I RECEIVED AN ARC COPY OF THE BOOK FROM THE PUBLISHER AND VOLUNTARILY LEAVING MY REVIEW.

KELLAN IS AN EX SOLDIER WHO LIVES IN COLORADO BUT SPENDS THE SUMMER IN NEW YORK CAT SITTING FOR HER AUNT.

ASHLEIGH LIVES IN NEW YORK WITH HER PARENTS AND GRANDMOTHER. SHE IS A MATH TEACHER AND STRUGGLING TO GET OVER A DIVORCE AFTER BEING MARRIED FOR TWELVE YEARS.

I REALLY ENJOYED THIS STORY. KELLAN IS A HOT BUTCH THAT EVEN I FELL IN LOVE WITH AND I WOULD PERSONALLY GO FOR A FEMME BUT I WOULD DEFINITELY MAKE AN EXCEPTION FOR KELLAN. SHE IS MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER FROM THE TWO MC'S. I ENJOYED THE STORY LINE. I FELT LIKE I WAS GETTING A TOUR OF NEW YORK CITY WITH KELLAN WHEN SHE WAS VISITING DIFFERENT PLACES OVER THE COURSE OF THE SUMMER. FOR THE STORY THE PACE WAS JUST RIGHT, SOME HOT SEX SCENES. THERE WAS A GREAT BUNCH OF SECONDARY CHARACTERS (I ESPECIALLY LOVED ASHLEIGH'S GRANDMOTHER, SHE WAS ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS).

ALL IN ALL IT WAS A GREAT READ AND ONE THAT I COULD RE-READ OVER AND OVER AGAIN. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND GIVING IT A READ.

An honest review thanks to NetGalley. This was a great read! I loved the characters and their connection was amazing. I was very confused with all the hints about Dara, and the secret was built up so much that the conclusion was very obvious. I did want to know more about Reagan as the whole ex-wife who Ashleigh was obsessing over for a while. The interactions with Reagan and Ashleigh made me want to know more about them. Over all Kellan and Ashleigh were perfect and this was a great romantic read.

Ashleigh is a teacher who has been divorced (from a woman) for about a year. She's off for the summer from school and wants to explore her hometown, New York City (and what surrounds it) like she hasn't before. First she thinks she'll be doing it with her friend Liam, but, he's setting up his new bar, and so he suggest that Kellan, his friend and fellow soldier, newly retired, accompany Ashleigh instead. Kellan is just retired from the Army and house sitting for her Aunt in New York City.

They do start exploring together and very fast find themselves liking each other in a more than friend way. But, Ashleigh is still recovering from her divorce, and Kellan, whew, Kellan has a heck of a secret too.

I liked the beginning and middle of the book a lot. (Except for a two to three page rambling about the gender identity of Kellan that added nothing to the story and yanked me hard, very hard, out of the narrative. It was a such a nice build up through the beginning and middle.

But, then there was the end of the novel. I could barely get through reading the end of it. The choices the character made just didn't seem right. Why does it always seem like in some of these lesfic books there is one character that has to be wrong, wrong, wrong (even if they're 80% justified to be pissed, or angry, or sat, or whatever)? The one character doesn't get given room to be whatever their feelings are, and instead has to suck it up and take the 'I'm the bad guy' flaming letter on their chest, and then beg forgiveness from the 'perfect' one. It drives me entirely nutty.

So, first 2/3rds of the book, 4 stars. Last 1/3 of the book, 1 star. Even it out to 3 stars.

I was given this ARC by Netgalley on behalf of Bold Strokes Books.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Ashleigh is still hurting over her divorce from her ex wife Reagan of seventeen years. To make matters worst she runs into her and her boyfriend Josh at every turn. Ashleigh decide to do tourist attractions she haven't had time to do in Brooklyn.

Kellan just got out the army when she volunteer to babysit her Aunt Holly cat Blue while she away. Kellan also decide to do it because she wants to reconnect with an old friend in Brooklyn that she kinda had a falling out with.

Ashleigh and Kellan meet when they have friend in comma Liam who was in the army with Kellan suggest Ashleigh show her around since he can't because he just open a restaurant.

I like Ashleigh and Kellan because they got to know each other even though Kellan was holding back before they got together.

As they decide to keep it as a summer fling theirs feelings start to become more deeper but when Kellan didn't confide in Ashleigh about the fall out she had with her bestfriend Dara it almost ruin their relationship. Even though I thought Ashleigh blew it out of portion about Kellan secret about Dara I'm happy they got their happy ending.

Brooklyn Summer details the life of Ashleigh McAllister, whose ex dumped her for a guy, and she routinely sees the couple in their small Brooklyn neighborhood. During summer break from teaching math, Ashleigh meets hot butch Kellan Dwyer at the bar/restaurant of a mutual friend of Ashleigh's and Kellan's named Liam. Kellan is in Brooklyn to apartment and cat sit for her Aunt for the summer. Ashleigh has sworn off dating from a rather tumultuous divorce but Kellan definitely catches her attention. Liam volunteers Ashleigh to show Kellan around the city during Ashleigh's teaching break. Ashleigh has a master schedule planned full of sightseeing and Kellan joins her on this adventure. Slowly they begin to grow closer.

I really enjoyed this butch/femme story filled with adventurous sightseeing, hot nights with delicious sex scenes, and some backstory angst. The heartfelt conversations between Ashleigh and Kellan really helped solidify their relationship before their physical relationship kicked off.

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Book and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ashleigh, 37, was recently divorced from Reagan after being in a relationship with her for 17 years, married for 12. Kellan, 38, recently retired from the Army. Originally from Colorado, she was only in DUMBO for the summer house sitting for her aunt and taking care of her aunt’s cat. Since Kellan wanted to see some NYC sites, Liam, a mutual friend, suggested Ashleigh become her tour guide since she was going sightseeing anyway during her summer break from teaching. The women enjoyed each other’s company and felt a realness to their relationship. Since Ashleigh’s only relationship was with her ex wife, she really didn’t want a summer fling but after some deliberation decided to fully embrace the time she had with Kellan.

Even though the women declared their love for each other in a rather short period of time, it seemed right. I think this was because the time they spent with each, almost everyday and from morning til night, they had in-depth conversations about life, love…expectations. They had heartfelt conversations about past relationships to gender identity to the collapse of Ashleigh’s marriage to her feelings of insignificance with regard to her ex-wife and boyfriend. They listened and supported each other. They spoke from the heart.

With that being said, the only problem I had with the story was actually Kellan’s non disclosure about a major event from her past to Ashleigh. This was the angst moment and it really didn’t feel right. The not telling part didn’t seem to fit with Kellan’s whole persona, especially since later on Kellan actually did tell someone. This part left me with too many questions as well as how it was resolved.

Aside from that, I did think Maggie Cummings did a great job with the setting, highlighting the specialness of Brooklyn and its surrounding areas. I’m familiar with those areas. If I was a tourist I would definitely want to check out those spots based on her descriptions…and the axe throwing bar is actually quite safe and fun.

Overall, it was an entertaining read.

A delicious butch/femme story, Brooklyn Summer captures summer in New York with the budding romance between Kellan and Ashleigh. Their romance builds over fun summer days exploring the city while getting to know each other after meeting through a mutual friend. Their dialogue flows beautifully and it's wonderful to watch their friendship build as well as their romance. The conflict of the story had me sobbing but it made their HEA so worth it in the end.

I like this book. I was looking for a nice light read after a couple of emotional heavy hitters and this book hit the spot. I am a sucker for butch femme storylines. I appreciated the gender conversation and that it touched on what was necessary but didn't turn into a TED talk. I enjoyed the light summer romance and the well written sex scenes. Sometimes it felt like Ashleigh was emotionally younger than her 38 years but her history explains some of that stunting. There wasn't much I didn't like until the conflict near the ending. I just wanted to scream "shut up and let her talk!" It was dramatic enough that I was concerned that this might end up as ONLY a summer fling. This is a HEA, happily, so crisis averted. I guess the fact that I cared enough to be bothered near the end shows how much I bonded to the characters and became invested in their outcome. This book is a thumbs up for me.
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'd like to say this is a slow burn, but that's not entirely true. Ashleigh and Kellan fall in love rather fast. I guess it would be more accurate to say the pacing is rather languid.

Ashleigh's thirty-eight and living at home with her mom, dad, and grandma. Her mom cuts her sandwiches, her dad folds her laundry, and she has to race home from a date because they might be worried about her. Some might find that cute, others not so much.

Kellan is butch, and the reader isn't allowed to forget it. Early in the book I almost stopped reading when the dialogue went on for too long about what she should be called. Maybe it's a conversation people in butch/femme relationships have, but it annoyed me. It changed a book about two women fall in love to the labels they put on themselves.

Moving on, this story follows the two leads as they get to know each other over the summer. Around the 90% mark what seems to be the pre-required conflict in lesfic rears its ugly head and we all know how it goes after that. Everyone lives happily ever after.

In summary, I'm sure this is a story many fans of Maggie Cummings will relish.