I loved this book and it's just the beginning of what should be a fantastic new multi author series. The series is set in Paradise Key. A wonderful summer vacation spot and a fun little town. Four women gather to mourn the death of their friend. They find themselves remembering all the amazing things they enjoyed in their you and all the wonderful memories. For PR rep Lauren Webster her favorite memory is Carter Malone. They had one incredible summer together but in the end they went their separate ways. Now she's all business all the time. No way she'll fall for Carter again and jeopardize everything she's worked so hard for.

This is a great book to kick off your summer reading! I highly recommend it and I can't wait for the next Paradise Key story!

Summer Love: Take Two by Shirley Jump reads as a stand-alone Paradise Key book. It is also the first book of a new Paradise Key series published by Tule Publishing. With descriptive writing of the setting in a place that is both warm and sandy, it is not long until you want to feel the ocean breeze on your face and the sand in your toes. This reader sided with Carter to keep the same laid backed small town the very same. However, the opening scene does leave a vision of the Paradise Key Tourism Bureau as lacking at the very least.

Lauren returns ready to revitalize the image and area. Her reasons are sound and even upright but that doesn’t necessary mean it is best. Carter who has also returned for different reason becomes her nemesis in this endeavor. I enjoyed seeing these two spar and try to deny feelings from their past. It is not necessarily a second chance for the area, but it is definitely a second chance for Carter and Lauren. An entertaining read which is not too long or too heavy but with just enough drama.

A story of second chance love. A story of going back. Summer Love, Take Two by Shirley Jump is first in the Paradise Key series. A enjoyable beach read. I look forward to reading the next book in this series.

Summer Love: Take Two starts off the Paradise Key multi-author series with an emotional romance of past summer love clashing with the realities of the time, and today. On the surface the senseless, sudden of a good friend to four young women in a car accident binds them all a bit tighter. If the sudden wake up call that life is short hits close to the heart, well then something right would come out of another driver’s careless disregard for the rules about texting and driving. Lily was the light of their small group, no matter the time or distance, and Lauren was missing her friend very much today. Being back in Paradise Key brought a boatload of emotions to a head. Grief, memories, heartache and even desperation. She’d once known true love in this place, and also had her heart torn apart when that young man had his eyes on another prize that wasn’t her. Now, a decade later, one loveless marriage in the rear view mirror, and a job that she detests, Lauren is not only grieving but has to make a sales pitch that will make up for the huge mistake she made at her father’s marketing firm. She’d promised she could deliver – but the truth was she had no idea how, or that once again her heart would be engaged with the one man who could break her all over again if she let him.

I enjoyed my time in this new world filled with believable characters, tight friendships, small town closeness and a rekindling of a love that never should have been walked away from. At eighteen you make dumb decisions. It’s true, we’ve all done that. Carter thought he knew what he wanted out of life and it wasn’t to stay in Paradise Key. He loved Lauren but he also wanted a different life than what he could offer her here. So he made the decision to think of this love between them as a summer fling and walked away from everything, including the woman he’d never get over. Watching Carter come to the realization of all he had truly lost, and deciding to try to win his love back was at times painful and always emotional. Lauren is carrying a lot of baggage, so much that’s it’s a wonder she can stand upright. She will fight what her heart knows, until she can learn to fight for what she wants not what her father expects.

If you’re in the mood for an emotional story that rings so very true, then I’d suggest you get started on this new series with Summer Love: Take Two. You’ll find a sweet small town feeling, characters to believe in, always at least one jerk in the mix, and a really good story that sets the mood for what is to come for the rest of this small group of friends. I h ad fun with this one, and that’s the whole point of reading romance.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

Loved this book of second chance love, one of my favorite troupes! Lauren has returned to Paradise Cove after her friend dies but also to work the board of tourism and create a splashy media campaign. She is not interested in love. Little to be known, Carter, her summer romance from years ago has also returned home to run his dad's hardware store. When Carter learns what Lauren has in mind for this quaint little town he is one of her biggest opponents. They soon find out that there is still some sizzling chemistry between them. Will life change for Lauren?

Loved these characters, both are not looking for a rekindle but they soon find out different. A quick afternoon read that I thoroughly enjoyed. Looking forward to the other books in this series.

Lauren Webster always played by the rules. She was a good girl, raised from an early age to take over her father’s marketing firm. But, one summer when she spent time on Paradise Key, she rebelled. And she rebelled in a bad way. She even fell in love with Carter Malone. Lauren and Carter both had different plans for their futures and when summer came to an end, they broke up. But they never forgot each other.

After Lauren’s good friend, Lily, passes away, she returns to Paradise Key, but she also has another plan. She wants to try to get Paradise Key’s tourism bureau to agree to a new marketing plan to bring more business to the little island. Lauren needs to land this account to prove to her father that she is serious about her job after she loses a big account and disappoints her father.

Carter was surprised when he ran into Lauren and learned of her plan for the island. Everyone knew they needed to make more money to restore parts of the island and increased tourism was the way to do it, but they were afraid of losing their small town atmosphere that the residents have come to love. Lauren and Carter butt heads about Lauren’s marketing plan, but when they let their guard down for a little fun, the old romantic feelings start to return. That’s when this book gets really interesting.

This was a fun book to read and easy to visualize. I loved everything about it. The author did a fantastic job writing the characters and keeping their story interesting.

My favorite quote:
It was almost laughable how the two of them were trying so hard to keep their distances, to pretend they weren’t interested, that nothing existed between them.

Enjoyed it

What I liked:
The writing style
The characters
Part of a series: Paradise Key
Standalone
HEA
Epilogue

I look forward to reading the other books in this series.

Short sweet read about Lauren and Carter, set in Florida. Although they have been apart for 10 years there is still an attraction between them.

Well written and an easy read.