Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for the review copy of this book. I always look forward to a new Paige Toon novel because I know there’s a good heartfelt story in store. That’s probably sounding like underselling it, but when I say ‘heart felt’, though, I mean my heart felt it. The words are definitely emphasized in this latest addition. I think it’s her best yet. It was a story I wanted to savour, because her writing was beautifully rendered, with loving descriptions of a seaside Cornwall that I know so well, but with that summer glimmer, that out of time feeling, that leaves you wanting it to never end. A definite reason to read slowly. The story, won’t let you, as you agonizingly drive forward wanting to know what will happen, even as your emotions are being wrenched in all directions. Yes, I might be a bit hyperbolic here, but in the best way. It’s what you want a novel to do to you. Or at least I do.

The story is set over the course of seven summers where Liv, striving to keep her head afloat as maintain a support for a Down Syndrome brother, works in the local bar that is the focal point for both tourists and locals during the holidays. The first summer, fresh from her sculpture studies in Rome, Liv meets Finn, a young charismatic temporary front man for the bar’s featured band while he visits his grandparents and much younger half brothers. The two form an instant connection but is soon becomes clear that their lives and paths are very different. Finn will return to his father and his own band in LA and Liv plans to move to London. But any lighthearted approach to the relationship quickly becomes impossible as they form a deep special connection. Tragedy strikes but the impossibility of it all takes on different shapes. But Finn promises he will return.

Six summers later and a stranger comes to the Cornish town and rents Liv’s cottage. Tom’s presence promises all that she could hope for, a break from the past and a connection that signals a bright future.

Deep rich characters, evocatively described setting and with echoes of ‘Every Summer After’ or ‘Maybe in Another Life’ this book is one that you will have you lingering over it, but at the same time rushing to the end, yet wishing you hadn’t, until you decide you’ll just have to read it again. Highly recommended.

When I read the blurb for this book I did wonder if it was going to be another version of Five Years From Now and there were vague similarities. However this book is even more of a rollercoaster and full of great characters. I absolutely loved it. Another great read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers Random House UK

Seven Summers is a wonderful read with a cast of lovely characters with sparkling dialogue and great relationships.
Retuning home to Cornwall after finishing her Arts degree in Scotland Liv meets up with all her old school friends and meets Finn who she knew from school, he is now singing with a band in the bar where Liv works. As they become very close and begin to fall in love, tragedy strikes and changes everything. Finn moves to America but makes a promise to come back every summer and if they are free, carry on the burgeoning relationship.
The story moves seamlessly from present to each past summer as gradually Liv and Finns relationship starts fracturing. Liv then meets Tom and realising she needs to look to the future they fall deeply in love. But Tom has a secret which when revealed causes shock but both are determined to live life together to the full.
No spoilers but although a beautiful and uplifting ending tears flowed ( which is not usual for me) especially after I’d finished the book and my mind started going over different scenes for me the sign of a good book that I will for a very long time.
My thanks to netgalley and publisher for the opportunity to review this book honestly.

This story follows Liv and her life over the course of the past seven summers.
Liv faces tough decisions in love, loss and hard times.

I really enjoyed this book. I found it a really easy enjoyable read. I couldn’t put it down!
It tugged on the heart strings throughout and I just wanted everything to work out for Liv in the end!
I was sad to finish this but loved the epilogue at the end that gave me a bit more of a look into Liv’s future.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you to Net Galley, Random House UK and Cornerstone for the advanced reading copy of this book.

I am utterly at a loss for words with this book. It was utterly heartbreaking, heart wrenching, and poignant. Seven summers really is a book about grief and how you cope with devastating loss. Liv is truly an apt name for this character and I found her strength inspiring. This book doesn’t try to sugarcoat grief in anyway and Liv really goes through the motions but she isn’t afraid to love with her whole heart again which is what I think makes this story special.

The story is told over seven summers starting with the current summer with the previous six intertwined throughout. Seven summers ago, Liv and Finn fell in love but with Finn in LA and Liv at home in Cornwall all they have is the summer… and the following summers after that until something has to give. Enter Tom. Tom is exactly what Liv needs and she is exactly what Tom needs, Liv has finally met someone new so what happens when Finn returns for the seventh summer?

I’m not normally one for love triangles but this one felt necessary to the story rather than just being a plot device to keep the main characters apart. The two love stories are separate and I don’t think either love could honestly have happened without the other. Finn is there for much of Liv’s grief but the only place he isn’t is in Cornwall. For me it was always clear which love interest I was routing for but I genuinely liked both and I loved the way in which Liv handled the situation. Again the main theme of this novel is grief and moving on and not an angsty ‘who should I choose’ romance which so many books are.

There were some hard truths in this book for both of the characters but I really enjoyed Liv’s character development and I loved how steady Tom was. One of my absolute favourite things about Paige Toon is that there is always a real obstacle which keeps the characters apart, there is never a silly miscommunication plot but rather a solid reason that keeps the couple apart. The running theme throughout most of Paige Toon’s book is love isn’t enough and I love how that was portrayed in this novel. I’ve read every Paige Toon novel and I feel this was definitely up there as one of my favourites.

The epilogues were truly beautiful and filled with so much emotion. I feel like I will carry this story with me for a long time to come. There is so much more I want to say about this book but I’m trying hard to avoid spoilers. The only way to describe finishing this book was shell shocked.

4 stars 🌟

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Seven Summers was slow to start but lovely and romantic. Great characterisation and setting across both timelines. Worth sticking with!

Just when you don’t think Paige Toon can get any better here comes along Seven Summer’s…. I think this one is my favourite yet!

A beautiful story of two soul mates who meet each summer. Both of them have faced tragic life events.

The way Paige captures all the emotions of the story is amazing. You’ll laugh, cry, hold your breath and smile. This book gives you all the feels.

If one thing you do in 2024 is read this book, you’ll be happy.

Paige Toon never disappoints!!
Seven summers gets seven stars! It was GOOD. This is going to be one of the top reads of the summer I have no doubts!!

Absolutely brilliant, loved it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy, I will definitely be recommending.

It was well written and covered its topics well, thoughtfully and heartbreakingly too at times. That being said, the slow pacing at the beginning of the book really dragged and I struggled to get through it and even once everything clicked it didn't work for me.

Fantastic book by this fabulous author! A love story complicated by one another’s circumstances set in Cornwall. A real page turner as you are so eager to see if there will be a happy ever after for them. 💯 recommend

Paige Toon's books are always my most anticipated of the year and this one only adds to why this is so.
She tells the story of Liv, who meets singer Finn one summer in her home town of St Agnes in Cornwall.
Finn has a childhood he has escaped from and now lives in LA, with no urge to return to St Agnes at all.
They come to an agreement that, when he returns each summer to visit his family, if they are both single then they will spend the time together.
Seven years later, Liv meets Tom, who is running away from something, but offers Liv everything that Finn couldn't.
Liv must battle her head and her heart to make sure she is making the right decision for them all.

As always, this book was full of emotion, with several heart wrenching shocks thrown in.
The characters were amazing and the setting so well described that you could picture everywhere they went.
Poor Liv was pulled in all directions and I was really rooting for her to find what she needed to live a happy life after everything she had been through.

Another great emotion packed from Paige Toon.
Highly recommended by me.
Thanks for the opportunity to read & review it.

This book was a real slow burn for me. In fact I'd go as far as to say I struggled for the first half of the story. But then something just clicked.

Once it got going, it was a tale filled mostly with grief, heartache and loss. The messiness of love and life experiences were touchingly real.

However, I think this book would have benefitted from being shorter, it felt like it had been very padded out in places which I found unnecessary and this hindered my progress.

Equal parts heart and heartbreak, yet every romantic’s dream come true, this is Paige Toon at her best; making us want to live in her stories forever and ever!

Firstly, how gorgeous is the cover!? 😍

I am a little confused on how I feel about this book. It was great but it didn’t grip me and I found it hard to connect with the characters.

I didn’t expect there to be such intense topics throughout the book, grief and loss. So there was a lot more depth and emotion to the book.

Once the timelines merged and made sense the book was very good and it made me want to read more. The characters started to make more sense and flow.

Overall it was an OK read for me.

Thank you to @netgalley, Paige Toon and the publisher for allowing me access to this ARC.

Seven Summers was a breathtaking read that was packed full of emotion which pulled at my heart strings. Set in my personal happy place in Cornwall it has a wonderful Summer setting on the glorious sandy beaches and the buzzing bar of Seaglass where our characters come together.

Our FMC is Liv who I loved from the start, she has a pure passion for sculpting but her life path is put off balance after a heartbreaking loss and she feels her duty is to look after her brother Michael who is a favourite character of mine as he brings a touch of lightness and humor to the storyline at times.

Her passion isn’t the only thing effected though so is her heart which belongs to the gorgeous Finn but their love can only be for the Summer each year but their love is put to the test.

This is a storyline that feels so real and so pure which is why each heartbreaking moment that Liv faces brought a lump to my throat. Her resilience through each one is admirable and I longed for her to finally find her happy place in life, doing what she enjoys with the person she loves.

What I loved with this book was the constant will they won’t they feeling. One minute feeling like it was so predictable what the out come would be to then being thrown off guard and doubting how things would go but one thing I can hand on heart say, I never in my dreams imagined what actually did happen in the last part of this book but I was broken that little bit more.

This book tackles loss and grief with such delicate care and it shines a light on how loss can shape your life for years to come. The storyline also focuses on love and how for some in life there is room in your heart for more than one person but you can love in different ways but ultimately your heart knows what is right.

This was another beautiful read from Paige Toon. She has always been a favourite author of mine and her last few books she really has poured her heart and soul into them and have broken my heart in each of them but I wouldn’t want it any other way, she has a pure gift.

I should have known from the description but I really picked this up expecting this to be a light romcom. Well, it absolutely walloped me. It has as much to do with grief and loss as with love. The weaving relationship with Finn and Liv over the years kept me hooked. But seeing Tom come into the picture was something special. All of the various ways you can love different people, welcome them into your life and let them go.

A surprise of a read, I feel a bit heartbroken but loved every minute.

I always know that I will enjoy books by Paige Toon and this one was no exception. This book follows the story of Liv, Finn and Tom and the journey they all go on over time. I loved the dual timeline and build up of the romance in this book and the character development. As I have come to expect with Paige Toon this is an emotional and engaging romance that had me eagerly reading on.

I think Paige Toon was my first addiction when it came to romance novels. I used to wait every year for her latest publication and when i saw this on netgalley I was thrilled. Toon writes wonderfully beautiful romances where the main characters are exposed to a journey of personal growth. Nothing is surface level or cutsey in these books, they are real, they show real emotion. I loved this book, and I LOVE the cover.