That Summer Feeling
Ratings11
Average rating3.7
When a divorced woman attends a sleepaway camp for adults, she reconnects with a man from her past—only to fall head over heels for his sister instead.
Garland Moore used to believe in magic, the power of optimism, and signs from the universe. Then her husband surprised her with divorce papers over Valentine’s Day dinner. Now Garland isn’t sure what to believe anymore, except that she’s clearly never meant to love again. When new friends invite her to spend a week at their reopened sleepaway camp, she and her sister decide it’s an opportunity to enjoy the kind of summer getaway they never had as kids. If Garland still believed in signs, this would sure seem like one. Summer camp is a chance to let go of her past and start fresh.
Nestled into the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains, Camp Carl Cove provides the exact escape Garland always dreamed of, until she runs into Mason—the man she had a premonition about after one brief meeting years ago. No matter how she tries to run, the universe appears determined to bring love back into Garland’s life. She even ends up rooming with Mason’s sister Stevie, a vibrant former park ranger who is as charming as she is competitive. The more time Garland spends with Stevie, the more the signs confuse her. The stars are aligning in a way Garland never could have predicted.
Amid camp tournaments and moonlit dances, Garland continues to be pulled toward the beautiful blonde outdoorswoman who makes her laugh and swoon. Summer camp doesn’t last forever, but if Garland can learn to trust her heart, the love she finds there just might.
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3.5 - I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It was a low-stakes romance with a bi awakening after 30 and after a divorce so it was already doing something different than most romance books. The setting of an adult summer camp gives it the same lightweight and carefree vibe that I get from YA romances; however, this was written with an adult audience in mind, not because of it's spice, as there is not a lot of that, but rather because of its themes and the stages in life these adults find themselves in. I also appreciated the exploration of the relationship between siblings (I am a sucker for sister storylines)
Now, for the reasons this didn't get a higher rating... I didn't love the “vision” aspect of this story. I know it's fiction and it doesn't have to be realistic, but it did take me out of the story. My other issue is how quickly the main couple got together, especially considering that one of them didn't even know she was queer. I needed a few more chapters between the realization and the declaration of love. Once that happened, all the tension dissolved and it then focused on other subplots I would've rather explored towards the middle of the book.
That being said, I think it's a very fun sapphic read for the summertime if you want something to feel like a hug and not give you many strong emotions. Not a must-read, but a nice read.
