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Americana #33
That Carolina Summer
A strange compulsion seemed to grip her...
Annette couldn't resist introducing herself to Josh Lord, the strikingly attractive owner of the resort where she was vacationing. In her utterly confident manner, she assumed he'd be more than pleased to know her.
His cool amusement came as a surprise to her -- and a decided challenge. Obviously he was used to having women seek him out. Well, so much the better!
A holiday flirtation was all Annette intended. But she soon discovered she'd taken on far more than she could handle.
Annette couldn't resist introducing herself to Josh Lord, the strikingly attractive owner of the resort where she was vacationing. In her utterly confident manner, she assumed he'd be more than pleased to know her.
His cool amusement came as a surprise to her -- and a decided challenge. Obviously he was used to having women seek him out. Well, so much the better!
A holiday flirtation was all Annette intended. But she soon discovered she'd taken on far more than she could handle.
191 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
68 people are currently reading
200 people want to read
About the author
Janet Dailey
397 books1,854 followersJanet Anne Haradon Dailey was an American author of numerous romance novels as Janet Dailey (her married name). Her novels have been translated into nineteen languages and have sold over 300 million copies worldwide.
Born in 1944 in Storm Lake, Iowa, she attended secretarial school in Omaha, Nebraska before meeting her husband, Bill. Bill and Janet worked together in construction and land development until they "retired" to travel throughout the United States, inspiring Janet to write the Americana series of romances, where she set a novel in every state of the Union. In 1974, Janet Dailey was the first American author to write for Harlequin. Her first novel was NO QUARTER ASKED.
She had since gone on to write approximately 90 novels, 21 of which have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List. She won many awards and accolades for her work, appearing widely on Radio and Television. Today, there are over three hundred million Janet Dailey books in print in 19 different languages, making her one of the most popular novelists in the world.
Janet Dailey passed away peacefully in her home in Branson on Saturday, December 14, 2013. She was 69.
Born in 1944 in Storm Lake, Iowa, she attended secretarial school in Omaha, Nebraska before meeting her husband, Bill. Bill and Janet worked together in construction and land development until they "retired" to travel throughout the United States, inspiring Janet to write the Americana series of romances, where she set a novel in every state of the Union. In 1974, Janet Dailey was the first American author to write for Harlequin. Her first novel was NO QUARTER ASKED.
She had since gone on to write approximately 90 novels, 21 of which have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List. She won many awards and accolades for her work, appearing widely on Radio and Television. Today, there are over three hundred million Janet Dailey books in print in 19 different languages, making her one of the most popular novelists in the world.
Janet Dailey passed away peacefully in her home in Branson on Saturday, December 14, 2013. She was 69.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 18, 2020
"That Carolina Summer" is the story of Annette and Josh.
The little girls from The Matchmakers (Americana #8 based in Delaware) are all grown up, with the oldest one turning twenty. Vacationing in a resort in Carolina with her parents (our old MCs) and stepbrother, the older girl, our h spots the handsome H. The H owns the resort, and after a look, the h is smitten. The rest of the book is the h going desperate lengths to entice the H, with her doing the chase while the H behaves like an asshole.
The only thing likable about this book was the reappearance of the matured MCs from the previous book. I do not mind the h being the one pursuing the relationship, but she came off very desperate, bratty and immature. The ending scenes with her attempting to sleep with OM grossed me out. Also the book employs exasperating archaic views about women roles as a conclusion, leaving me utterly disappointed.
Nope.
SWE
1/5
The little girls from The Matchmakers (Americana #8 based in Delaware) are all grown up, with the oldest one turning twenty. Vacationing in a resort in Carolina with her parents (our old MCs) and stepbrother, the older girl, our h spots the handsome H. The H owns the resort, and after a look, the h is smitten. The rest of the book is the h going desperate lengths to entice the H, with her doing the chase while the H behaves like an asshole.
The only thing likable about this book was the reappearance of the matured MCs from the previous book. I do not mind the h being the one pursuing the relationship, but she came off very desperate, bratty and immature. The ending scenes with her attempting to sleep with OM grossed me out. Also the book employs exasperating archaic views about women roles as a conclusion, leaving me utterly disappointed.
Nope.
SWE
1/5
January 6, 2018
The romance in this novel is kinda sweet but I must warn modern day readers that this H is very politically incorrect and quite chauvinistic/sometimes condescending and misogynistic in his attitude to women. One must remember when reading this novel that it's written in a different time when double standards are are an unfortunate concomitant of male-female relations. Why did I enjoy it then? Hmnn. In my search for the old school "alphahole" hero I tend to find some interesting guys in romancelandia and the H in this novel deserves a special place ( if not a pedestal of his own ) as one of the all time assholes. But Josh was an interesting and sexy asshole and to be fair to him, he never made promises to the heroine. When he breaks her fantasy bubble of marriage and babies , she is partly blame for her own unhappiness. In spite of her shortcomings and sometimes annoying behaviour, I did like the heroine Annette. I was fascinated by her joy for life and amazed at her astounding level of self confidence and vanity: this was a 19 year old girl who was very beautiful and felt that she could use her looks to get any man her fickle little heart desires.
This novel is a bit of a cat and mouse game of romance between Josh ( our sexy alphahole hunk is in his early 30's and he's also a playboy tycoon - 1980's version of today's billionaires ) and 19 year old Annette ( our beautiful blonde heroine who has been spoilt by her dad and her doting stepmom and has always been a rather mischievous young lady whose hare brained schemes always seemed to work in the past ). I must note that the heroine's dad Jordan and stepmom Kathleen were the MC's in a previous novel by Janet Dailey called The Matchmakers. That was another rather sweetly romantic novel where the heroine from this story teams up with her little sister Marsha to find a new wife for their hottie daddy. That's a novel I shall be re-reading in the future ! This story line follows the adventures of Annette as she spends a summer at a luxurious North Carolina resort with her parents and siblings. Annette is a bit of a tease and loves to test out her sex appeal by flirting with guys and then losing interest before things even move to first base. The H Josh, is the owner of the resort and Annette becomes smitten with him at first sight, because he is not boyish like the usual guys that salivate over her and kiss her dainty princess feet.
Josh is more than aware that Annette wants him and he is very attracted to her too even though she is younger than his usual conquests. What I enjoyed about their romance is how Josh made Annette think that she had the upper hand in their burgeoning relationship. The guy just sat back and let her make her play for him, all the while smirking at her silly innocent feminine wiles like a wolf just waiting for the right time to pounce. Annette's schemes to garner lots of attention from Josh were funny, annoying and sometimes endearing. I felt sorry for her poor shy sister Marsha because she dragged that girl along to help her with all her scheming plans. Annette was so silly that she thought Josh was unaware of her hare brained schemes. It was kinda cringeworthy in a sad sort of way and sometimes I despaired for the poor girl. She really did do a couple of embarrassing things in her efforts to get Josh's attentions.
When she eventually did get his attention, Annette thought she was on her way to winning the man of her dreams. The girl really thought that she had found her HEA dream man and wedding bells were ringing. She still had to hide the relationship from her parents, however, because she was also pretending to be more sophisticated than she actually was. Josh was not hearing wedding bells unfortunately. He was only interested in a pleasurable little sexual dalliance with a beautiful girl and although Annette entranced him more than any other woman he had ever met, he had no desire to marry her. Their relationship develops gradually during that summer and soon it looks as if Annette would be ready to give up her virginity to Josh because our little schemer has finally fallen in love. She knows it's the real thing and not just a teasing flirtation like her old boyfriends. She makes the mistake of thinking that Josh is also in love.
The big scene comes when Josh and Annette are finally going to have sex and Annette is dismayed that the man of her dreams is not suitably deferential and full of gratitude for the "gift" that she is about to give him. I felt really sorry for her in this scene. No woman deserves to have a man talk to them the way Josh did when he shattered her illusions. Josh tells her coldly and mockingly that it will just be sex and that he is not going to be mooning over the fact that he is so "lucky" to be her first lover. That was really hurtful. No romantic young girl deserves to hear that kind of shit when she is about to lose her virginity. Josh also destroys her wedding dreams by telling her that they don't have a future together. Annette gets mad, goes ballistic, insults his ass in a really fabulous manner ( I loved that girl's spunk and fiesty charm ) and leaves his suite. Then she spends the next day or two just stewing and letting all sorts of cynical and hateful thoughts fill her mind. This part was kinda sad because it's like a coming of age moment when a young ingenue's dreams are shattered violently and her entire personality changes. Annette becomes really bitter at this point and soon decides on a new hare brained scheme: to lose her virginity to one of the sexy young waiters called Craig who had been flirting with her. Marsha tries to get her not to go through with it but Annette says ( I think she's still bothered by how little value Josh had placed on her virginity ) that virginity is just a burden and she's going to get rid of it in a cold blooded manner.
Marsha is then in full panic mode but is afraid to tell their dad Jordan because he will blow his top. She decides to go see Josh and ask for his help. At first Josh is skeptical and tells Marsha that he is aware of the all the schemes Annette had used to attract his attention in the past. Marsha is like the the boy who cried wolf; she begs Josh to believe that this time it is no scheme and that Annette is really going to some motel to have sex with Craig. Josh is, like all alpha asshole man whores with double standards, outraged that Annette will dare to give away her virginity to another man so he goes on a rampage to find his erstwhile former girlfriend before her hymen gets destroyed. This part cracked me up big time ! I found it hard to believe that Josh would realize how much he loved Annette only when he thought another man was gonna get to have sex with her first. I wanted him to love her without all this drama happening. But I did honestly love all the drama. At the motel, Annette gets cold feet when she's wearing only her slip and tells Craig the sex is not happening. Craig is annoyed, because his shirt is already off, his pants are unzipped and he's got a boner. Craig grabs onto her just as Josh breaks down the motel door. Josh is outraged, jealous, possessive and mad as hell because his little virgin princess brat is standing half naked with one of his waiters whose pants are falling down.
The novel ends with Josh declaring his true love and intentions to ring wedding bells for his beloved. Apparently the thought of another man touching her made him so jealous that he suddenly realized he was a marrying man after all. I thought the ending was a bit rushed and maybe I wished there had been an epilogue as in present day romances but this was a fairly entertaining story.
This novel is a bit of a cat and mouse game of romance between Josh ( our sexy alphahole hunk is in his early 30's and he's also a playboy tycoon - 1980's version of today's billionaires ) and 19 year old Annette ( our beautiful blonde heroine who has been spoilt by her dad and her doting stepmom and has always been a rather mischievous young lady whose hare brained schemes always seemed to work in the past ). I must note that the heroine's dad Jordan and stepmom Kathleen were the MC's in a previous novel by Janet Dailey called The Matchmakers. That was another rather sweetly romantic novel where the heroine from this story teams up with her little sister Marsha to find a new wife for their hottie daddy. That's a novel I shall be re-reading in the future ! This story line follows the adventures of Annette as she spends a summer at a luxurious North Carolina resort with her parents and siblings. Annette is a bit of a tease and loves to test out her sex appeal by flirting with guys and then losing interest before things even move to first base. The H Josh, is the owner of the resort and Annette becomes smitten with him at first sight, because he is not boyish like the usual guys that salivate over her and kiss her dainty princess feet.
Josh is more than aware that Annette wants him and he is very attracted to her too even though she is younger than his usual conquests. What I enjoyed about their romance is how Josh made Annette think that she had the upper hand in their burgeoning relationship. The guy just sat back and let her make her play for him, all the while smirking at her silly innocent feminine wiles like a wolf just waiting for the right time to pounce. Annette's schemes to garner lots of attention from Josh were funny, annoying and sometimes endearing. I felt sorry for her poor shy sister Marsha because she dragged that girl along to help her with all her scheming plans. Annette was so silly that she thought Josh was unaware of her hare brained schemes. It was kinda cringeworthy in a sad sort of way and sometimes I despaired for the poor girl. She really did do a couple of embarrassing things in her efforts to get Josh's attentions.
When she eventually did get his attention, Annette thought she was on her way to winning the man of her dreams. The girl really thought that she had found her HEA dream man and wedding bells were ringing. She still had to hide the relationship from her parents, however, because she was also pretending to be more sophisticated than she actually was. Josh was not hearing wedding bells unfortunately. He was only interested in a pleasurable little sexual dalliance with a beautiful girl and although Annette entranced him more than any other woman he had ever met, he had no desire to marry her. Their relationship develops gradually during that summer and soon it looks as if Annette would be ready to give up her virginity to Josh because our little schemer has finally fallen in love. She knows it's the real thing and not just a teasing flirtation like her old boyfriends. She makes the mistake of thinking that Josh is also in love.
The big scene comes when Josh and Annette are finally going to have sex and Annette is dismayed that the man of her dreams is not suitably deferential and full of gratitude for the "gift" that she is about to give him. I felt really sorry for her in this scene. No woman deserves to have a man talk to them the way Josh did when he shattered her illusions. Josh tells her coldly and mockingly that it will just be sex and that he is not going to be mooning over the fact that he is so "lucky" to be her first lover. That was really hurtful. No romantic young girl deserves to hear that kind of shit when she is about to lose her virginity. Josh also destroys her wedding dreams by telling her that they don't have a future together. Annette gets mad, goes ballistic, insults his ass in a really fabulous manner ( I loved that girl's spunk and fiesty charm ) and leaves his suite. Then she spends the next day or two just stewing and letting all sorts of cynical and hateful thoughts fill her mind. This part was kinda sad because it's like a coming of age moment when a young ingenue's dreams are shattered violently and her entire personality changes. Annette becomes really bitter at this point and soon decides on a new hare brained scheme: to lose her virginity to one of the sexy young waiters called Craig who had been flirting with her. Marsha tries to get her not to go through with it but Annette says ( I think she's still bothered by how little value Josh had placed on her virginity ) that virginity is just a burden and she's going to get rid of it in a cold blooded manner.
Marsha is then in full panic mode but is afraid to tell their dad Jordan because he will blow his top. She decides to go see Josh and ask for his help. At first Josh is skeptical and tells Marsha that he is aware of the all the schemes Annette had used to attract his attention in the past. Marsha is like the the boy who cried wolf; she begs Josh to believe that this time it is no scheme and that Annette is really going to some motel to have sex with Craig. Josh is, like all alpha asshole man whores with double standards, outraged that Annette will dare to give away her virginity to another man so he goes on a rampage to find his erstwhile former girlfriend before her hymen gets destroyed. This part cracked me up big time ! I found it hard to believe that Josh would realize how much he loved Annette only when he thought another man was gonna get to have sex with her first. I wanted him to love her without all this drama happening. But I did honestly love all the drama. At the motel, Annette gets cold feet when she's wearing only her slip and tells Craig the sex is not happening. Craig is annoyed, because his shirt is already off, his pants are unzipped and he's got a boner. Craig grabs onto her just as Josh breaks down the motel door. Josh is outraged, jealous, possessive and mad as hell because his little virgin princess brat is standing half naked with one of his waiters whose pants are falling down.
The novel ends with Josh declaring his true love and intentions to ring wedding bells for his beloved. Apparently the thought of another man touching her made him so jealous that he suddenly realized he was a marrying man after all. I thought the ending was a bit rushed and maybe I wished there had been an epilogue as in present day romances but this was a fairly entertaining story.
February 17, 2021
Annette couldn't resist introducing herself to Josh Lord, the strikingly attractive owner of the resort where she was vacationing. In her utterly confident manner, she assumed he'd be more than pleased to know her.
His cool amusement came as a surprise to her -- and a decided challenge. Obviously he was used to having women seek him out. Well, so much the better!
A holiday flirtation was all Annette intended. But she soon discovered she'd taken on far more than she could handle.
His cool amusement came as a surprise to her -- and a decided challenge. Obviously he was used to having women seek him out. Well, so much the better!
A holiday flirtation was all Annette intended. But she soon discovered she'd taken on far more than she could handle.
June 4, 2022
literally no.
November 8, 2018
No. Just no.
I did not like Josh at all. Annette was alright, as were Marsha, Jordan and Kathleen.
Josh was alright up till the very end, he was respectful, even when he let Annette go he did not make love to her when he could have and then broken her heart, he just stopped and said leave.
That being said, the way he manhandled her when he found her in the hotel room, and marching her in front of her father like she was a child was a complete turn off and took this book right down to one star.
The writing itself was very simple as well, so it was a miss all the way around.
I did not like Josh at all. Annette was alright, as were Marsha, Jordan and Kathleen.
Josh was alright up till the very end, he was respectful, even when he let Annette go he did not make love to her when he could have and then broken her heart, he just stopped and said leave.
That being said, the way he manhandled her when he found her in the hotel room, and marching her in front of her father like she was a child was a complete turn off and took this book right down to one star.
The writing itself was very simple as well, so it was a miss all the way around.
June 20, 2021
She pursues him. I like it better when the man pursues the woman. So that was a turn-off.
She is a virgin. One night they are making out. She tells him she loves him. He tells her he isn’t going to marry her. So they split in anger.
The next day she plans to lose her virginity to some guy out of spite. The H comes storming in the motel room where she is with the guy. He takes her to her dad and he tells her dad that he is going to marry his daughter.
Huh? What a difference a day makes.
Janet Dailey was of course an excellent writer, but this book isn’t it. Not romantic at all.
She is a virgin. One night they are making out. She tells him she loves him. He tells her he isn’t going to marry her. So they split in anger.
The next day she plans to lose her virginity to some guy out of spite. The H comes storming in the motel room where she is with the guy. He takes her to her dad and he tells her dad that he is going to marry his daughter.
Huh? What a difference a day makes.
Janet Dailey was of course an excellent writer, but this book isn’t it. Not romantic at all.
October 31, 2010
Where do I start? lol
This was some wierd coming of age book. Young girl who is 20 goes after a man whose 33, but initially he thinks she's 17 (yet he kisses her anyway). She drinks even though she's underage, in public, with her father. She's nearly seduced twice, one she initiates out of revenge. She reduced a romance to a game and a challenge. Terrible.
This was some wierd coming of age book. Young girl who is 20 goes after a man whose 33, but initially he thinks she's 17 (yet he kisses her anyway). She drinks even though she's underage, in public, with her father. She's nearly seduced twice, one she initiates out of revenge. She reduced a romance to a game and a challenge. Terrible.
July 5, 2012
I found this novel to be a little disappointing. Annette’s childish scheming to cure the afflictions of handsome and powerful Josh Lord seemed almost too good to be true. Why such an eligible man would tolerate the machinations of such a girl is a little difficult to discern. I’ve read other works by the author, but this one was clearly not her best.
July 7, 2020
Thought it would so fun to see Annette and the characters from The Matchmakers (Delaware) grown up.
The “Hero” just ruined this for me with his completely ‘unheroic’ behavior.
His whole multi-page speech as he rejects the heroine is horrid and extremely, deliberately hurtful. Especially this line:
“Haven’t you considered how many other women have lain in this bed with me?”
Yeah, no. Run away and find someone better.
Funny how the “H” takes the h to embarrass her in front of her dad for contemplating revenge sex with an OM, but would’ve slept with her himself if she would’ve been okay with an affair with him. The taking her to tattle and humiliate her with her father was wrong on his part also.
He didn’t love her and the so-called HEA was both ridiculously short and lacking in any believable feeling on his part.
What a waste of good characters.
The “Hero” just ruined this for me with his completely ‘unheroic’ behavior.
His whole multi-page speech as he rejects the heroine is horrid and extremely, deliberately hurtful. Especially this line:
“Haven’t you considered how many other women have lain in this bed with me?”
Yeah, no. Run away and find someone better.
Funny how the “H” takes the h to embarrass her in front of her dad for contemplating revenge sex with an OM, but would’ve slept with her himself if she would’ve been okay with an affair with him. The taking her to tattle and humiliate her with her father was wrong on his part also.
He didn’t love her and the so-called HEA was both ridiculously short and lacking in any believable feeling on his part.
What a waste of good characters.
October 14, 2012
This was my very first romance book! Mine was the white Harlequin paperback version though. That Carolina Summer Such the innocent reader I was then. I was completely swept away by the characters and romance. Guy sees girl, likes what he sees, attempts to tame, girl indignantly rebels though secretly desiring to be conquered, girl plays her own kind of game, eventually both of them open their eyes and realize they can't live without each other. Of course, I was only about 17 when I read this book...~lol~
Compared to more current storylines and romance novels, I've certainly read better but its reminiscent value merits 5 stars from me.
Compared to more current storylines and romance novels, I've certainly read better but its reminiscent value merits 5 stars from me.
November 10, 2011
Obviously very dated, but still a fun, light-hearted read. Definitely had you rooting for the main characters. Lots of silliness and if this were real life I'd have some real concerns about the maturity of the heroine and the hero's reasons for changing his mind at the end, but it's not real life so I just went with it.
November 16, 2014
Another little romance story from Janet Dailey. This one set in North Carolina. Annette and her family have started their month long vacation at a resort. As she is sitting at the pool a tall good looking man comes into view. She manages to get his name and particulars and then sets her sights on catching him in her web. This is how she goes about trying to get him to want her.
dnf
October 2, 2010Wow, is this dated. I can't believe it was published in 1981. I vaguely recall the year and I'm pretty darn sure people were having sex before they were married, even if they did do it using stone knives and bearskin.
March 24, 2024
I first read this book about 20 years ago when I was 16. I remember really liking the book and wishing I could be Annette. I decided to reread the book this weekend. It’s a fast read but so cringey. Whether Annette was 17 or 20 she was still too young for 33 year old Josh. Also, I could barely get past the ending of Josh tattling on Annette to her father. They placed such importance on her virginity. As if people didn’t have sex before marriage in the 80’s or 90’s. Also, it took him mere minutes to decide that he in fact wanted to marry her…after telling her he wasn’t interested….what?!?
March 4, 2020
Just what I needed, a short, sweet love story. Sometimes you need very light reading, Janet Dailey delivers that quite nicely!
October 29, 2021
Loved the book
March 23, 2024
Did not enjoy the female lead character, age 20. She heavily pursues the lead male, who is approx. 12 years older than her. Their relationship is fast paced & far fetched. I generally like Janet Dailey as a romance author, but this book is a disappointment. I am from North Carolina, so I was also disappointed that the book about my home state in this series was meh.
April 8, 2023
These Harlequins always get a 1 or 2. They aren't good by any means, not even taking into account ALL the issues within the pages. However, I find something really fun about picking up these books you were curious about as a kid to see what's inside. The entertainment value of that alone is a solid star. It's also gives a great deal of insight into the way society was at the time, and I love historical glances in novels as they were written. From a 2023 perspective....Yikes.
May 18, 2010
sequel to The Matchmakers
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews