This Summer With You

by Romi Smith

Shae swore she’d never let her into her life again—until Em showed up at her family’s beach house for the summer.

Shae Hemingway spent four years in Italy convincing herself she’d moved on from her first love. The truth is, she’s still running from the girl who taught her how much a heart can hurt. The last time Shae spent time with Em Lauchner, they were eighteen—and their prom-night connection ended with a rumor that shattered Shae’s trust.

Rushing through the airport after a twelve-hour flight home, Shae learns her sister has invited Em to stay at the beach house for the summer. Now, they’re sharing the same house, the same friends, and one long Cape Cod summer with nowhere to hide from the past.

Em is longing to rekindle what they once had, but Shae still believes Em betrayed her after prom, and trusting the girl who broke her once might be the one risk she refuses to take. When another girl in the house begins getting closer to Shae, Em realizes she may have already lost the second chance she never stopped hoping for.

A slow-burn, second-chance sapphic romance filled with beach house game nights, messy friendships, buried secrets, and the kind of first love that refuses to stay in the past. Will they finally untangle what really happened and choose love, or lose each other all over again?

Genres: Contemporary

322 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2026

Reviews

[Unpopmary · Rating 2.75 out of 5]

2.75 ⭐

This Summer With You is an angsty second-chance romance about Shea, who returns home after four years of trying to forget her first love; only to find herself face to face with the girl who once broke her heart after a rumor shattered her trust.

Em wants to reconnect and maybe rebuild what they had, but Shea isn’t sure she can risk going through that pain again. And when someone new starts catching Shea’s attention, Em begins to realize she might be losing her chance for good…
Will they finally take that leap, or leave their love in the past?

Unfortunately, this novel didn’t fully work for me. I’m always a bit hesitant with second-chance romances because I tend to feel that some relationships simply aren’t meant to be, and that’s okay. A lot of the time, breakups happen for reasons that could’ve been avoided with better communication, and to my disappointment, that’s very much the case here.

Before diving deeper, this novel uses a dual timeline, alternating between the past (when the MCs were in high school) and the present (when they reunite). I do wish I had known this beforehand, as that format usually makes me wary, as it can sometimes lead to unnecessary messiness. That said, it was handled fairly well here. Still, I’m not entirely convinced it was needed. It seemed intended to show both the fallout and how they fell in love, but I never fully felt that connection. Their relationship in the past timeline leaned more toward insta-love, despite being described as something “years in the making.”

I also struggled to connect with the characters. They often felt younger than their actual age, and even though the present timeline places them in what could be considered New Adult, their behavior still felt very high school. I was hoping to see more emotional growth between the timelines, but at times they seemed stuck in the same patterns, especially Shea. She came across as immature and somewhat self-absorbed, often shutting Em down instead of communicating and unintentionally hurting her while entertaining attention from someone else. It made her difficult to root for at times. While Em wasn’t perfect either, I appreciated that she tried to reach out and respected Shea’s boundaries. Still, I occasionally wished she would stand her ground more instead of always chasing after Shea.

As I’ve mentioned, the push-and-pull dynamic started to wear me down. The fact that so much of the conflict revolved around a misunderstanding became increasingly frustrating, especially since it wasn’t addressed until very late in the story. Their resolution also didn’t fully land for me; the final confession felt rushed and lacked the emotional payoff I was hoping for.

Overall, this novel had a lot of potential, and I’m a bit sad it didn’t quite meet my expectations. That said, I can definitely see why it might resonate more with other readers. Either way, I’m grateful to the author for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Siddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is horribly frustrating. One minute I like it, but then I don’t like it. The timeline jumps seem to be put there to stop the reader getting too complacent. They break the flow of the reading in the worst possible way. It seems as though both women - but especially Shea - have gone backwards since being together before. They both seem more immature in the current timeline than they did at high school, more prone to self sabotage, and less kind and empathetic (mostly Shea, but also Em). It’s frustrating the way neither of them communicates, and Lennon just keeps interfering.
Em wants to talk to Shae, and often Shae wants to talk to Em, and Lennon seems to be encouraging that, but also Lennon and her idea of inviting as many people to the house as possible for a frat boy style party time completely upsets any possibility of a private conversation without getting disturbed by someone. Also, any time they do manage to talk, they both seem so immature, hurting one another just to get their own back, just to get a reaction. They have both been away at college for years, but it’s as if they are still mid teens at high school.
I really don’t want to be the person who trashes a promising author’s work, making them second guess their writing, and I am sorry if the author feels that about this review. I think the author has obvious talent, but in my opinion this wasn’t a good choice of subject. The writing is really good, excellent description and pacing, but for me the content and story was just so bad.
Other reviews seem to be very polarised, either liking this or not. You may love it. I don’t.

[Antoinette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shae flies to Cape Cod after graduating from an art program in Florence for a relaxing summer with her twin sister Lennon, only to find out her sister has invited Em to the beloved beach house, too. And the rest of their friend group. Em is kind of sort of The One that Got Away 😭 It’s complicated… you’ll see 👀

You’re curious from the start how these two characters got to where they are now. Sweet and simple first loves turned tense, distant, unsure, hurt — but with palpable chemistry that won’t be ignored despite all efforts to silence it.

This dual POV, dual timeline summer read gives you all the feels. Romi does imagery incredibly well. The cape, cliff jumping, nights out in Boston… felt like I was one of the crew, right there with them. Punchy dialogue and deep emotions shine through from start to end.

I saw myself in both Em and Shae. Closeted in high school, stepping out into that scary void that comes after not knowing who will show up down the road or who will rejoin your life/love story again. I both ached and rooted for them.

Enjoy this beachy summery sapphic love story!! 💜🌊☀️🌺

[Reid Redman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I looooovvvvved it! I can't think of a more perfect beach read! I felt right at home with this style of writing. I couldn't help judging the book by its cover, which sets the scene perfectly.

An extremely well written debut novel from Romi Smith. The chemistry with the characters sizzles from page one! No denying Smith can paint a picture of emotions for her characters that kept me turning the page. Her use of symbolism (sunsets, blue skies, even cliff dives) to illustrate bruised emotions and rising tensions stood out. The emotional dynamic between Em, Shae, and even how Lennon fit into it made it easy to connect with the characters. I felt it right away and it stayed with me through the whole book.

The slow burn spice was also super nice! 💜

[Giovanna Finazzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Summer With You is a love story where you truly root for the characters and feel their hurt and love along their journey back to each other.

I loved getting glimpses into their past to see how their friendship and admiration for one another grew, and I truly felt it was supported and encouraged by getting to know the friends and family in their lives as well. Such a light and lovable story for Em and Shae in a summery fun and nostalgic setting we can all take ourselves back to🤍

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great debut. I’m a well-known sucker for the second chance, and I liked the setup a lot here: a blow-up near the end of high school, forced back together by a scheming accomplice at the end of college. There was a fair amount of big feelings but being a disaster at dealing with them, which seems plausible for this age in a way it wouldn’t if they were older. In some sense, that means the plot and angst relied on a failure to communicate, but again, only in ways that felt age-appropriate. I also like a lot when we actually see the first chance, so I very much appreciated the “Before” chapters interspersed through the story.

It wasn’t perfect; there were what I’d consider some pretty forgivable first-book issues. And I think maybe the very last mess (kicked off by who Kira was dating but not really about that) was maybe one mess too many; by then they were doing so well and the real issue of Shae’s reaction to what Em said could have come up in some other way without needing yet another conflict to instigate?

But really, I’m not complaining. By chapter 2 I couldn’t have put this down, and I enjoyed the entire ride.

Side notes: I loved that Lennon was Shae’s meddling twin, and I loved that their mom was WAY more aware than everybody thought!

[Katie Cleek · Rating 3 out of 5]

These girls…so frustrating. The will they/won’t they back and forth; all the misunderstandings and miscommunications…I had to keep reminding myself that these girls were in their very early 20s. I could not follow the back and forth timelines. I tried really hard to stay invested in this story. Shae was so selfish and hurtful towards Em. I would have preferred less side characters which felt more like distractions from the main characters. I feel horrible for being so harsh…I really tried to like this one more. I kept reminding myself that this was an ARC and not the final edit. There were moments in the story that were enjoyable. I just couldn’t handle the lack of communication between these two characters.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet and Spicy

This sweet coming of age story bring two lost friends back together. The imagery is amazing! The spice is perfect. And, the love story is warm and sweet. Highly recommend!