Review of ‘Brooklyn Summer’ by Maggie Cummings
Ashleigh McAllister is going through a rough patch, her ex-wife left her for a man and now she seems to bump into them in their neighbourhood all the time. As Summer approaches she decides to spend it sightseeing in NYC by herself. That is until army vet Kellan Dwyer makes an appearance and joins her in her daily city tours. As time goes by, their attraction is undeniable and they decide to become friends with benefits. But that was a bad idea, wasn’t it?
I absolutely loved this romance, it shows how far Ms. Cummings has evolved as an author. In my opinion, even though I liked her previous novels, this book is so much better than the others. The backdrop of the story in the fantastic New York makes it more enjoyable, as a New Yorker herself, the author knows what she’s writing about and it shows. I lived in NY a long time ago and for me personally it was great to see the city through the eyes of the main characters, one of them a New Yorker.
The chemistry between the mains is very well done. In a romance sometimes it’s hard to convey the characters’ feelings from the start point of a no-strings relationship, but the author delivers the growing emotions perfectly. The sex scenes were varied and hot, which is a must in this type of trope. I found that Ms. Cummings managed really well the development of their relationship into something more meaningful.
I have to admit that while I was reading and seeing the direction the plot was taking, I was a bit apprehensive of how the author was going to handle the conflict between the characters because the issue has the potential of becoming a big melodrama. I was happy to see that Ms. Cummings handled it convincingly and realistically within the world she created. My only criticism is that some parts of the plot seemed to slow down and becoming tedious but fortunately they were scarce and short. Otherwise, it would have been an easy 5 stars for me.
Overall, a very good lesbian romance with the beautiful scenery of New York. 4.5 stars.
ARC provided by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
