Book Review - The Summer Switch-Off by Beth Reekles

 The Amazon Purchase link below is an Amazon Affiliate link.

Amazon UK

Title: The Summer Switch-Off

Author: Beth Reekles

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Penguin

Publication Date: 11th May 2023

Rating: 4 Stars

Luna, Rory and Jodie are supposed to be having the time of their lives, but instead...

Luna thought her first year at uni was perfect - until her relationship ended, and her old school friends seem to be ghosting her...

Rory's true passion is art (and promoting it on her social media), but she wants to fit in with her sensible family, so she's signed up to study law. It feels like the right thing to do, though her heart is saying otherwise...

And as for Jodie - she's put her all into getting top marks at uni, but she can't remember the last time she's let her hair down and had some fun. Her life is great on paper, but she's exhausted and headed for burnout...

In desperate need of an escape, the girls book themselves on a holiday that's meant to be perfect for solo travellers. But the idyllic resort of Casa Dorada is actually a digital detox retreat - which means NO PHONES! And that's not even the biggest disaster waiting for them . . .

Will it be a summer the girls will never forget - or one they'd rather not remember?

A sweet, funny, relatable coming-of-age story from bestselling author Beth Reekles, author of The Kissing Booth - perfect for fans of Beth O'Leary and Emily Henry.

I really enjoyed reading this story.  

Loved the idea that three young solo traveller females could all end up at the same hotel with two of them completely and unawares that it iis meant to be a digital detox resort, and that all three of them will end up bonding together and becoming friends over the course of their holiday. 

Not only was it a case of handing in mobile phones, but all technology including kindles.  I have to say I never want to visit this Casa Dorada resort.  Not only that there are rules stating you have to take part in 3 pieces of organised activities each day, or you lose privileges. 

To say this is not really what any of our leading ladies were expecting is an understatement and it results in many laugh out loud moments. 

As much I enjoyed reading this, I did find myself confusing Rory and Jodie a fair bit, especially when talking about uni, although both have different thoughts on their own situations regarding uni, I just found it a bit hard to differentiate between them. 

It's a book though about finding yourself, and realising what you really want to do with your life.  With plenty of antics, and not all of them drunken, this is really entertaining. 

A very enjoyable book, that was a pleasure to read. 

Thank you to Penguin and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - One Last Shot by Betty Cayouette

 The Amazon Purchase link below is an Amazon Affiliate link.

Amazon UK

Title: One Last Shot

Author: Betty Cayouette

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Penguin

Publication Date: 9th May 2024

Rating: 4 Stars

Supermodel Emerson seemingly has the perfect life – but she’s tired of looking for love in all the wrong places.

When a reminder for the marriage pact she and her former best friend Theo made as teens goes off on her phone, she realizes she has a chance to rekindle the only relationship that ever really made sense.

Emerson convinces her grumpy agent to book her as the face of the campaign that Theo, now a fashion photographer, is shooting.

The good news: the campaign is being shot in ridiculously romantic Cinque Terre, Italy.

The bad news? Theo might not be as happy to see her as she’d hoped . . .

Will this be her one last shot at love, or a final goodbye?

Well I really enjoyed this book. 

It's a second chance romance story between Emerson and Theo, who made a marriage pact when they were 18 that if they weren't already married to other people by their 28th Birthday's they will marry each other.  

So when the first alert reminder of this pact goes off Emerson decides that she really does want to try to see if her first love, might still be interested, and manages to get onto the shoot he is doing in Cinque Terre, Italy. 

I've never been to Cinque Terre but have seen plenty of pictures while considering cruise excursions there, so a fair few of the details definitely rang true to what I knew of the area. And you definitely get a bit of a feel for Italy but the destination as much as I would have loved it to be wasn't really the focus on this story. 

The focus is on Emerson and Theo, and interspersed with the present day story, we get chapters from their childhood, up until they first split up all those years ago, and the reasoning behind it all. 

As we get to know them, we can see just how much they still care for each other, but at the same time circumstances outside their control seem to be meddling and making this a lot more difficult than it needed to be (although had they declared their feelings early on, it would have been a significantly shorter book, and we would have missed out on some incredibly cute moments). 

I absolutely loved the donut date, the ice-cream shop,  the seemingly never ending hike and just how cute the pair are as they learn about their new adult selves. 

Emerson is really down to earth given she is a supermodel, although obviously she exudes her star power when needed.  And Theo is a really gifted photographer, that just needs a bit more confidence in himself.  Emerson's best friend Georgia is really supportive and Harry is an interesting character that I really grew to love too. 

This was an entertaining escapist read that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. 

Thank you to Penguin and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.