Another devastatingly great tearjerker from Paige Toon!
The novel is set in Cornwall and is beautifully described in detail making you want to visit and walk the paths of the characters. Liv, the main character is an aspiring sculptor returning to Cornwall fresh from her studies in Italy to stay with her parents until her move to London to follow her dreams. In this time she meets up with Finn who her mother warns to be careful of, but Liv is already falling hard for Finn. In the blink of an eye, unspeakable events happen which force Liv to remain in Cornwall but Finn must return to life in LA. I really liked the inclusion of Liv's brother who has Down's Syndrome being written about in such a positive manner and how he is strong, independent and fiercely protective of his little sister.
Over 7 summers Liv and Finn meet and fall in love over and over again and each time they part they are both shattered, is this long distance love affair sustainable or are they both setting themselves up for perpetual heartbreak?

I absolutely loved this book. It tugged at my heartstrings and then did the same all over again! Wonderful writing and fabulous characters. It has become one of my all time favourites and is definitely a must read for everyone!

I’m a huge fan of Paige Toon - so much so that I’ve waxed lyrical about her books here before! - and ‘Seven Summers’ is her 20th novel.

She’s back with romance, heartbreak, the gorgeous sunshine of a Cornwall summer, and a new cast of characters to fall in love with.

Six summers ago

Liv and Finn meet working in a bar on the rugged Cornish coastline, their futures full of promise. When a night of passion ends in devastating tragedy they are bound together inextricably. But Finn's life is in LA with his band, and Liv's is in Cornwall with her family - so they make a promise. Finn will return every year, and if they are single they will spend the summer together.

This summer

Liv crosses paths with Tom - a mysterious new arrival in her hometown. As the wildflowers and heather come into bloom, they find themselves falling for one another. For the first time Liv can imagine a world where her heart isn't broken every year.

Now Liv must make an impossible choice. And when she discovers the shocking reason that Tom has left home, she'll need to trust her heart even more . . .

I’ll be honest, I struggled to get into this one. While I was reading, I was in, but I also had no particular drive to pick it up when I wasn’t reading until about 60% in. Maybe I just knew that there was a high chance Paige Toon was going to make me sob…

But I also felt a little like the writing for the first few chapters was a little off and not quite at the usual level I would expect from her books and stories - it felt stripped back and a little less complex than usual and it made me a little concerned, but the writing did recover to the usual lever emotional complexity and immersion after a while. I did find myself held at a distance from that start, however.

Saying that, Liv is a really easy protagonist to like and I loved the set up of her life, her family and her friends in St Agnes and I fell in love with Finn as soon as he came on page. The chemistry and connection between them is electric and, as usual with Paige Toon, the romance lit up the whole novel and I was invested in their story immediately; I couldn’t imagine how there could be a second romance brought in that I would be equally engaged in. I was wrong.

For a while, I couldn’t decide what way I wanted the love triangle to go - Tom or Finn, Finn or Tom - what an impossible choice, but then when the decision was made my immediate disappoint made my secret feelings immediately clear…

SPOILER WARNING
.
.
.

And then Tom died and Finn was back in the picture and I should have been excited about it, but it felt a little…obvious? Cheap? I’m not sure, but it was also something that had been done before in ‘Chasing Daisy’ back in 2009, with a whole lot more emotional impact. I was a little disappointed by that turn of the plot, but I ended up getting a little emotional about how Liv and Finn’s life ended up anyway - they were meant to be and I’m so glad that Finn especially got his happy ending.

Also: a mention of Jessie from ‘The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson’! I would love to revisit the Jeffersons in a future novel…

Paige Toon is a forever favourite and I’ve been reading her for nearly two thirds of my life, and I hope that long continues. Her love stories are full of heart-rending emotion and characters that will stay with you for years to come.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for the review copy.

Firstly, I'd like to thank @netgalley and @penguinukbooks for my ARC. This is just what I needed whilst I was in my slump. I really enjoyed this book and how it kept flicking between the past and then the present.

This is book is heart warming but also heart breaking. It broke my heart and then pieced it together again on several occasions.

I loved reading the past summers and getting all excited for Finn but then feeling conflicted about Tom. One minute I was team Tom then team Finn and OMG it was just lovely.

I've massively enjoyed the last two books from Paige Toon and I can't wait to read more.

This book came out on 28th March and I would highly recommend everyone go out and get this. Not only is the story great book but the paperback is beautiful. Going to try get a copy of the sprayed edged paperback for my shelf

I loved the way this book was written. The way the story was narrated between the present day and the past built the anticipation for me. I know when I read a book by Paige Toon that it will be a great storyline with an interesting range of characters. The books are always so real that it’s easy to read them and get totally wrapped up in them.
This latest one was no exception. A really moving story.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and would highly recommend it.
5 stars

This was yet another gloriously uplifting story from Paige Toon. Yes she did try to break my heart through some of the events but she always makes up for those tear jerking moments with a fabulous love story that gives so much joy in the end.
This was a story of friendship and love spread over seven summers told from Liv’s point of view mostly set in Cornwall where she had ended up living. The relationships she has are interesting reading and very frustrating at times but without those frustrations the book would have been over within a few chapters instead of giving me the joy I experienced by reading through them to the happier moments.
I’m now hoping for and awaiting another book by this author, I do rather enjoy them each time!

I need to start by saying I loved the way this story was written. The timeline was brilliant in its backwards & forwards across the summers.

This one will tug on your heart strings & I suffered the odd lump in the throat reading it. I felt for Liv & Finn, the way their two worlds were always pulling them apart. I loved the secondary characters, their childhood friends who knew them so well, Michael was a particular favourite too.

My only criticism would be the ending, I prefer to leave things to my imagination. I won't go into details as it would be spoiler central, but if you've read it, drop me a DM & let me know what your thoughts are.

If you love Paige Toon, you will love this one.

Seven Summers is a heart wrenching contemporary romance from Paige Toon about love, loss, family, and fate.

The summer Liv meets Finn, tragedy binds them, and then tears them apart. Liv’s life is in Cornwall where she tends bar, creates sculptures, and watches over her brother. Finn’s life is in LA where his career as a singer/songwriter is taking flight. Forced to part as the season turns, the lovers make a solemn vow, if they are both single when Finn returns a year from now, they will renew their romance, setting the scene for a love story seven years in the making.

Moving between the present day and the tumultuous events of the six previous summers, Seven Summers is an emotional journey that charts the course of Liv and Finn’s relationship. Toon elicits smiles as the couple make the most of the time they are together, and tears each time they part. Their romance is passionate, sweet, and all-consuming, and I was wholly invested in it. But eventually something has to change and when Liv meets Tom, she is forced to make a choice. To Toon’s credit, Liv and Tom’s relationship is equally as compelling, and ultimately as heartrending. It’s a unique twist on a love triangle trope that makes a statement about soul mates and second chances.

While Seven Summers is a romance at its core, it’s also much more than just that. In some ways it’s a coming of age story, as Liv is only just in her twenties when the story begins, and as a consequence of her loss, she gives up on her plans and becomes sort of stuck. With the immediacy of the first person perspective, the narrative is quite intimate so that the reader shares in Liv’s journey as she navigates her grief, guilt and yearning.

Poignant, wistful and hopeful, Seven Summers is another heartfelt novel that will give you all the feels.

📚Book Review📚

#adprproduct

I'd like to thank NetGalley for approving me for an ARC of this book.

💞Romance
🥰Family
😢Grief
⭐Relationships

Once again Paige Toon delivers a story that tugs on your heartstrings. This tale is filled with so much hope, devastation and love that it's hard not to fall in love with Liv and Finn. Special mention to Michael, who was my favourite secondary character.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

It’s no secret that I cannot get enough of Paige Toon and this new release is no different!

Of course I read an early e-arc and pre-ordered the physical 🤷🏼‍♀️

I was lucky enough to get an early copy of this through @netgalley and I devoured it in a matter of days. The way Paige writes her characters just has me begging for more each time. This was such a beautiful and emotional story (no surprise there!) and yes, I did shed a few tears.

I felt every one of Liv’s emotions throughout this and felt just as confused as she did about her friendships and relationships. The book shifts flawlessly through present day and Liv’s past, allowing us a deeper understanding of her feelings. I was so conflicted throughout on what I wanted Liv’s ending to be. In a way, Paige gave me both.

Already eagerly awaiting the next book…

Thanks to Netgalley for an e-arc of this book for an honest review.

“Six summers to fall in love, one summer to change everything”
An amazingly emotional read.
Set in Cornwall, Liv & Finn met 6 summers ago working in a bar.
Told over multiple timelines, we meet up with them over the previous 6 summers until the present summer and see how Liv is now torn and has to make an impossible choice.
You really get to see the characters grow throughout the seven summers.
It’s a heartbreaking storyline, full of slow burn and second chances - become obsessed with Liv & Finn
Thanks @paigetoonauthor, @penguinbooksuk & @netgalley for the perfect summer escapist read

A beautiful and emotional book. I did struggle a little with the grief in the story (lost my own dad a few months ago) but I enjoyed the friendship and love elements of the story

I was NOT mentally prepared for this book. I didn’t see *that* scene near the end at all - it ripped my heart straight out of my chest, shattered it into tiny pieces, and slowly put it back together again.

Liv and Finn’s story spans over seven summers of their lives, with their relationship largely centred around a tragedy that changes Liv’s life forever. Liv also meets Tom along the way, and has to navigate her feelings between her past and her present. This is a heartwrenching story about love, grief, and being human, and I loved every second of it.

I especially loved Michael, he was pure sunshine and I think Paige painted his character in a really authentic and beautiful way.

*Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Loved this book! The story takes you on a roller coaster. You think you know where it is going when it takes a sudden twist. Written how a good love story should be written. Liv is a lovely character trying to deal with everything life is throwing at her. Grief, looking after family, long distance love affair,, new love. You can feel the love and pain on the pages.. I will be looking for more books by Paige Toon.

Set in St Agnes Cornwall Olivia Arterton, Liv has just come home from University in Edinburgh, and a brief course in Tuscany.
Reunited with her best friends from school days, she gets a summer job behind the bar in the local pub/restaurant.
Liv wants to save money over the summer to be able to move forward with her future plans, but will they work out?

I found the second half of the book easier to get into. The story was told over the various summers moving back and forwards.
I liked the descriptions of Cornwall and the art.
It covers some sensitive issues through the storyline.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Publisher for an advanced e-book copy. Opinions about the book are entirely my own.

.

Having holidayed in Cornwall for the past thirty odd years this novel was always going to have a special place in my heart. I know St Agnes well as I’ve always stayed in Porthtowan, so I was able to fully immerse myself in the rugged Cornish scenery and could smell the sea air and mist coming off the Atlantic Ocean.

I’ve also experienced the whole carrying on where you left off the summer before so I know just how Liv feels - it’s as if so much time has passed but also feels like nothing at all.

I can truthfully say that Paige has managed to rip my heart out, chew it up and spit it out again!! I’m always such a wreck after reading these novels and that’s no mean feat! I’m as hard nosed as they come and rarely show emotion so this is really saying something 😢

I just hope that Liv has made the right decision…

I absolutely loved this book. It was entertaining, engaging, heartbreaking yet ultimately uplifting. It follows Liv who meets Finn one summer, and whilst they can't be together, they meet up every summer that follows. On the seventh summer, Liv meets the enigmatic Tom and they end up falling in love leaving Liv with a difficult choice. This was a well written book, with authentic and engaging characters and with multiple perspectives and timelines, which could have been confusing but worked really effectively. I really enjoyed reading this book, and didn't want it to end. Definitely story that will stay with me, being both heartwarming yet devastating. A highly recommended read. Thanks to netgalley and Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read. I will definitely be reading more by this author!

“Six summers to fall in love, one summer to change everything”

This book just shot straight into my top five reads of the year and we aren’t even a quarter of the way through yet..😍

The perfect summer read, although despite the title and setting, this book is not light-hearted. It’s set in summer but has a “rip out your heart, tear it to shreds and put it back in” vibe!

I was absolutely obsessed with Liv and Finn! Liv’s character has to be one of my most loved female protagonists that I’ve read in a long time!

With multiple timelines, a heartbreaking storyline and characters you can more than relate to, I read this SO fast 🫶🏼

F A V E Q U O T E 🍒

“I like the way he looks at me, how seen he makes me feel”

H I G H L I G H T S
☀️ Absolutely crushing and heartbreaking read
🏝️ Set in Cornwall (l o v e)
🍹 Slow burn
🍒 Second chances
💐 Amazing character development
🍯 Great chemistry between characters
🧋 The epilogue of all epilogues!!!

I honestly cannot recommend this one enough, and I will be spending the weekend booking a summer trip to Cornwall 💁🏻‍♀️

I love a Paige Toon novel, although I have to wait until I know I have time, as I can never put them down. Seven Summer was no exception.

Think One Day set in Cornwall. The connection between the main characters feels so real and you have to be prepared to become so invested in this book. I felt like my own heart was broken and cried multiple times, but this propelled me to continue reading to guess (incorrectly) the end.

This is a perfect summer holiday read and I know it will be everywhere this summer.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this arc in exchange for a review.

There is alway something genuinely lovely about reading a Paige Toon book. I adored the character of Liv, what a rollercoaster she takes us on! I cannot recommend this book highly enough and for anyone that’s relatively new to Paige’s books - go back and start from the beginning, you won’t regret it.