She was the light in my dark life. The sunshine that warmed me and made me smile.
We had one summer. One perfect summer, until the day it ended.
Years later, she walked back into my life. Older. Sadder. More beautiful than ever.
How can I prove to her that summer was real?
How do I make her see the boy who loved her then, still loves her now?
How do we get back to the summer when we were us?
I adore Melanie Moreland…. her writing makes me feel good – it also makes me cry at times, smile huge, swoon, sigh hard and feel the heat between her characters… but most of all, it gives me the feels.
I loved that Linc and Sunny had a past. The heartache they both went through at the hands of others was palpable but that they could reconnect and try to see if that summer they were together could turn into a future was such a positive thing and in the grand scheme of Linc’s determination to overwrite the past it was one of the best things they could do!
As teens they were both broken in some way and gravitated to each other and that was no different in the present. They were the balm to each other’s souls, but had to much time passed since that summer, had they both changed too much?
I was engaged in their story from the get go. I so wanted things to work for them – though I could understand both of their hesitance and uncertainty.
The Summer of Us is one of my favourite reads so far this year and one I most definitely recommend you check out.
A 5* read for sure IMHO.
The Summer of Us was first a novella in an anthology. I remember wanting more, but only because I liked Sunny and Lincoln’s story so much. This full length novel was a wonderful read. I have gotten more about Sunny and Lincoln and it was everything I hoped it would be. I met some awesome secondary characters, so I’m excited that The Summer of Us is only the first book in a new series by the author.
Lincoln and Sunny are lovable characters. Sunny is kind hearted, loyal, caring, talented and hardworking. She has her own business and she loves working there. She’s passionate about it. Sunny has experienced lost and she was hurt so much when Lincoln left. She never felt the same about another man. She couldn’t believe her eyes when Lincoln walked back into her life.
Lincoln is rich, determined, smart, talented and caring. He wants to be anything like his father. I was glad that he had Sunny when he was young and that he found a family with Sunny. Sunny and Lincoln both deserved that love and happiness.
Lincoln and Sunny’s relationship was never easy. When they were teenagers, someone didn’t want them to have a relationship. But they made it work, in secret. Lincoln and Sunny loved being together and did it as much as they could. They loved each other deeply. Sunny and Lincoln had a perfect summer together when they were teenagers. A summer of them.
That summer didn’t end perfectly and it would take years before they saw each other again. It didn’t take too long for them to reconnect then. The love and the attraction were still there, no doubt about that. Sunny and Lincoln’s relationshop was a struggle sometimes, but they were determined to make it work and their love was strong. The epilogue was beautiful and wonderful.
I loved this when it was a short story in an anthology and I loved the full version.
Linc and Sunny has so many obstacles in their path. From the start the deck was stacked against them. But they somehow defied the odds.
I loved every word.
Melanie writes amazing characters for us to fall in love with, to dislike and then to fall in love with all over again.
Hot, steamy second chance romance w a dose of melancholy…
An expansion of Melanie’s short story The Summer of Us for the One Hot Summer anthology last year.
My original review was five stars all the way for this story and I still feel that way for the expansion of Linc and Sunny’s second chance love story.
It could have been merely a sweet hot second chance romance. Lincoln and Sunny are childhood friends who became each other’s first love, only to have life get in their way.
But the addition of part two to this story added even more of that magic Melanie sprinkles on her stories.
Lincoln Webber as he calls himself now since he changed his last name to his late mother’s maiden name. He hated his father. He has come back to Mission Cove to wipe out to final remaining piece of his father’s legacy.
Little did he expect to find the one thing his father tried to ensure he never found again…Sunny. She now runs a bakery in town and is the last person Linc expects to see but he is thrilled to see her again after all these years.
Sunny doesn’t want him to destroy himself with his hate for his father.
Linc finds himself wanting to stay close to Sunny rather than going back to the city all the time. Even if that means coming back to Mission Cove. He learns a lot about himself, his late parents, Sunny, and the town of Mission Cove.
I received a review copy. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
I never read the initial version of this story that appeared in an anthology, so this was my first introduction to Linc and Sunny. Once I started this book, I couldn’t read it fast enough! It was wonderful to read about the progression of their relationship from kindergarten friends to teenaged sweethearts. Vicious evil tears them apart with cruel zeal and unmatched enthusiasm for the pain caused.
A decade later, they come across one another again and Linc is determined that he is going to show Sunny that “… the boy who loved her then, was the man who loved her now.” This is a love story for the ages; it brings out every emotion you can imagine; passion, joy, anger, heartbreak, humor, lust, love, fear, sadness, melancholy, regret .. it’s amazing. When I started reading it, I just could not put it down because the story was intriguing.
In true Melanie Moreland fashion, this book has a wonderful epilogue. Actually, the epilogue is more than wonderful – It is epic. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough.
The Summer of Us is about Lincoln and Sunny, who met in school and went from best friends to more. They share a summer of love and freedom and being together at a camp where both worked. Until one morning Lincoln was gone and Sunny was left with no way to get in touch with him.
10 years later he steps into her bakery. Bit by bit they tell each other what happened and they solve out some problems / trust / secrets.
Well written second chance love story with a lot of heartbreak, anger issues and a lot of love!
Lincoln and Sunny
Friends from kindergarten, he’s always loved her. As they grow, they learn so much about each other. I
I loved this book!
Received this ARC and am leaving an honest review.
5 cranky stars
What a pleasure to read this book. Very well written it pulled you in from the first page. A lot of detail.
Sunny came from the wrong side of town, she lived with her mother and 2 younger sisters. She was in love with the Linc the son of the man that owned their town.
Lincoln’s father was a cruel man and after his wife died he had something else to blame Linc for, he was always being punished for something but his father never left any visible marks. They fell in love at school which grew stronger as they grew older. Lincs father tried his hardest to keep them apart. Even to be sent to help at summer camp not knowing that Sunny was going to be there also.
It then goes to 10 years later when they bump into each other again. The rest of the book is about the change in both and getting to know each other. A pure delight of a romantic novel.
When ever I get the chance to read a book by Melanie Moreland, I don’t pass it up. The Summer of Us is just such a book. I loved reading Sunny and Linc’s second chance love story. Yes there are rough roads for both but they can get through them. I look forward to reading the next book in this series.
I’ve previously read A Summer of Us in the One Hot Summer anthology.
Now with a extended version and book one of The Mission Cove series. Loved it. It’s a sweet and light read. Even though in part one it was a little hard to read.
Sunny and Linc were friends since they were kids and at 15 years they fell in love with each other.
But they had to go through a lot. They were forbidden to see each other by Linc’s tyrant father. Linc’s father is very wealthy and poor Linc suffered so much at the hand of him. I hate that man.
But they had that one summer they could be together without being afraid. They both were working at a camp and they were so happy.
Then they were ripped apart and they didn’t see each other again for 10 years.
Can they forget the past and start a new future?
Love both characters so much. Sunny was strong and I adored Linc. I wanted to hug him so hard when he was a kid.
Beautiful book!! Loved it when I’ve read the anthology and adored it now with the extended version.
My Rating: STARS!
This story envelopes what love can conquer when people try and stop it. This story is truly healing for everyone.
See more of my review here https://youtu.be/nClKgf5sKKY
Title: The Summer of Us
Author: Melanie Moreland
Genre: Second chance romance
My rating: 5 Stars
Loved this book! So lucky to have gotten an ARC. I’m a fan of Moreland. If you haven’t read a books of hers definitely try this one. In The Summer of Us we dive right into MC’s, Linc and Sunny’s story. The two are opposites in every sense of the word. But that doesn’t quell the desire pulling them close like magnets. When they’re both teens, they spent an incredible summer together. Though they had to part ways; they never forgot each other and found it hard to move on without wondering what the other was doing.
What could’ve been?
What might’ve happened if it weren’t for troublesome fate?
Will they put their differences aside: hurt, pain, deceit and live the lives they’ve dreamed having together?
The Summer of Us is a beautifully crafted, blissful, steamy treat I couldn’t put down. So excited for the book two in the series.
Linc and Sunny were in the throes of first, young love and think they have the world in front of them. But they’re torn apart by his powerful, evil father, and Sunny’s left in their small town, devastated and without her love. Until Linc walks back into her life, intent on setting his father’s wrongs right. Will he get his second chance with his Sunny?
I loved this story when I first read it in the One Hot Summer anthology, but here in expanded form, it’s even better. Lincoln and Sunny’s characters are more fleshed out and they’re given a lot more time together in the present as a couple. And let’s not forget the multiple oh so sweet epilogues! The Summer of Us is a sweet, powerfully emotional second chance love story that I highly recommend you download, NOW!
The childhoods of Linc and Sunny couldn’t have been more different but that didn’t matter to either one of them. Even though there was someone in their lives who was determined to keep them apart, as teenagers they had one magical summer together that neither was ever able to forget even though they have been separated for the last decade.
Linc is no longer a teenager who is forced to submit to the will of others but is a powerful and successful man in his own right while Sunny has created her own business doing what she loves. When he returns to his hometown reuniting with Sunny was his dream come true but will the love they have for each other be enough to overcome all the heartbreak they have endured while they have been apart?
Linc and Sunny are soulmates and no amount of physical distance or time could ever change that. They have endured so much to be together which has only made them and their love that much stronger.
In true Melanie Moreland fashion, we find ourselves rooting for the hero and heroine of this book. Linc and Sunny are from opposite sides of town. His father is the one who looks down on the rest of the world and believes everyone is below him. Including his own son. Linc strives to stay under his radar and just be with Sunny. It doesn’t always work the way we want. This story is so much about being ourselves and how things that happen to us control what our minds set can be if we let it. Sunny is just that. She is a breath of fresh air after passing a garbage truck. Weird visual but accurate in my opinion. She sees things as they are but chooses the bright path. No sugar coating except in her baked goods. There are so many ways that Linc could have gone but his path brought him back to Sunny and all that she is. It’s up to him on winning her back or losing her forever.
The Summer of Us is the expanded version of a previously published anthology contribution.
We first meet Linc and Sunny the summer they are 17 and in love. Even at that tender age, their road hasn’t been easy, but it was sweet to watch.
Even sweeter was seeing them reconnect 10 years later. One of my favorite things about this story was that the conflict was never really between Sunny and Linc, but centered on the emotional battles that Linc faces while dealing with internal demons.
As with any Melanie Moreland book, this is well written and enjoyable. Linc seems to fit the mold of slightly alpha/wounded hero who finds his emotional center with Sunny.
The secondary cast is fairly small, but I am curious to come back to Mission Cove and see what happens next.
The Summer of Us is a continuation of a short story by the same name which you may have read in the One Hot Summer Anthology. Part 1 of this book is the short story. If like me your read this short story, you might have been a little peeved at one Miss M Moreland, that Linc & Sunny didn’t get their happy ever after at the end of the story. Well here it is!
10 years after their sudden unexplained separation, the death of Linc’s domineering father prompts his returns to Mission Cove and Sunny. They are both are successful in their careers but are suffering from the loss of their love. Sunny has become a determine & self-reliant bakery owner. Linc a successful businessman, hell-bent on removing his father’s legacy from the world & correcting all the harm he caused. As a strong woman, Sunny is not willing to settle for any less than she deserves. She finds herself concerned about Linc’s hatred of his father, how much it has been the force driving his life since they were torn apart by him. As they to learn to trust each other again and get to know the people they are now, the feelings of 10 years continue to grow.
Their journey is enhanced with the introduced of Abby & Mike, 2 new characters I hope to see more of.
This story is full of all the feelings but definitely leaves you with happy glow & a big awe!
Melanie retained her Queen of the Epilogue title, I loved it.
I received an ARC from the author in return for an honest review (I’ve also purchased the book).
THE SUMMER OF US by Melanie Moreland is the First book in the Mission Cove Series. This is the story of Linc Thomas and Sunny Jenson. Sunny and Linc where childhood friends then later teenage crushes when they had a chance to come together at Summer Camp where they were both working. But then they were torn apart never to see each other again….until now. Sunny grew up with a single mother who had to take care of her and her siblings. So they didn’t have much but what they did have was love…which was priceless. Linc came from a wealthy family but his mother died when he was young leaving him to his abusive harsh father. Linc’s father never approved of Sunny so what relationship they were able to have needed to be secret. Now in their present day which is about 10 years later, Linc has return to Mission Cove where the tied has turned with his father, Linc is the one now stronger with power. Sunny has grown to be stronger but still a caring person. When they see each other for the first time again Linc starts to realize that he wants Sunny more than every. Sunny of course isn’t sure to trust him so her feelings are more uncertain at first, but the attraction is there. This was a really great story that had the cherry on top with is epilogue.
The beginning of this story is a sweet coming of age tale. Lincoln and Sunny know their young love is true love. They are innocents and life throws some difficult hurdles at them. I loved reading about their journey.
Years later Lincoln and Sunny are brought back together. They have both been through a lot, they’ve changed and grown.
The Summer of Us morphs into everything a fan of angsty, second chance romance could wish for as Linc is determined to prove to Sunny that their love is real and true.
-4.5 Stars-
4 Stars!
Lincoln Thomas grew up in the small tourist town of Mission Cove where his wealthy, controlling father owned and ruled just about everything. He was counting the days until he would get his trust fund, and get as far away as possible. The only bright spot in his life was Sunny Jenson. They’d been best friends since grade school, and he’d liked her for as long as he could remember. As they got older their relationship turned into so much more. She was the light in his dark life, and the sunshine he looked forward to seeing. They share one perfect summer together when their seventeen, and then things abruptly ended.
Ten years later their paths cross again when he returns to his hometown to take care of some loose ends. All his good memories have always been tied to her, and he still has unresolved feelings for her that never went away. He wants another chance. A chance to prove everything between them that summer was real.
The Summer Of Us (Mission Cove Book 1) by Melanie Moreland is a full length novel based on the short story the author wrote for the One Hot Summer anthology. If you read the anthology this continues their story in Part 2 with all new content and a fabulous epilogue. After years Linc and Sunny are finally reunited and we get a beautiful second chance romance about true love, forgiveness, and soulmates. A story about overcoming obstacles, and a connection so strong that even time and distance can’t break it.