I have really enjoyed Kate Perry's Laurel Heights books, and this was free on Kindle so I gave it a shot. I have a mixed reaction.
This is the first in a series about the Summerhill sisters. They are, naturally, all named after heroines from Shakespearean comedies(not especially original, but okay). I was mildly confused at first because the "six sisters" of impoverished but titled background, living in Mayfair, is a typical setup for a Regency, but not really what I expected from a contemporary novelist.
The plot could not possibly be more contrived. Rosalind, the second sister, a wedding dress designer living in San Francisco, estranged from her parents, returns to England for her titled father's funeral after he is killed in a car accident along with his mistress of 30 years. Due to his terrible investing skills, he has left behind almost no assets with the exception of the house in Mayfair and its contents, which are likely to go to their mother (totally disregarding the fact that most of the land was probably entailed and couldn't be sold, and that all of it would have gone to the American who inherited the title and who does not appear in this story). Anyway, Rosalind's mother secretly tells her that the will may have been rewritten to favor the mistress, and that Rosalind needs to find and destroy it so the mistress' daughter with Rosalind's father, Summer, won't inherit (Summer Summerhill? Really?). Rosalind agrees to take a week out of her life in San Francisco to search the house, looking for her father's will, so they can destroy it.
Summer, who is paying her respects at her father's funeral, just happens to eavesdrop on this conversation. She's there with her stepbrother (long and complex story) Nick, who is also a Formula One race car driver. Summe convinces Nick to help her recover the will. For unclear reasons, she introduces herself to Rosalind as Sara, who needs a wedding dress, and identifies Nick as her matron of honor, who is also a lawyer(it may not make sense, but it's still funny). Rosalind and Nick have instant chemistry. Like, they walk out the door and she's on him. I can appreciate a heroine who knows what she wants, but it's a little abrupt. He doesn't seem to mind that much, except it bothers him that he's misrepresenting himself to her, so he backs off. In the meantime, Rosalind kind of starts to relate to her prickly siblings and her previously cold and distant mother, searches for the will, and continues to go after Nick, who totally wants to respond but feels guilty, although he eventually gives in. Rosalind is also designing "Sara" a wedding dress and they are becoming friends, so when Rosalind and her sisters decide to break in to the mistress' house to see if their father hid the will there, and she sees pictures of Summer and Nick together all over the house, it's a double betrayal. Rosalind eventually forgives the lies in spite of the fact that her father was a liar who drove her away and Summer completely deceived her. Also, the will she's been searching for? Her mother had it all the time and hid it so Rosalind would stay in England and bond with her family. Everybody welcomes Summer into the family, Rosalind drops her life in San Francisco to move in with Nick, and Nick finally convinces his agent that he's giving up racing to raise a family. Because a romance novel needs a happy ending.
There's a secondary and totally unnecessacary plot about Summer's receptionist which bothered me because the guy was unnecessarily aggressive and stalker-ish.
In spite of everything that's wrong with the book, Kate Perry knows how to entertain and she has written some really funny stuff (the scene where Nick follows Summer into a nail salon so she can't escape an uncomfortable conversation and ends up with a pedicure is great) with some enjoyable secondary characters. It's all just a piece of nonsense, but I love Rosalind and Nick's chemistry, that she knows what she wants and goes for it (until the end) and that in spite of the lying he's actually not a real jerk. The secondary plot bothers me quite a bit, but the majority of the time that Rosalind and Nick are interacting I quite enjoyed it, and her developing relationship with her sisters and mother is interesting to see. Still, I prefer the Laurel Heights books, and I probably wouldn't pay to read another book in the Summerhill series.