I couldn’t connect with the characters at all.

The book was fun and yeah a summer read with beaches, water, and sand.

An easy to follow and heartwarming summer read. Loved the characters and the setting. A feel good novel.

This was an enjoyable read. I loved the cover of the book and yes I am one who picks a book by the cover. This is one of those covers that would make me pick up the book and buy it without even reading the description of the story first .

Sam and Ethan are trying to put their lives back together after they both suffered from loosing their spouses . Through out the story you feel the two characters grow together as their friendship develops . They could related with each other due to their loss. Although everyone else could see their romance developing they had no idea.

Harry and Barney had the greatest parties and apparently are the perfect match makers. A little push here and a shove their who knows Sam and Ethan may have a second chance at finding love without even looking.

I enjoyed this book and once I started reading it , I had to force myself to put it down. If you have ever lost the love of your life you can related to this story. At times it made my heart hurt other times I could not help my smile.
Yep this is a story that you can relate to . There are some twists and turns through out the story line that keeps you wondering what's going to happen next without dragging out and getting boring.

A perfect read when you just want to sit back and get lost in a story.

I was supposed to go to Boston in Summer 2020 so reading this book when I could no longer go was a great replacement. It beautifully describes the city, and also Cape Cod.

It discusses loss and starting again so beautifully. It's a wonderful book perfect for holiday reading.

A lovely summer beach read, I really liked Sam and the Cape Cod setting was great bringing back memories of a holiday spent in that whole area

I don't know where to start with the magic that is this book! Victoria Cooke's writing is moving, uplifting and utterly captivating. The second I started reading I didn't want to put it down. She captures the true heartache of losing a loved one and takes you on a journey of learning to love and live again. It is believable, funny, passionate and fabulously written. The way Cooke describes the backdrop of Boston, Cape Cod, Provincetown has me desperate to visit myself. Her secondary characters are entertaining and just as lovable as Sam herself. A perfect summer read!

This is now up there with my all-time favourites and if you're hovering over that Buy It button, just click it, you won't regret it!

I very much enjoyed this book. It has a good story and excellent main characters. I would definately recommend this book.

An easy to follow and heartwarming beach / airport read that I loved. I read this tale of loss and hope at the perfect time for me, so uplifting!

This novel, A Summer to Remember, was my first introduction to Victoria Cooke’s work, but it was just the warm-hearted beach read I always enjoy picking up in between heavier pieces of literature. Even better, it has many scenes set in a cute coastal town with lovely, welcoming people of the type we all secretly wish would take us under their wings, pour cocktails down our throats, and become our new best friends when we most need a new perspective.

For main character Sam, a new perspective is precisely what she gets when she temporarily relocates from London to Boston for work. It’s an assignment she’s been wanting for the better part of a decade, ever since losing her husband in a tragic accident, but she gets off to a rocky start, and escapes to Provincetown on the weekend to soothe her soul at the beach.

It’s there where Sam meets and befriends an array of delightful characters – Harry and Barney chief among them – who become her American support system, giving her advice and shaking her out of her self-imposed bubble. It’s also there that she gets to know Ethan, our male lead.

In the last two years, my own family has seen a lot of death and loss – both of my in-laws and my own stepfather, as well as a member of my chosen family – and dealing with that grief, and watching my mother continue to deal with the loss of her life-partner – has been challenging, but it’s also made me a harsh critic of stories covering similar territory. Cooke handles both Sam’s and Ethan’s grief and healing with sensitivity and truthfulness that I found to be profoundly real and incredibly believable.

Yes, these are characters in a summer romance novel, and so their reality is a slightly heightened one, but I still found everything I read to be completely plausible (with the possible exception of anyone getting seasick on a kayak.)

A Summer to Remember was exactly the book I needed to finish out the last days of summer. Okay, I live in Texas, so our hot weather will continue until Halloween, but the light is changing, and there’s a bite beneath the heat that means autumn is arriving, but, just as the end of summer in this novel doesn’t mean an end to new friendships or new relationships, merely a redrawing of parameters, so, too, does the end of summer where I live merely mean that the sun sets a bit earlier and the swimming pool isn’t quite as warm.

A Summer to Remember is a novel to be enjoyed.

Goes well with burgers grilled over an open flame and cold beer, ideally consumed while sitting in the sand.

I really enjoyed this lovely uplifting novel. Well written, this is a story of grief, loss, family, relationships, friendship, love and new beginnings. Engaging characters who I could easily empathise with. Fabulous setting, it sounds idyllic and I would love to visit Provincetown.

Heartwarming, uplifting and emotional, I recommend this book - a perfect holiday read or for an afternoon on the sofa.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

A Summer to Remember is my first book by Victoria Cooke, and it did not disappoint.  This novel is a deep heartwarming romcom about a heartbroken woman who has lost her husband in a tragic accident and is trying to move on with her life.  Sam seems to be doing well, she is working, she has friends, and she landed the summer trip to Boston for her firm which she has coveted for the past 7 years.

When Sam accepts the job, she couldn't be happier, a chance to see and do new things, and get away from the friends and life that seem to want her to find a "significant other" to prove she is ok.  But once she gets to Boston, her happiness fades when she finds that her dream position is run by a sexist boss who refuses to let her contribute to the team.  When she takes a weekend to get away, Sam finds Provincetown, a remote rural beach town where she makes friends and feels relaxed, and suddenly she starts to feel a lot more feelings than she's emotionally ready for.

Most romcoms are light and airy, and yes, this book is too, but it also has some deep undertones to it as well.  My husband called it a rom - drama - com.  Named so because it has just a touch more unresolved past emotions that need to be worked through and gave the reader that apprehensive "OMG" feeling almost as if you weren't sure everything was going to work out in the end.   (And you know everything has to work out in the end in our beloved romcoms)!  It was this unsure, anxious feeling that Cooke's writing gave me that kept me reading nonstop until the very end, because there was no way I could put this book down until I knew what happened.  (Nope, not going to tell you).

This book gets an easy 4 star rating from me.  Victoria Cooke's characters were likable, relatable, real, and Ethan's description was downright sexy.  Cooke took a simple romance and mixed some very serious yet common personal family topics into the bowl, and came out with a winning recipe.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to more of her writing in the future.

Thank you so much to Victoria Cooke, Rachel Gilbey from Rachels Random Resources, and Harper Collins Publishing / HQDigital for a copy of this book for my honest and unbiased opinion.

A very gripping and emotional story! I loved this book very much! I also loved the emotional depth of the characters. A must read!!

Thank you to Netgalley for a pre publication copy. In return for an honest #asummertoremember #netgalley

Sam is in her late thirties and suddenly finds herself a widow. As she ploughes herself into her career her one aim is to make the Boston team for 3 months over the summer. This team is the elite of the corporate world. When she finally makes the team will she be able to put her past behind her? And will she get more than she has bargained for?

The summery vibe on the cover drew me to this book.

Although not the conventional summer romance. This book makes you laugh, cry and hold your breath as you go through the roller coaster of Sam and Ethan being able to love again.

This book is a great summer read. Allowing you to emotionally invest in all the characters you will a happy ending for each one whether that is together or seperately. Their was an equal amount of love and friendshipbuilding between different characters which gives it a beautiful holisitc feel.

Their are some emotional subjects included in this book such as death widowers andlove after a tragedy. I do not feel this takes away from the summer feel of the book or make it a heavy read.

Although I feel that certain parts of the book were rushed these were mainly the love and relationship scenes towards the end and also includes the rekindling of family relationships. Making it feel like the author was running out of pages so instead of continuing with the steady flow they sped it up slightly.

Cute story. The characters were really great, and the story was easy to read. Definitely predictable, but still a fun, light read!

I really enjoyed this read by Victoria Cooke, it wasn't really what I expected but in a good way.
I think this is a lovely read about moving on, moving forwards and never giving up no matter what. I enjoyed the story taking place in Boston, I do love it when a book transports me to somewhere I've never been,
Loved the characters in this book, especially the love interest Ethan.
It was emotional as I really connected with the theme of loss and grief. I definitely recommend.

What sets this book apart is the central character of Sam who has so many complications. She has withdrawn from nearly everyone she knows in the eight years since her husband's sudden death. As she begins to take a small step towards looking to the future, you are willing her to take the biggest leap of faith and just go for it. Of course, Sam has other ideas.

Working for the summer in the US, Sam has quite a time adjusting to the different surroundings and has to dig deep to believe in her own abilities. There are some great characters who befriend her and bring her out of her shell. However, this always feels like a 'two steps forward, one step back' journey. A Summer to Remember turned out to be the sort of book I didn't want to put down. I loved the setting and the plotting. There are also some genuinely touching episodes and in contrast, some amusing interludes.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of the book

*sighs*

Memories can be funny things, can’t they? You can recapture a cherished moment in time. Evoking all the thoughts and feelings that come with that specific memory.

But memories also hold the power to work against you. Even though we don’t mean for them to, they can hold us back. Where nothing and no one can live up to people or times past.

This is the limbo that Sam Butterfield finds herself in.

Losing her husband irrevocably changed Sam’s life. As it would have *shrugs*, but in trying to cope with her grief and forge a new way of life she has placed an ‘Out of Order’ sign on her heart.

Ugh! This hurt so much to read. No matter how Sam tried to pretty it up, her decisions made at that time echoed hurt and sadness through the page.

We may have to push her kicking and screaming, but... bring on the light! *rolls up sleeves*

It’s funny how a change of scenery and pace of life can help lead to a large dose of introspection. Especially when you transport a quintessential English rose to the US of A! I know I wouldn’t pass up a summer working in Boston *snorts*.

Can’t you just feel that sun?! Ahhhh... come to mama *makes grabby hands*.

Now, I have to be honest and say Sam annoyed me a couple of times during this story. I loved the friendships she made but found myself facepalming when her default setting was to lash out rather than admit how she truly felt.

Especially when it was aimed at my two special guys. What special guys you ask? Well, read it and find out *smirks*.

Don’t worry, I didn’t hold it against Sam for long, lol. Let’s be real here, the first flutterings of romance after all this time are bound to be a scary time for her.

Moving on does not mean having to let go...

*sighs* (again!)

Victoria Cooke has become a firm fav of mine since I ‘discovered’ her books last year. As a reader she makes me feel. Whether you’re laughing, crying, getting a tad annoyed or feeling mushy and gushy – her stories just get to you. And ASTR is the perfect example of this.

I wonder where she’ll take me next on her travels!

Victoria Cook has written another engaging story that made me smile and swoon. Not going to lie I was a little disappointed to find out most of this story does not take place in the UK, but rather the US. Good news was it took place in Boston and that is all the way across the country from me and a place I’ve never been so I did get to travel with my read, just not as far as I was anticipating. Additionally the setting of the story was quite delightful and quaint. Such a heartwarming story filled with a tremendous amount of hope and heart. A book about starting over, moving on, and never giving up.

Sam lost her husband many years ago and for the most part she has moved on, just not in the romance department. But Sam is satisfied with her life, she is surrounded by good people and successful in her career. A three-month stent in Boston might just be the thing to push her career to the next level. But Boston is not everything she dreamed it to be. Sam was likable although sometimes she frustrated and confuse me. Ethan the rude/stranger/love interest was a good guy who I found quite lovable myself. Also loved all the secondary characters especially Barney and Harry. A fabulously fun story, the perfect way to end my summer of great reading.

This book in three emojis: 🍹 💁🏻‍♀️ 👫

How could you not be tempted by such a beautiful cover?  And after a week where the weather has well and truly took a turn for the worst (apart form some bonkers sunny moments) a cosy summer romance is exactly what the doctor ordered. 

 After losing her husband at a young age, Sam has thrown herself into her career, friends and advocating the single life.  During a business trip to Boston that isn't exactly going to plan, she takes a short break and discovers there may be a little more to life. 

I found the beginning of this book to be quite heartbreaking (don't worry it doesn't stay that way), and from the opening chapter my heart bled for Sam.  Despite trying to show the world she is happy as a single career woman, there is a sense that she is lonely and unhappy and ridden with guilt.  When she arrives in Boston, meets the rudest man imaginable and her workplace voice is unheard and the undertones of subtle sexism in the workplace is really well written and realistic.  I wanted to punch most of the men there!

Heading to the beach for a weekend away she meets new friends who take her under their wing and the reappearance of the rudest man imaginable. Can Sam learn to be truly happy again?

This is a charming and uplifting novel that deals with the themes of loss, guilt and moving forward after tragedy in such a sensitive and realistic way.  A brilliant read to round of the summer.

"Maybe your heart can be happy again on a different continent."

This is a fun story about lost love and finding happiness again.

Sam is lost without her husband and refuses to date anyone again. Ethan has lost his wife and tried to forget by dating too many women. Will they be able to move on with each other?

"Why is it that when you want something bad enough and work hard enough for it, it doesn’t come until the worst possible time?"

Set in London, Boston and Cape Cod, the story brings Sam to Boston for her dream summer marketing job in Boston and on the way she meets new friends on a trip to the beach. Though Sam and Ethan don’t hit it off at first, the slow build up of their relationship is sweet. When Sam breaks it off knowing she lives across the ocean, she is offered a permanent job in Boston. Will she stay or go?

Sam has been a widow for 8 years and her tendency to run away from everything is a bit childish and annoying. On the other hand, Ethan, who has been a widower for some time, is the calmness to her anxiety and his little girl Lexi is a smart cookie. Of course, I can’t leave out Harry and Barney who are believers in true love and give a great lift to the story.

Thank you to Ms. Cooke and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book with no expectation of a positive review.