What Happens in Summer by Caridad Pineiro
At the Shore series book #2. Contemporary romance. Can be read as a stand-alone bit directly correlates events with the first so this would contain spoilers if that matters to the reader.
Connie Reyes spent at lot of summers with her friends Maggie and Ellen at the Jersey shores. They were and still are supportive friends. Back in their teens, when Maggie spent time with Owen, Connie naturally spent time with his brother Jonathan. They even had a teenaged fling but went their separate ways when she went to college. Connie is dedicated to be a good lawyer and is determined to make partner. Going back to the shore with Maggie and seeing Jonathan again won’t disrupt her life goals. At least it shouldn’t. But Jonathan wants to show Connie he’s been successful himself and maybe they can take up where they left off.

The timeline of this book is the same as the first book but from the perspective of this second couple. This was a bit disconcerting to me as I knew certain facts along the way. I felt almost disassociated from this couple as I perceived where we were along the storyline.
Connie and Jonathan both grew up with single parents but under much different circumstances. Their ideals are quite different but as teens, didn’t talk about reasons with any depth. Now that they are back together in a relationship their goals are different. He’s in it for love and a future. She is still focused on her career and not her actual life. They need to really talk and make some self assessments before they can do anything.

As with the first book, I fell for the hero in love and wanting his desire to give her everything. ( )

Another enjoyable, easy read in this series with a second-chance at love, some great friendships, and a totally adorable pup named Dudley!

I just loved Jonathan. Despite being disowned by his father, he’s managed to become very successful, taking his own path in life and doing things his own way. This path has given him a bit of reputation as a playboy and wanderer, but now he’s ready to put down some roots, and coming face to face with the girl from his past, he knows just who he wants to create a future with – if only he can get her to realize he can be a sure thing.

There were a lot of things about Connie that I loved, but boy she could get me a bit irritated. She’s struggled with relationships since her father abandoned her and her mother when she was young, and she’s determined to never put herself in the same position her mother found herself in, having to give up her dreams because of a man. I get that she was cautious but I really wanted her to just ask Jonathan what his plans were instead of assuming he wouldn’t want to commit…and don’t get me started on her dumping him when they had their first fling in college! What I did really like about her was watching her fight for her career, standing up for herself, and then being able to realize that reaching her dream didn’t necessarily mean giving anything up, it just meant having to adjust the path she was on to get to her destination.

One of things I am really enjoying about this series is the relationships between the characters. There is family drama with some pretty big secrets, there is love and loss, and there are some awesome friendships that set the backdrop for this series. The friendship between Jon and his brother is so solid, and Connie has her group of friends that are so supportive but also keep things real for each other.

This book happens during some of the same timeline as the first book in the series, One Summer Night, so although some of the storyline at parts is similar, it was fun to find out what was going on behind the scenes for Jon and Connie while Owen and Maggie were finding their own happy ever after.

The author’s writing style and voice made this easy to read. The pacing was good – it did slow down a bit for me when they slowed the relationship down, I thought the “we need to make this relationship be more than about the great sex” got a bit overdone - but the few twists kept the pages turning and there was a sweetness to the romance that had me all-in when it came to Connie and Jon.

Definitely worth grabbing and would make a great beach read! ( )

Lacked umpf--really, the character I felt the most for was the dog, and he wasn't in it enough :(

Hopefully just a one-off; I have liked this author's books in the past.