Book Review: The Girl From Summer Hill

Author: Jude Deveraux
Publication Date: May 3, 2016
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Series: Summer Hill # 1

The first book of a new contemporary romance series set in the mountains of Virginia in a town with full of family legends, romance, and secrets from New York Times bestselling author of the Nantucket Brides trilogy.

Sparks fly as fiery Casey Reddick and brooding Hollywood actor Tate Landers clash in the Virginia summer heat. A chef who puts her career first and her love life second, Casey doesn’t see what every girl in town is swooning over. She made up her mind the moment she met Tate—he’s gorgeous, but stuck-up, nothing like his ex-brother-in-law, Devlin who’s playing the Wickham to Tate’s Darcy in local production of Pride & Prejudice. Casey makes the perfect Elizabeth Bennett—how could she be star-struck when she’s heard Devlin’s damning stories about Tate? As they rehearse together, however, Casey finds herself attracted to Tate—he’s much more down-to-earth than she expected and any physical contact between the two of them literally gives her a tingling, electric shock. As opening night draws near, Casey has some difficult decisions to make. Whom should she believe? The seemingly sincere, slighted Devlin or Tate, whose rough, arrogant exterior may only be skin deep. She’s come to love that jolt she gets when they touch—but will she get burned?

Smiling, Kit turned away. He’d always meant for young Tatton to play Darcy. He just wasn’t sure who would be Elizabeth. But now he was almost certain that he’d found her.

He’d used his best smile on her and she’d felt nothing. As had he. They were destined to be friends and nothing more.

As snotty as Tate Landers was, he’s probably throw the food out. It wouldn’t be good enough for someone so grand and glorious.

“You Summer Hill people are a lusty lot,” Jack said as they ran, and they all laughed together.

Pride & Prejudice is without a doubt my favorite book/movie ever (sitting beside, Harry Potter, of course). I have read multiple retellings of the charming tale over the years, and this one is just another fast, fun read to add to my list. Summer is right around the corner and this book goes onto the Beach Read List as well. It is so light, fun, and has characters that have quirks that make them unforgettable. The romance between Casey and Tate in this book was much like the romance between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. I think what I enjoyed the most was that Tate took some getting used to just like Mr. Darcy. I loved getting past his cold exterior because he was really such a passionate, loving character.

My favorite part of this book was Casey! She was a really funny leading lady. Just like Elizabeth, she was spunky and outspoken. Casey had all the quirks that make Elizabeth Bennet one of my favorite characters of all-time. There are parts of the story that feel slower than others, and if I am being honest, I wasn’t one hundred percent sure that I was going to really be able to get into the book when I first started. However, it didn’t take me long to fall in love with this romantic comedy and wish I was on the beach while reading it! I am very excited for more from this author and in this series!

***A free copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at Ballantine Books in exchange for my honest review***