Maggie Cummings

Ashleigh McAllister's life is a total disaster. Her ex dumped her for a guy, and she can't seem to stop bumping into them in their suddenly way too small Brooklyn neighborhood. At least Mother Nature is on her side. Summer is here and the forecast is all sun. Ashleigh needs a little excitement, and things get exponentially hotter when Kellan Dwyer walks into her life. Fresh out of the army, Kellan is killing time apartment sitting before returning home to a scripted future in Colorado. Her itinerary consists solely of having a blast. Ashleigh and Kellan decide friends with benefits is hot, and fun, and sexy as hell, but romance? Terrible idea. With the New York City skyline as their backdrop, the summer heats up fast. They just have to keep their feelings in check before someone gets hurt. When opposites attract, can a summer of passion lead to a lifetime of love?

Brooklyn Summer Nights

Lucia Correa

Brooklyn Summer by Maggie Cummings 
4 Stars

I’ve only read the author’s debut novel, Totally Worth It. I thought it was just OK and I didn’t read the rest of the series. I enjoyed this one much more.

Ashleigh McAllister is a teacher with the summer off. She is recently divorced after 12 years, though she reluctantly admits it was over for many years. Her ex-wife left her for a man. Ashleigh moved back in with her parents in Brooklyn and decides to be like a tourist and spend the summer exploring her hometown, New York City.

Kellan Dryer is apartment/cat sitting in Brooklyn for her Aunt for the summer. She is just out of the army, so it is a perfect time to chill before she is slated to return to Vail, Colorado to help her brother run the family ski resort.

They have a mutual friend, who owns a bar and it is there that they meet and decide to tour NYC together. Ashleigh planned the days and Kellan happily going along for the ride. I’ve visited NYC at least a half a dozen times. A couple of times with a relatively large group of friends and the other times with my niece for her graduation or by myself. I’m a theater junkie, so when I’m by myself, go to 4 or more plays a trip. So it was fun reading where these two went and knowing where they went (I’ve been there!). I’m glad they eventually did go to one play. When I visit NYC again, I’m definitely going to take notes from this book, for new places to visit.

Of course romance was inevitable. I suppose it was relatively fast, but considering they spent almost every day and evening together, they did get to know each other relatively well in a short period of time. Believe me, taking a trip with someone for the first time, you get to know them better in short order. The big difference is that this pair didn’t have the stress of housing costs for the summer.

But of course, you can’t have a romance without angst thrown in around 80% mark. I did see it coming, though I didn’t guess the exact details, but I was close. I didn’t understand why it was a huge problem for either side.

An ARC was given to me by Bold Strokes books and Netgalley for an honest review.

Jude Silberfeld

I’m fully prepared to admit that I might be overrating this book a tad. As I’ve written before, my ratings reflect the feelings a book evokes, not whether it’s perfect or not. Brooklyn Summer definitely made me feel a lot, in a good way. It’s heartwarming and immensely romantic and it makes me happy.

There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with Ashleigh’s life. She loves her job, she loves her friends. Sure, she’s living with her parents and sassy grandmother at the moment, after a rather amicable divorce, but she loves her family and they’re all very supportive. She’s not jealous of her ex-wife Reagan’s happiness with her new boyfriend, she’s not even unhappy. Mostly, she feels pathetic. With the summer break starting, she hopes to take control back over her life and plans on visiting all the places she never has time for in her hometown of New York. She was hoping her best friend Liam could tag along but having just taken over his parents’ pub, he can’t go gallivanting all day. As luck would have it, Kellan, one of his army buddies, has been summoned to New York to catsit for her aunt and would love nothing better than to discover the city with a local. The two women hit it off right away, becoming fast friends before admitting there’s more to their relationship than friendship.

The author does a wonderful job of conveying the sensation of falling in love, the way colours are brighter, sounds are clearer, food and drinks taste better. I don’t mind the instalove when it’s done well. I know it happens IRL, I fell in love with my wife immediately – I just didn’t realise that’s what was happening at first. While the characters’ backstories are very different from mine, how they feel about each other sounds a lot like what I’ve experienced, and still feel. The way Ashleigh and Kellan get closer and closer, how their feelings grow, it all feels very organic.

At one point, Kellan thinks of a moment as “perfect and sweet and unbelievably sexy”. These modifiers fit the novel just as well. I’m a little sad I’m done reading this book already, I wouldn’t have minded staying a bit longer in its warmth.

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

Brooklyn Summer Nights

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