A quick summer listen. A listern for you to take away on a long car journey.

Thank you for allowing me to listen and review

This is an author I have not recently read many books of, but there was a time when I did. The couple I picked up in recent times were not exactly what I was hoping for. This book, additionally because of the narrative performance, I really enjoyed it.

I usually do not find enough time to listen to an audiobook in one go, but once this story got going, I made up opportunities where I could listen while I do other stuff.

Alison and Erica are the two ladies whose voices we get to hear. The narrator manages to keep a small distinction between the two parts and it was not confusing. Alison suddenly finds herself in a terrible situation. She is heavily pregnant and already has a toddler. When Alison finds out her accounts have been frozen, it turns out it is a sliver of what is to come.

Erica is a confident woman still nursing the insecurities her ex left her with. The two women have one positive person in common. Erica 's daughter and Alison's step-daughter Summer. Summer is a very good character. I say good not just as a character trait, but also as a character. There is enough drama and childishness in between to ensure we can see Summer as a teen, because the rest of the time she is incredibly thoughtful and is the reason the story moves on.

We watch the two sides of the plot move closer until they overlap. It is not just a story of a found family coming together since we get to see the realistic issues of what happens when someone goes against the law.

I found the entire book highly satisfying and the narration worked really well. I would highly recommend this book to readers of this genre.

I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own listening experience.

For the Love of Summer is a women's fiction story with strong female characters that support one another. Erica Sawyer is the owner of several salons called Twisted. She is doing well supporting herself and her teenage daughter, Summer after her divorce. Her ex, Peter, has remarried a younger woman, Allison, who now has a toddler and is expecting another child shortly. Allison's life blows up when Peter is arrested and imprisoned. Their bank accounts are frozen and she will run out of money within a couple of months and be homeless at the same time. Summer cares about her step-mother and half brother and wants to help them. Erica is finally convinced to help them out and what happens next is surprising.

I have read similar stories before where the husband is involved in illegal activities and the women are left to fend for themselves, but this one had quite a twist to it. I loved Summer. So often teenagers are sullen, self-centered and often rebel against the new parent, so it was delightful to see this caring young lady. Erica was also not angry with Allison. She wasn't friendly with her, but didn't blame her for the breakup of her marriage. Allison was a bit naive. She had a tragedy in her past and was vulnerable when she met Peter. Peter was a jerk. He constantly tried to make it seem like his actions were the fault of Allison, he was just trying to make a good life for her. This is a story of a unique relationship/family. We see Allison grow in self-confidence and Erica grow in her relationship building, as these two women, who married the same man become almost like sisters. Themes of found family, women helping women, the importance of being able to support yourself, love, and more made this a wonderful and uplifting story. As always, I enjoyed Tanya Eby's narration, but would love to have a different narrator every now and then as I picture characters from other books I have listened to as their voices sound the same.

I found myself swept away by a heartwarming tale that beautifully captures the essence of love and second chances. Mallery’s writing is both engaging and relatable, drawing me into the lives of richly developed characters who feel like old friends. The summer setting is vibrant and lively, serving as the perfect backdrop for the unfolding romantic drama.
However, while the overarching themes of love and personal growth are inspiring, some plot developments felt predictable, relying on familiar tropes that took away a bit of the suspense. A few secondary characters could have been fleshed out more, as their potential added layers to the story but were somewhat underutilized.
Nonetheless, the emotional depth and charming storyline made For The Love Of Summer a delightful read that left me with a warm sense of nostalgia.

An emotional, powerful and numerous book, this story has it all.
When successful business woman Erika, feels forced into taking in her ex-husband's current pregnant wife Alison and her son, after being badgered by her own daughter Summer, things take an unusual turn, as the women gradually find a way to get to know each other, not coloured by the evil tongue of their husband.
A heartwarming story of gaining trust and building new futures.

Audio voice was really good. Story wise , it was good but I didn’t really enjoy much as is not my typical read. I would said that definitely will be recomending but yea not for me

For The Love Of Summer was overall a nice, easygoing type of book however sadly the narration was difficult, especially at the beginning. I found it sounded almost autogenerated, which took me a little longer to be able to immerse myself into the book being honest, I still couldn't fully.

If reading the book, I'd imagine this to be a more enjoyable experience. This is where it lost stars for me was the audio.

The story of how 2 women can come together in adverse circumstances through the daughter of Erica and step-daughter to Alison, Summer plays a vital role in helping Alison during extremely difficult times when her husband is unexpectedly (Summers dad) sent to prison.

The way in which they all become a family with Alisons son and another baby on the way is simply a beautiful example of how women can be friends, even those who have been married to the same man. A prime example of respect, care, kindness, and compassion for another woman instead of looking at the situation as a way to inact any kind of revenge that may have been harbouring due to the previous dynamics.

Many thanks to Netgalley & Harper Collins UK Audio for an opportunity to listen to this audiobook in return for an honest review.

A fantastic book on how to not judge a book by its cover.

Erica: motivated, rich and successful business woman. Divorced and loves her daughter. Supports woman's empowerment by offering training programs, scholorships ans other great benefits through her business. Her ex is Peter.

Allison: Peter's current wife, with a toddler and a baby on the way. She has the most character growth in this book.

Summer: Erica's teenaged daughter. A little bit of a git.

Killian: Erica's most amazing boyfriend. I liked him so much. Supportive, kind, and just an all out nice guy.

Allison thinks Erica is a shrew. When Peter commits large scale fraud, she is left destitute. Erica is graceful and kind and takes in Allison reluctantly. Over time, we see them bond and change, Allison becomes a stronger character, Erica opens up after being badly hurt by Peter. We see lovely relationships and friendships grow.

A nice read overall, it is not tearjerker, but thoughtfully written.

The narration was well done,

#netgalley #fortheloveofsummer

I really loved this story. You can really follow along as the characters grows along with their relationships.

I enjoyed reading this book so much. Although I liked the description, the cover hadn’t really drawn me in and made me think it would be quite cheesy. However I was completely wrong, I loved all of the characters, they were just thoroughly lovable and the story line was quite unique. I enjoyed the narrator too which always helps.

This was a poignant tale of two women bought together through adversity. I thought that this book would rip my heart out but it felt a bit flat to me.

WOW JUST WOW! This book is absolutely incredible and grips you from the start. I couldn’t put this book down. A must read!

This was really sweet actually. I enjoyed the story a lot, something changed midway for me with the narration though and I didn’t love it. However the message of women supporting women even in the most awkward of situations I was completely all in for.

Thank you to Harper Collins Audio U.K. and NetGalley for the ELC

P.an apologies that my reviews are brief atm, hopefully business as usual soon.

Thank you netgalley for allowing me to review this book. Very touching story about self discovery, family and friendship. The book flows well and I really enjoyed the characters and felt myself getting lost in the story. Anyone who enjoys women's fiction should love this book.

While looking through the Goodreads reviews for this book, I discovered Susan Mallory was a well-beloved author and this book is making me want to read more from them because I truly enjoyed this one. They have a way to create original and refreshing stories with twists I never saw coming and kept me on the edge of my seat, but also attaching characters that you can't help but like and want to learn more about. I will definitely pick up another book by this author. 4.5 stars

𝟒.𝟓 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 .𐦍༘⋆

Ugh this book was so good!
I love reading about female relationships especially surrounding complicated situations. This book tackled so much and I don’t want to spoil anything but I love how real this book felt. All the characters felt genuinely authentic and at no point did any of them act out of character which I truly adore in fiction.

The narrator Tanya Eby did such a great job at narrating this story I truly didn’t want to put it down.

This book handles family drama, complicated relationships and finding yourself after a loss of someone you thought you knew so well. If you want to women building each other up and overcoming obstacles together this is the book for you.

Beautifully written and definitely going on a favourites shelf