Booked for the Summer by Kathryn Freeman (2025)
Kathryn Freeman Romcom Collection #10
iii+378-page Kindle Ebook story pages 1-366
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Beach Read
Featuring: Books About Books, Bookstore Manager, Nantucket, Massachusetts; Summer Job, Adversaries Trope, Motor Yacht, Billionaire Trope, Brit vs American, Dual POVs, Sex, Lovers-to-Enemies-to-Lovers Trope, Family Dynamics, Grandma, Insecurities, Resorts, Workplace Setting, Author's Links, Bibliography for Kathryn Freeman, Publisher's Links
Rating as a movie: R for strong language and adult content
Songs for the soundtrack: "I'm Dreamin'" by Christopher Williams, "I Want Your Sex" by George Michael
Books and Authors mentioned: Jerry Maguire by Cameron Crowe
My rating: ⭐️⭐️½🏝🏰📚🏴❤️🇺🇸
My thoughts: This was a nearly single-session read. The blurb sounds much better than the actual story. The plot was okay but the execution was very weak. The characters were horny for no reason and I didn't believe their chemistry. The most annoying thing about this story is that it's set in Nantucket, which I normally love as I've read several different authors who set books in Nantucket, but this story did not feel like Nantucket. It could have been set in any fictional coastal town from Connecticut to Florida. So why was I not surprised to read in the acknowledgments that the author had never heard of Nantucket until someone suggested she change the setting of this book from the Maldives to Nantucket? Write what you know.
Recommend to others: Not likely, but you never know.
Kathryn Freeman Romcom Collection
1. The New Guy (2020)
2. Up Close and Personal (2020)
3. Strictly Come Dating (2020)
4. Mr Right Across the Street (2021)
5. The Beach Reads Book Club (2021)
6. The Italian Job (2022)
7. Nobody Puts Romcoms In The Corner (2023)
8. Was It Good For You? (2023)
9. Thank You, Next (2024)
10. Booked for the Summer (2025)
11. A Nantucket Fling (2026)
Memorable Quotes: Okay, maybe a teeny bit of her still wished she was heading to a tropical island because, duh, what sane, sun-worshipping, book-obsessed person wouldn’t want to spend three months in a place where they could read steamy romances on perfect white sandy beaches? This Nantucket place though, the one she’d never heard of a few months ago . . . well it certainly wasn’t Twickenham. In the guidebook she’d devoured on the plane to Boston, she’d seen pictures of sandy beaches, though they did look a bit windswept. Also, marinas with long wooden pontoons, lighthouses and deep blue waters dotted with white sailing boats. Nantucket had a small-town vibe, so the book said, but with a heavy dose of glamour, taste and style. She’d had a little snigger to herself when she’d read that. In her twenty-five years on the planet, she’d managed Devon, Margate and a week in Spain. A culturally sophisticated island in the Atlantic off Cape Cod was not a place she’d ever expected to find herself. Especially one that she’d read wasn’t the playground of millionaires, but of billionaires.
Oh, my God, was he interested? ‘I don’t think you need it. To be honest, you had me at the yacht.’ He stilled, and belatedly she realised how that must have come across. ‘Oh, God, that was meant to be a joke, you know, Jerry Maguire…’ She hung her head, feeling the hot flush of embarrassment creep up her neck. ‘I told you I was terrible at this. Way to seduce a hot guy, Jade. First barge onto his boat, then sit next to him smelling of rotting fruit juice and finally insult him by implying he’s only attractive because he has a big boat. And no, that wasn’t a euphemism. Not that I think you don’t have a big… I mean I’m sure you do have… Oh fuckity fuck.’ Beyond embarrassed now, she rose to her feet. ‘Clearly, it’s time I called it a night. Thanks for the drink and sorry about my word vomit. I wish I could blame the cocktail, but unless it’s absorbed through the skin I think that was all me.’ ‘Wait.’ His hand wrapped round her arm, giving it a gentle tug until she dropped back onto the sofa. ‘Are you trying to seduce me?’ Her tongue felt too big for her mouth, the words she wanted to say getting stuck as his inscrutable gaze raked hers. ‘I think I was, or at least I was trying to flirt with you, which is probably a dumb idea but I’m the queen of dumb ideas.’ His eyes narrowed, leaving her feeling unbalanced. She wished she was as good at hiding her thoughts as he was. ‘It would help me hugely if you said something now because your face is kind of hard to read.’ His gaze went from cool grey to so inferno-hot, it scorched her insides. ‘If you could read my thoughts, you’d be scared.’ Her heart thumped, but she ignored it and raised her chin. ‘I don’t scare easily. Try me.’ ‘Are you sure? Because for what I’m about to say to you, I need you to be really, really sure.’ Arousal burned through her. It didn’t matter that getting tangled with a guy on her first night was the last she needed. She felt achy, giddy with lust. Just uncomfortable enough that it felt exciting. The thrill that came with being naughty. ‘I’m sure.’ The air between them fizzed with an energy that was pure sexual tension. ‘I’m wondering what it would be like to take you back to my boat and fuck you where I first laid eyes on you.’
‘You know, fast cars are driven by men with small dicks.’ Her hand ran up and down his length, her soft touch a direct contrast to his raging hardness. ‘But fast boats are clearly driven by men with frigging enormous ones.’ Christ, he was laughing, despite the fact his balls were ready to burst. ‘Not drive,’ he rasped. ‘We established that.’ ‘Yes, sorry. It must be the fact I have this steel rod in my hands, it’s making me forget.’
He ran a finger down the soft skin of her cheek. ‘I’ve never been with a woman who says holy macaroni when she comes.’ She smirked. ‘I bet the women you’re used to wear perfume instead of “eau de stale cocktail” and know that boats are sailed not driven. Though why have a steering wheel if you’re not going to drive?’
‘Okay. I hope you don’t regret asking though because when I get onto this subject…’ She grinned. ‘I have this obsession with books, and when I say obsession I mean crazy, over-the-top passion for them. Obviously, I’m addicted to reading them, but I also love touching them, smelling them. God, there is nothing better than the smell of a new paperback. Well, maybe some things are as good. Like whatever aftershave you wear, that’s a real belly flutterer.’ He almost choked on his drink and she giggled. ‘Nobody’s ever told you how good you smell? Well, books also smell amazing but in a different way. Comforting, yet with a hint of promise because you know when you open it, you’re going to be transported somewhere thrilling. And then there’s the covers. There is nothing prettier than a stack of books.’ She glanced around her and laughed. ‘Okay, again you’ve got me there because this beach, in this peachy light, is probably the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen. In fact, it looks like it could be the backdrop to a raunchy romance novel. It just needs a tall, dark, handsome guy on the front wearing nothing but his shorts and a broody smile.’ Her eyes caught his, mischief dancing in their blue depths.