The Girl from Summer Hill by Jude Deveraux Series: Summer Hill #1
Published by Ballantine Books
Publication Date: May 3rd 2016
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 384
Source: Publisher
Format: eARC
Goodreads
Buy Online: Amazon ♥ B&N ♥ Kobo
Disclaimer: I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely mine.
The first book of a new contemporary romance series set in the mountains of Virginia in a town with full of family legends, romance, and secrets from New York Times bestselling author of the Nantucket Brides trilogy.
Sparks fly as fiery Casey Reddick and brooding Hollywood actor Tate Landers clash in the Virginia summer heat. A chef who puts her career first and her love life second, Casey doesn’t see what every girl in town is swooning over. She made up her mind the moment she met Tate—he’s gorgeous, but stuck-up, nothing like his ex-brother-in-law, Devlin who’s playing the Wickham to Tate’s Darcy in local production of Pride & Prejudice. Casey makes the perfect Elizabeth Bennett—how could she be star-struck when she’s heard Devlin’s damning stories about Tate? As they rehearse together, however, Casey finds herself attracted to Tate—he’s much more down-to-earth than she expected and any physical contact between the two of them literally gives her a tingling, electric shock. As opening night draws near, Casey has some difficult decisions to make. Whom should she believe? The seemingly sincere, slighted Devlin or Tate, whose rough, arrogant exterior may only be skin deep. She’s come to love that jolt she gets when they touch—but will she get burned?
Review
Reading this book was like watching a soap: lots of characters, lots of romances, lots of drama, all of it very entertaining.
Chef Casey Reddick gave up a thriving career in the city to take up residence in the picturesque town of Summer Hill, but she’s not giving up on what she loves doing. She has the perfect opportunity to connect with her extended family while catering the meals for the cast and crew of the town’s theater production. But it’s her less than promising first meeting with famous actor Tate Landers that sets the stage for a fiery romance between them.
Tate Landers is used to the paparazzi stalking him, not that he likes it, so his reaction when he thinks Casey is one is understandable, but his botched attempt at an apology doesn’t endear him to her in any way and she makes her aversion to him very clear. For a man who attracts women like flies, Tate is a little surprised that Casey can’t seem to stand him, but at the same time he likes that she’s not overwhelmed by his public persona and looks forward to getting to know her when he gets manipulated into a role in the play opposite her, but can they get over the disaster of their first meeting and find some common ground? Or will both pride and prejudice damage the budding connection between them?
The fact that this book was a nod to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was a mark against it for me because I wasn’t interested in one more adaption or retelling. I just wanted to read a romance and that perspective helped me get through it. I do have to say that Ms. Deveraux captured the essence of P&P but gave it a fresh and modern flair and got me thinking about it again in today’s context. The parallels between some of the characters from P&P and those in this book are very obvious, but I liked that the author didn’t go out of her way to make them glaring and that the characters retained some originality.
Tate is very far from what you’d expect from an A-lister. He’s very private and doesn’t enjoy the limelight and I loved how his family was a priority to him and how protective of them he was. Casey was independent and hardworking but surprisingly naive about human nature. Together, they were fun to watch as they tried to figure out their relationship, as were many of the other characters.
The Girl from Summer Hill combines humor with drama and I enjoyed the cast of supporting characters as well because they each brought something to the story, both on stage and off.
About Jude Deveraux
Jude Deveraux was born in Fairdale, Kentucky, the eldest of a family of three girls and one boy. After earning a degree in art from Murray State University and studying teaching at the University of New Mexico, she taught fifth grade in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She left when her first book, The Land of Enchantment, was accepted for publication by Avon books.
Jude’s first books were historical, chiefly featuring the Montgomery and Taggert families. Stories of the lives and loves of these families spanned over several centuries in the US and England. They are filled with details of the history and culture of the time periods and settings of her novels. Her more recent series of books focuses on the McTern family and its descendants. The novels are set in the fictional town of Edilean, Virginia, and go from when the family arrived in America to contemporary time.
Jude’s exhaustive research on every aspect of her books has made for a rich and detailed background for each of her novels. Her stories are adventurous, funny, and at times heartwarming. Jude has had over thirty books on the New York Times Bestsellers List, over 60 million copies in print, and has been translated into 18 languages.
Jude has lived in England and Egypt as well as in several American states, and she has traveled around the world. She likes to read nonfiction and murder mysteries, and work in her garden. In boxing class, she enjoys showing much younger males that she can throw a mean right cross.
Leave a Reply