's Vineyard chaperoning her half-brother while their parents take their dream vacation to Europe. She is dyslexic and feels that her disability is the reason she wasn't promoted. 

Now, she's spending time with the brother she barely knows given their fourteen-year age difference. She's chauffeuring him to robotics camp at the local public library and reconnecting with old friends. The new library director is Bennett Reynolds who has come to Martha's Vineyard on a quest to find the father he never knew. His mother who is a famous artist has been downright obstructionist about sharing information with him. 

As Sam and Ben search for any information about Ben's father, they fall in love. But Sam wonder if a woman who doesn't read can have any sort of future with a book loving guy. 

I loved the relationship between Ben and Sam. I also loved Sam as a character who is so used to seeing herself through the eyes of her disability that she can't see herself as the strong, intelligent, friendly woman that she actually is. It takes Ben's encouragement and acceptance to let her see herself as others see her.

I liked the author's note at the beginning which talks about dyslexia. The book itself is designed to be friendly for dyslexics with a sans serif font and some other accommodations including bold print instead of italics and different word spacing. 

Favorite Quote:

"It just makes sense to me," I said. "Taking ingredients and making something new out of them, something that didn't exist before, that tastes amazing and sustains the body, it feels like a special sort of magic."

"Magic. That's how I feel when I read a book," he said. "It's like opening a portal into another world, allowing me to escape the one I'm trapped in."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.