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Release date: June 19, 2018

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Genre: Women’s Fiction

Blurb:

Anita Hughes’s California Summer is a charming and beautiful love story about a former Hollywood producer who trades her cast list in for cookbooks in the hopes of following her dreams and finding new love.

Ben and Rosie are Hollywood’s newest director/producer dream team. After hitting it big at Sundance, it seems that their ten years of love and hard work are finally paying off. Rosie is happy making independent films, but Ben wants the A-List celebrity package: a house in Beverly Hills, fancy cars in the driveway, and his name on the biggest blockbusters. He’s willing to do anything, even sleep with the most famous producer in town, to get them.

Rosie is devastated by Ben’s affair, and she decides to take a break from show business. She accepts her best friend’s invitation to spend the summer at her parents’ estate in Montecito. It’s far away from L.A., the perfect place to start over.

In Montecito, Rosie meets a colorful cast of characters including Rachel, who owns a chocolate store, and Josh, a handsome local who splits his time between surfing and classic cars. Suddenly Rosie has new friends and a new purpose. She starts a business in the village, and her luck seems to be turning around. But Rosie knows all too well that success comes with a price, and the price might be losing love…again.

California Summer is a touching and romantic story about following your dreams but not letting them get in the way of love.

Review:

I found another beach read to add to your summer TBR! This was a very lighthearted, easy read that I breezed through in a few hours. It’s uncomplicated and one that you can get lost in, really simple but charming and fun.

I always think that when an author makes me want to visit the location they’re writing about then they’ve done a fantastic job at bringing a setting to life and I’m absolutely dying to go to Montecito after reading this. It sounds absolutely gorgeous and if you’re not craving fish tacos after reading about Rosie’s adventures then there may be something wrong with you! Hughes even included the recipe for fish tacos at the end, I love when authors do this, so fun.

This had a cute message about following what makes you happy and discovering your true passion and Rosie was a character I could easily get behind. There’s plenty of playful and sexy romance and a little Hollywood glitz and glam thrown in for good measure, it was just a really undemanding read that I would recommend for pure entertainment alone.

California Summer in three words: Romantic, Enchanting and Sweet.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.