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Summer's Awakening
Warm, passionate and desperate for love
Summer Roberts was shy and insecure, denied normal loving relationships by a lifelong battle with her weight. Computer tycoon James Gardiner's entry into her sheltered world was devastating in more ways than one-- through his kindness and unintentional cruelty she emerged a slender, beautiful woman, sure of herself and sure of her love....
Summer Roberts was shy and insecure, denied normal loving relationships by a lifelong battle with her weight. Computer tycoon James Gardiner's entry into her sheltered world was devastating in more ways than one-- through his kindness and unintentional cruelty she emerged a slender, beautiful woman, sure of herself and sure of her love....
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
63 people want to read
About the author
Anne Weale
218 books49 followersJay Blakeney
aka Anne Weale, Andrea Blake
Jay Blakeney was born on Juny 20, 1929. Her great-grandfather was a well-known writer on moral theology, so perhaps she inherited her writing gene from him. She was "talking stories" to herself long before she could read. When she was still at school, she sold her first short stories to a woman's magazine and she feels she was destined to write. Decided to became a writer, she started writing for newspapers and magazines.
At 21, Jay was a newspaper reporter with a career plan, but the man she was wildly in love with announced that he was off to the other side of the world. He thought they should either marry or say goodbye. She always believed that true love could last a lifetime, and she felt that wonderful men were much harder to find than good jobs, so she put her career on hold. What a wise decision it was! She felt that new young women seem less inclined to risk everything for love than her generation.
Together they traveled the world. If she hadn't spent part of her bridal year living on the edge of a jungle in Malaysia, she might never have become a romance writer. That isolated house, and the perils of the state of emergency that existed in the country at that time, gave her a background and plot ideally suited to a genre she had never read until she came across some romances in the library of a country club they sometimes visited. She can write about love with the even stronger conviction that comes from experience.
When they returned to Europe, Jay resumed her career as a journalist, writing her first romance in her spare time. She sold her first novel as Anne Weale to Mills and Boon in 1955 at the age of 24. At 30, with seven books published, she "retired" to have a baby and become a full-time writer. She raised a delightful son, David, who is as adventurous as his father. Her husband and son have even climbed in the Andes and the Himalayas, giving her lots of ideas for stories. When she retired from reporting, her fiction income -- a combination of amounts earned as a Mills & Boon author and writing for magazines such as Woman's Illustrated, which serialized the work of authors -- exceed 1,000 pounds a year.
She was a founding member of the The Romantic Novelists' Association. In 2002 she published her last novel, in total, she wrote 88 novels. She also wrote under the pseudonym Andrea Blake. She loved setting her novels in exotic parts of the world, but specially in The Caribbean and in her beloved Spain. Since 1989, Jay spent most of the winter months in a very small "pueblo" in the backwoods of Spain. During years, she visited some villages, and from each she have borrowed some feature - a fountain, a street, a plaza, a picturesque old house - to create some places like Valdecarrasca, that is wholly imaginary and yet typical of the part of rural Spain she knew best. She loved walking, reading, sketching, sewing (curtains and slipcovers) and doing needlepoint, gardening, entertaining friends, visiting art galleries and museums, writing letters, surfing the Net, traveling in search of exciting locations for future books, eating delicious food and drinking good wine, cataloguing her books.
She wrote a regular website review column for The Bookseller from 1998 to 2004, before starting her own blog Bookworm on the Net. At the time of her death, on October 24, 2007, she was working on her autobiography "88 Heroes... 1 Mr. Right".
aka Anne Weale, Andrea Blake
Jay Blakeney was born on Juny 20, 1929. Her great-grandfather was a well-known writer on moral theology, so perhaps she inherited her writing gene from him. She was "talking stories" to herself long before she could read. When she was still at school, she sold her first short stories to a woman's magazine and she feels she was destined to write. Decided to became a writer, she started writing for newspapers and magazines.
At 21, Jay was a newspaper reporter with a career plan, but the man she was wildly in love with announced that he was off to the other side of the world. He thought they should either marry or say goodbye. She always believed that true love could last a lifetime, and she felt that wonderful men were much harder to find than good jobs, so she put her career on hold. What a wise decision it was! She felt that new young women seem less inclined to risk everything for love than her generation.
Together they traveled the world. If she hadn't spent part of her bridal year living on the edge of a jungle in Malaysia, she might never have become a romance writer. That isolated house, and the perils of the state of emergency that existed in the country at that time, gave her a background and plot ideally suited to a genre she had never read until she came across some romances in the library of a country club they sometimes visited. She can write about love with the even stronger conviction that comes from experience.
When they returned to Europe, Jay resumed her career as a journalist, writing her first romance in her spare time. She sold her first novel as Anne Weale to Mills and Boon in 1955 at the age of 24. At 30, with seven books published, she "retired" to have a baby and become a full-time writer. She raised a delightful son, David, who is as adventurous as his father. Her husband and son have even climbed in the Andes and the Himalayas, giving her lots of ideas for stories. When she retired from reporting, her fiction income -- a combination of amounts earned as a Mills & Boon author and writing for magazines such as Woman's Illustrated, which serialized the work of authors -- exceed 1,000 pounds a year.
She was a founding member of the The Romantic Novelists' Association. In 2002 she published her last novel, in total, she wrote 88 novels. She also wrote under the pseudonym Andrea Blake. She loved setting her novels in exotic parts of the world, but specially in The Caribbean and in her beloved Spain. Since 1989, Jay spent most of the winter months in a very small "pueblo" in the backwoods of Spain. During years, she visited some villages, and from each she have borrowed some feature - a fountain, a street, a plaza, a picturesque old house - to create some places like Valdecarrasca, that is wholly imaginary and yet typical of the part of rural Spain she knew best. She loved walking, reading, sketching, sewing (curtains and slipcovers) and doing needlepoint, gardening, entertaining friends, visiting art galleries and museums, writing letters, surfing the Net, traveling in search of exciting locations for future books, eating delicious food and drinking good wine, cataloguing her books.
She wrote a regular website review column for The Bookseller from 1998 to 2004, before starting her own blog Bookworm on the Net. At the time of her death, on October 24, 2007, she was working on her autobiography "88 Heroes... 1 Mr. Right".
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 23, 2019
Sad, depressing and full of triggers for those of you who have issues with fat-shaming, food and/or body issues :(
April 23, 2016
Actually liked this one a lot. The heroine Summer is intelligent, talented and feisty. In the start she has a weight problem and due to the scathing remarks of the hero, which she overhears, she goes on a diet and exercise program. The book then proceeds a lot on her regime and it sounds like the author is endorsing weight watchers for some chapters. The love story is slow and gradual, it spans several years while her charge is growing up. In the meantime she is gaining confidence and poise and discovering her talents. More of the story is about Summer than the hero, James, although there is a mystery about why he left home at 17 never to return, until the death of his brother when he takes charge of his niece. Both James and Summer are likable characters and the dialogue is amusing at parts.
As most Anne Weale stories this one is heavy on discussions about fashion, jewelry, antiques plus travelogue and including food and places to eat. If you are not interested in these things, you will tend to find it long-winded. However, I share these interests so I don't mind them at all. In fact it's one of the reasons why I like this author a lot.
As most Anne Weale stories this one is heavy on discussions about fashion, jewelry, antiques plus travelogue and including food and places to eat. If you are not interested in these things, you will tend to find it long-winded. However, I share these interests so I don't mind them at all. In fact it's one of the reasons why I like this author a lot.
April 29, 2012
The heroine was a tutor to the heroes young niece. The hero insulted her behind her back saying she was as fat as a pig, when the heroine overheard this she was hurt deeply. Thus when they moved to America, she began losing weight by diet and exercise. As she began getting smaller, she began seeing herself in a different light. Little did she know the hero always found her attractive and was just trying to save face. That is why he asked the heroine to marry him without telling her he loved her..
At times this book bore me and I wished it moved along faster but it seemed to drag. Other times it was a delight to read.
At times this book bore me and I wished it moved along faster but it seemed to drag. Other times it was a delight to read.
June 21, 2013
This book was hilarious but probably unintentionally.
1- it was like a weight watchers handbook/commercial
2- it was full of sexual harassment- and even though we as the reader knew she wanted it to happen her employer for sure didnt
3- the girl blames everything on her weight
4- the marriage proposal and the love comes out of no where
5- in the end when they get together the girl says- i only thought you used to see the fat and the lead agrees with her!!
6-For some reason out of no where the main protagonist thinks that the male lead who is 35-40 is for some reason in love with his 17 yr old niece
It was a super fun read and even though Summer annoyed me I enjoyed it.
1- it was like a weight watchers handbook/commercial
2- it was full of sexual harassment- and even though we as the reader knew she wanted it to happen her employer for sure didnt
3- the girl blames everything on her weight
4- the marriage proposal and the love comes out of no where
5- in the end when they get together the girl says- i only thought you used to see the fat and the lead agrees with her!!
6-For some reason out of no where the main protagonist thinks that the male lead who is 35-40 is for some reason in love with his 17 yr old niece
It was a super fun read and even though Summer annoyed me I enjoyed it.
January 26, 2014
I read this very long ago but it's one of the few stories that stuck in my memory after all this time. I don't really know how well it would stand up well with today's standards of female empowerment, but I have a soft spot for this book.
Fat girl who is a real timid sweetheart has huge crush on her handsome and rich (duh!) employer. She's devastated when she overhears him calling her fat. So while he's away, she loses weight and gains his attention. But since this is a romance, we find out he's always liked her *snort*.
It's a typical female fantasy but hell, I love it. My guilty pleasure.
Fat girl who is a real timid sweetheart has huge crush on her handsome and rich (duh!) employer. She's devastated when she overhears him calling her fat. So while he's away, she loses weight and gains his attention. But since this is a romance, we find out he's always liked her *snort*.
It's a typical female fantasy but hell, I love it. My guilty pleasure.
February 9, 2013
This is the first novel I ever read, still have the book, still read it occasionally.
July 1, 2021
I think this is one of my all time favorite books! I read it while i was young a few times and recently found it again!! Still had the same impact it did years ago! Beautifully written!!
December 3, 2023
She should have stayed asleep! Trying to read this nonsense, I had trouble staying awake!
Anne Weale is supposed to be a good author, but after attempting several of her books (I want to be fair and not rush to judgment) I must admit, I'm having my doubts about that!
Anne Weale is supposed to be a good author, but after attempting several of her books (I want to be fair and not rush to judgment) I must admit, I'm having my doubts about that!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews