The Summer Girlfriend, Kristina Forest (Review by Taylor Bridgeforth)

Rating: 5.0/5 Stars

In a nutshell: Jeremiah tells his family he has a girlfriend to avoid spending the summer at their beach house — a place tied to guilt he’s been carrying for years.

I am so happy this book exists. The Summer Girlfriend by Kristina Forest is the perfect blend of being fully present in the moment while falling into the sweetest romance — emphasis on sweetest, because the MMC is literally the heir to a cookie empire.

Jeremiah wanders into his local bookstore (already a win) to buy his sister a birthday gift, and that’s where he meets Noelle, a recently fired bookstore employee. He needs a fake girlfriend. She needs money. Money isn’t an issue for him. Their chemistry is already sparking. He’s moving to California. She’s focused on going back to school. It’s the perfect arrangement… on paper.

I cannot stress enough how sweet this book is. Jeremiah is a soft, caring, reliable MMC whose family is grounded, warm, and immediately welcoming to Noelle — oops. And Noelle herself is strong, supportive, and ambitious. Together, they make a pairing that’s deliciously romantic, gently steamy, and built on a solid emotional foundation.

One of the things I love most about Kristina Forest’s writing is that she tells love stories that don’t rely on the traditional “marriage and kids” bow at the end. Sometimes love looks different, and she captures that beautifully. It’s enough for a couple to love and be in love with each other in this phase of life.
She’s also the queen of interconnected standalones with family and if I’m right about that–I could be right about the next couple she’ll be writing about and I just have to say three things:
tattooed arms, his mother owns the local beach bookstore, AND he wears eyeglasses!
PLEASE KRISTINA PLEASE

Tropes:
summer romance
fake dating
small (beach) town
bookish FMC (female main character)
dual POV
he falls first and harder