This New Year, Summer Brookes isn’t making resolutions—she’s making a change. Tired of the cold, her soul-crushing accounting job, and a life that feels stuck, she stumbles across a forgotten diary from her 13-year-old self. Its pages are filled with the optimism of youth, big dreams, and an obsession with her first love, Jamie Reynolds.
Realizing she’s drifted far from the life she once dreamed of, Summer does the unthinkable: she books a last-minute one way flight to Tenerife to track down Jamie, trading grey skies for golden beaches and the promise of adventure.
But escaping to paradise is just the beginning. What if Jamie doesn’t remember her? What if her impulsive leap was a mistake?
On Tenerife’s sun-soaked shores, Summer must confront her past, embrace the present, and decide if she’s brave enough to follow her heart. Will this island getaway be her fresh start—or her biggest regret?
If you love books that literally feel like cinematic romcom films and that you can binge-read, look no further. This is my second read by Amber Eve (I just read A Scottish Cozy Mystery a few weeks back), and while the two stories couldn’t be more different, I noticed that her messy protagonists in both are so engaging, and easy to root for. The protagonist in this book has an “early midlife crisis” in the opening chapters and a timely encounter with an older “crone” fairy godmother figure propels her into a European getaway to re-evaluate everything. It has strong Eat Pray Love vibes and will make you want to travel and start ticking things off your own bucket list. The classic tropes of forced proximity, grumpy x sunshine, enemies-to-lovers, and found family, along with themes of identity, taking chances, self-discovery, and healing your inner child elevates this book above a typical romcom.
The story is entirely told in Summer’s first-person POV. You get all of her spiraling thoughts, overthinking, and hilarious exaggerations that feel very relatable at times. To make it more compelling, there are full chapters of her teenage diary entries that give details of her friendship with Chloe, her crush on her neighbor Jamie, and her goals for the future—including her dream of becoming a singer.
The sun-soaked Tenerife setting is vividly described—from the luxurious hotel to the beautiful surroundings—and, paired with a cast of eccentric characters she meets on the plane and later reconnects with, it really gives a chaotic holiday romcom movie vibe! Her interactions—especially with divorcée Rita and widower Gerald—are full of hilarious banter and become unexpectedly heartwarming as everyone is aware of all the reasons she’s there and fully supports her! If you love the found family trope, their dynamic will hit the mark for you!
And the romance subplot really delivers. Summer and Alex’s connection begins with a tense airport meet-cute. He’s very grumpy, sarcastic, and borderline unlikable at first. But like Summer, you’ll slowly warm up to him as he shows up for her and encourages her to step outside her comfort zone and tackle her bucket list. Add in the complication of her old crush Jamie, and the dynamic turns into a bit of a love triangle—and to make things more interesting, additional external factors pop up that keep the story unpredictable!
While the romance is compelling, the emotional core of the story is Summer’s journey—figuring out who she is outside of expectations, nostalgia, and her fear of failure. Nothing feels rushed, although there are some repetitive conversations between Summer and Alex that could have been omitted. But the ending feels more satisfying than your typical romcom—not everything is perfectly resolved, and Summer’s outlook on her future and relationships is realistic. The epilogue is less thought-provoking and more fun, but it’ll leave you smiling—and maybe even inspired to rethink your own future/bucket list!
Narrator Performance
The audiobook edition of Cool Girl Summer is read by award-winning narrator Charlie Albers.
At the start, Albers captures Summer’s “early midlife crisis” situation using a frantic, emotionally exhausted voice that emphasizes her unhappiness and how stuck she feels. As soon as she encounters the mysterious “crone fairy godmother,” there’s a subtle shift in her tone to show how she’s willing to try to change her life. Summer’s inner dialogue is a highlight—Albers narrates all of her spiraling thoughts and wildly exaggerated worst-case-scenario rants with tons of expression and great comedic timing—and you’ll laugh out loud, roll your eyes humorously, and be fully entertained! Even when Summer makes impulsive, questionable decisions, the narration makes her feel relatable and endearing, so you won’t help but root for her!
Another highlight is how Albers makes the chemistry between Summer and Alex feel authentic. From their tense airport encounter to the awkward banter on the plane, the enemies-to-lovers and grumpy/sunshine tropes are already shining through. Alex is given a voice that has a balance of grumpiness, dry sarcasm, and, later on, warmth to make him multidimensional and likable despite his flaws. As their connection deepens, Albers makes their exchanges organically sound more open and personal, making the romance feel believable.
Albers brings the Tenerife setting vividly to life using good pacing and expression during descriptions of the landmarks, the excursions, and the lavish hotel—you can really picture everything, and it will make you want to take a vacation there. The best part of the performance might just be Albers’ narration of the large supporting cast of eccentric characters that Summer meets—each of them is given distinct personalities and voices/accents, especially Rita and Gerald, whose scenes become some of the funniest and most heartfelt parts of the story.
By the end, Albers does a brilliant job conveying Summer’s growth—she subtly shifts her tone to show Summer as more confident, open, and willing to move forward despite her lingering fears and disappointments. In the final chapter and epilogue, Albers makes her hopefulness feel genuine, but her exaggerated personality is also still present, and you’ll be left smiling!
If you’re considering this book, definitely pick up the audiobook to fully immerse yourself in Tenerife alongside Summer—it really feels like listening to a romcom movie come to life!
Narrator Performance
The audiobook edition of Cool Girl Summer is read by award-winning narrator Charlie Albers.
At the start, Albers captures Summer’s “early midlife crisis” situation using a frantic, emotionally exhausted voice that emphasizes her unhappiness and how stuck she feels. As soon as she encounters the mysterious “crone fairy godmother,” there’s a subtle shift in her tone to show how she’s willing to try to change her life. Summer’s inner dialogue is a highlight—Albers narrates all of her spiraling thoughts and wildly exaggerated worst-case-scenario rants with tons of expression and great comedic timing—and you’ll laugh out loud, roll your eyes humorously, and be fully entertained! Even when Summer makes impulsive, questionable decisions, the narration makes her feel relatable and endearing, so you won’t help but root for her!
Another highlight is how Albers makes the chemistry between Summer and Alex feel authentic. From their tense airport encounter to the awkward banter on the plane, the enemies-to-lovers and grumpy/sunshine tropes are already shining through. Alex is given a voice that has a balance of grumpiness, dry sarcasm, and, later on, warmth to make him multidimensional and likable despite his flaws. As their connection deepens, Albers makes their exchanges organically sound more open and personal, making the romance feel believable.
Albers brings the Tenerife setting vividly to life using good pacing and expression during descriptions of the landmarks, the excursions, and the lavish hotel—you can really picture everything, and it will make you want to take a vacation there. The best part of the performance might just be Albers’ narration of the large supporting cast of eccentric characters that Summer meets—each of them is given distinct personalities and voices/accents, especially Rita and Gerald, whose scenes become some of the funniest and most heartfelt parts of the story.
By the end, Albers does a brilliant job conveying Summer’s growth—she subtly shifts her tone to show Summer as more confident, open, and willing to move forward despite her lingering fears and disappointments. In the final chapter and epilogue, Albers makes her hopefulness feel genuine, but her exaggerated personality is also still present, and you’ll be left smiling!
If you’re considering this book, definitely pick up the audiobook to fully immerse yourself in Tenerife alongside Summer—it really feels like listening to a romcom movie come to life!
The audiobook edition of Cool Girl Summer is read by award-winning narrator Charlie Albers.
At the start, Albers captures Summer’s “early midlife crisis” situation using a frantic, emotionally exhausted voice that emphasizes her unhappiness and how stuck she feels. As soon as she encounters the mysterious “crone fairy godmother,” there’s a subtle shift in her tone to show how she’s willing to try to change her life. Summer’s inner dialogue is a highlight—Albers narrates all of her spiraling thoughts and wildly exaggerated worst-case-scenario rants with tons of expression and great comedic timing—and you’ll laugh out loud, roll your eyes humorously, and be fully entertained! Even when Summer makes impulsive, questionable decisions, the narration makes her feel relatable and endearing, so you won’t help but root for her!
Another highlight is how Albers makes the chemistry between Summer and Alex feel authentic. From their tense airport encounter to the awkward banter on the plane, the enemies-to-lovers and grumpy/sunshine tropes are already shining through. Alex is given a voice that has a balance of grumpiness, dry sarcasm, and, later on, warmth to make him multidimensional and likable despite his flaws. As their connection deepens, Albers makes their exchanges organically sound more open and personal, making the romance feel believable.
Albers brings the Tenerife setting vividly to life using good pacing and expression during descriptions of the landmarks, the excursions, and the lavish hotel—you can really picture everything, and it will make you want to take a vacation there. The best part of the performance might just be Albers’ narration of the large supporting cast of eccentric characters that Summer meets—each of them is given distinct personalities and voices/accents, especially Rita and Gerald, whose scenes become some of the funniest and most heartfelt parts of the story.
By the end, Albers does a brilliant job conveying Summer’s growth—she subtly shifts her tone to show Summer as more confident, open, and willing to move forward despite her lingering fears and disappointments. In the final chapter and epilogue, Albers makes her hopefulness feel genuine, but her exaggerated personality is also still present, and you’ll be left smiling!
If you’re considering this book, definitely pick up the audiobook to fully immerse yourself in Tenerife alongside Summer—it really feels like listening to a romcom movie come to life!
