seriously romantic: summer girl by a.s. green

summer girl, is a sweet (and sexy) new adult romance by a.s. green. told in the alternating(ish) viewpoints of our two leads, katherine d'arcy and bennet whose last name is kind of a spoiler so i won't say it here.

katherine is a list-maker, a planner, someone who needs to control her emotions and her surroundings to feel safe. she has deep-seated abandonment issues and is trapped in a platonic relationship with her best friend, andrew mason, who she happens to think she is madly in love with. when their summer plans are derailed by her mother, katherine finds herself as a caretaker to a decomissioned lighthouse on little bear island in the middle of lake superior. there she meets bennet, the replacement ferry driver and other than katherine the most recent newcomer to the island.

bennet is an aspiring songwriter, but since moving to the island he's been in a rut. his agent in l.a. wants him to try moving to nashville, especially if no new songs are forthcoming. bennet has a fraught relationship with his family, disowned by his parents when he chose to follow his musical dreams over staying and fulfilling the future they'd planned out for him.

when katherine and bennet meet there are instant sparks, something that confuses katherine because she's been in love with andrew for so long. but they can't stay away from each other. and the relationship deepens quickly and as bennet pushes katherine further out of her comfort zone, the more confident and true to herself she feels. she discovers the future she and andrew had mapped out isn't actually a future that appeals to her. and starts to make changes to her life and her plans with bennet's encouragement.

the misunderstandings when they happen all center around andrew. to get into the crux of the issues would spoil the plot a bit, but they provide a reasonable bit of drama and uncertainty, but aren't so overwhelming that you ever believe these two won't get their happy ending.

bennet tends to call katherine, d'arcy. in part as a call back to pride & prejudice. it's a bit strange to hear a guy making the austen connection, but other than the names this wasn't meant to be a p&p retelling, which honestly i think is a good thing, even though i do love me some jane austen.

all in all this is an enjoyable summery new adult romance.

**summer girl is scheduled to publish on august 8, 2016. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing (embrace) in exchange for my honest review.