🍾🍾🍾1/2
Summer in a Bottle
Annie Rains
Publication Date: April 29th, 2025
Kensington Publishing | Kensington
352 Pages
Amazon | Goodreads | Bookshop.org
Genre: General Fiction | Women’s Fiction | Romance
This is my fourth read by the author, and they were all three or four stars. I loved Through the Snow Globe and The Charmed Friends of Trove Isle, and The Finders Keepers Library was pretty good as well. I am happy to say this is closer to the loved side.
This was such a heartwarming and sweet story. I love realistic contemporary romances, especially ones that take place in small southern towns. In this story, our main character, Lyla Dune, goes back to her hometown after her fiancé dumps her. When she gets there, she finds she is living her last summer home over (and over) again. I loved how the author seamlessly weaves together many themes like second chances, self-discovery and the overwhelming power of friendship, to name but a few.
As our main character tries to get through the repetition of living in the past, I never once felt bored; it was repetitive, but it didn’t feel that way. The author showed this skill in her book Through the Snow Globe as well. She manages to keep it fresh. The best part of the book, in my humble opinion, is Lyla realizing her love for her best friend, Travis. Both characters were utterly charming and relatable. I was cheering them on and willing them together. I was so happy when Lyla found the strength to go after what she wants and tries to change her destiny.
Echo Cove, I want to live there! Small towns are so alluring to this big city gal. The graphic descriptions and sense of sentimentality, and Lyla reminiscing, will get to anyone who has wished they could change something about their past or has a “The One Who Got Away”. The magical realism doesn’t hit you over the head, and it adds a little something extra to your typical friends-to-lovers romance. Overall, I found this an amusing read, and it left a smile on my face long after I turned the last page.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Leave a Reply