A Summer Thing

by Michelle Chamberland

Five things Declan can see: A broken past disappearing in her rearview mirror. A bright new future ahead of her. And the beautiful, mysterious, scowling, tattooed stranger standing in the middle of her best friend’s dark hallway—his stormy gray eyes, and every broken piece of himself she knows exists inside of her, too. Four things Jude can feel: His draw to the gorgeous girl he’s not allowed to have. Her laughter skipping up his spine. The gravitational pull dragging him deeper, and deeper, into her orbit. The ghosts of the past she reminds him of—someone he once loved and lost. Three things Declan can hear: Her heart beating louder when Jude is near. Her mind screaming a thousand dark thoughts. His gruff words calming her like she’s never experienced before. Two things Jude can smell: Trouble, spelled with six letters that go the way of D-e-c-l-a-n. Her intoxicating scent as he continues to tempt himself with what isn’t his. One thing they can both taste: Each other, as they slowly slip from strangers, to friends, to lovers, to soulmates over the span of five summers—from a summer thing, to a forever thing.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Friends To Lovers, Contemporary Romance, Found Family, Slow Burn

423 pages, ebook

Published June 24, 2025

About the author

Michelle Chamberland is a daydreaming, moon-loving, snack-obsessed author, wife, and mama to two rad kiddos, living in sunny Southern California. She is an absolute lover of losing herself between the pages of new worlds and clawing her way out on the other side with the worst (in the best way) book hangovers. You can find her on Instagram and TikTok @iamtheauthormc

Reviews

[❥ KAT ❥ Kitty Kats Crazy About Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

📚'𝙼𝚈 𝚁𝙴𝚅𝙸𝙴𝚆 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁𝚂'📚 can also be found on my blog:
╰┈➤KITTY KATS CRAZY ABOUT BOOKS

'𝐀 𝐒U𝐌M𝐄R T𝐇I𝐍G' Is a full length friends to lovers romance book by new to me author Michelle Chamberland. Spoken in dual Pov's. Spanning over 5 summers.

What to expect:
💋Forced Proximity
💋Slow Burn
💋Friends to Lovers
💋Summer Romance
💋Trauma-Healing

Initially it was the cover that made me purchase this, (super cute, gorgeous cover) I didn’t even look at the reviews, dived in that night and fell in love wholeheartedly with these two characters and the side characters.

This was an easy 5 star (Little D) rating to give this book. I went in with no expectations and came out the end of it with a heart full of love for these two characters. This wrapped its arms around me within the tightest hold, cocooned within the feels as these two collided. Their emotional journey entwined within their deepest broken parts of themselves. Both knowing what it feels like to lose someone they’ve loved. A bond created through friendship over summers spent together. The truest form of soulmates.

...“𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲.”

Even though this was my first read by this author. It definitely won’t be the last. This author had me eating out of the palm of her hand, inhaling this book at record speed.

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[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dear universe

The love, grief, gratitude, pain, and healing in this book. The misunderstandings, the communication, complex emotions, and figuring out what it is to be human and living while dealing with pain, pushing through it and persevering. For those who are lost and want to read something that makes you feel less alone in your grief or life in general, read this- because you aren’t alone, others just don’t talk about the loneliness they feel because then they’d have to acknowledge it.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

“𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬.
𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲.”

Do you ever pick up a book with fun expectations and it ends up being something with so much emotional depth you weren’t expecting?! Has you crying, swooning and actually so happy that mental health was made a priority?!

𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝, 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐬. 𝐀𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬.

Told over the course of five summers, it is a beautifully written story of living through and overcoming grief, loss, growing up, summer love, found family, working through life and its hardships, communicating and finding 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚 with your people. 🥲🤧🥰

“𝑯𝒆𝒚, 𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝑫”
“𝐇𝐞𝐲, 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐥𝐲𝐧”

Declan and Jude have an undeniable chemistry. From the beginning they fall easily into a friendship that builds their foundation with each other in such a way that you can feel it in your bones!

A swoon-worthy love story of new beginnings, friendships and some steamy fun too. 🤭🫠

𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓲𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮…
🫶🏻found family
🏡forced proximity
🏈off limits
😶‍🌫️slow burn with steam
❤️‍🩹grief with healing
✨soulmates

[corie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

No bc this book really made me realize I LOVE the “they are my home” trope. Declan and Jude are soulmates in my eyes 🥲

[Charlotte Higginson · Rating 4 out of 5]

How is this book not talked about more?

Be still my beating heart, I ate this UP. I want more Dec and Jude PRONTO 🥹♥️🥲

Don’t normally go for friends to lovers, but the story had me in a chokehold and wanting to skip ahead to find out what each summer had install for us

[Ashley Willis · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25/5🌟 this was so cute! Really loved the characters & found family. I devoured this book!

[Aliyah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Summer Thing is the kind of love story that stays with you long after the last page. Five summers of love, heartbreak, and longing Michelle did such an amazing job with setting the tone for this book. The found family trope was so well written it brought tears to my eyes! The moment I read Jude's POV I knew he would be this amazing character and possibly be the death of me. The emotions throughout this book were so raw and after finishing it now feels like there a pit of ache in my heart. There is so much love and loss and love again it's truly incredible how much emotion this book brought forth. Ending made me happy cry, it was all so wholesome. Also I could not stop thinking about Addy's mom's french toast with lemon curd, now I have to recreate this french toast.

[Jess Vald · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a sweet and spicy read! 🥰 Both main characters have been through the heartbreak of losing someone in a car accident, and watching them heal together is just so heartwarming. 💔💖 I also loved that there was no unnecessary drama—no other love interests or crazy misunderstandings. When their relationship hit a rough patch, they dealt with it like mature adults. 👏🏼 Overall, such a refreshing read! 🌟

[Reeya · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

There was nothing truly wrong with this book. I think it’s just a matter of personal preference. It was beautifully written and the characters were pretty likable. I was just.. bored.

I was skimming the last 15%, waiting for something to happen, and the conflict that DID occur felt.. boring?

Anyways just my opinion! If you like friends-to-lovers, I would definitely give it a try

[Jocelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 I liked the book and loved the characters, particularly all of the side characters. But I did skim a lot. There was a lot of internal thoughts that were repetitive. There was like a couple of chapters for one of their visits over a few days that was just sex, sex and more sex. I'm sure it was hot, but I skimmed. I laughed. I sobbed. I cried a good amount at the end.

[Angelica Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beta read this and I’m in love. Full RTC after I read the final copy.