Summerhaven ~ Review with Excerpt and Giveaway

Summerhaven

By Tiffany Odekirk

For years Hannah Kent has dreamed of marrying Oliver Jennings. Eight years ago, Ollie promised to marry her. But the childhood promise has seemingly meant little to him as he pursues a more advantageous match. The uneasy alliance she makes with Damon Jennings to sway Ollie's sentiments back towards her is disconcerting. But Hannah is willing to do whatever it takes to win back the love she thought was hers. 

Hannah's time with Damon allows her to see someone in sharp contrast to the young boy, the young man she remembers. Could the bane of her childhood become her greatest ally? But can she genuinely fain love for the boy she despised to win back the heart of the one she always loved? There is the only way to know, and that is to agree to Damon's plan.

I liked Damon's character; he seems to be less flighty than Oliver. Damon's behavior toward Hannah is starkly different from that of Oliver's, and to be honest, I'm not sure why Hannah preferred Oliver's. Maybe it was colored by the past and her memories of it. 

There are times when I feel for Hannah as the bleakness of what she has lost overcomes her. I feel that her friendship with Amelia is one of the high points for her, though, for a time, it appears that the web she has gotten herself caught in is about to destroy even that.

Summerhaven is a book I highly recommend for anyone wanting a gentle, clean reading romance. 

I enjoyed the audio version of this book after first reading it. The narration is good; I found the pacing a little slow, so I upped the playback speed to 1.25x and found it in sync with my average reading speed. Overall this made for a second enjoyable experience with Summerhaven and Hannah's quest for a love match.

I was provided a complimentary digital copy of this book with no expectations but that I provide my honest opinion - all thoughts expressed are my own.

About the Book:

Hannah Kent and Oliver Jennings pledged their hearts to each other as children. Now, years later, Hannah is thrilled to receive an invitation to spend the summer at Oliver’s family’s country estate. The path to wedded bliss is clear—so long as Oliver’s highbrow older brother, Damon, has ceased his juvenile antics, Hannah’s future looks bright indeed.

But from the moment Hannah arrives at Summerhaven, nothing is as she expected. Oliver seems disinterested in renewing their acquaintance, and Damon is not the brutish boy she remembers but a man intent on avoiding marriage. Although she has loathed Damon her whole life, when he contrives a ruse designed to win them both what they desire, Hannah warily agrees. All she has to do to reclaim Oliver’s attention is pretend to be madly in love with Damon. But when Damon is surprisingly convincing in his role as a suitor, it proves difficult to discern the line between pretense and true love. 

Excerpt:

Damon stepped forward, and his watch key and seal—visible reminders of his status and self-importance—clanked together. He bowed. “Miss Kent.”

“My lord,” I returned with a shallow curtsy. 

The corners of his mouth curled into a smile. “I see someone has managed to make a lady out of the wild girl I once knew,” Damon said, and before stepping back in line with his mother, he met my eye and added, “A pity.”

My eyebrows pulled together in surprise. 

“Do try not to scowl, Miss Kent. It will crease your lovely brow.”

“Damon Jennings,” Lady Winfield scolded. “You have been taught better manners.”

“My apologies, Mother. Teasing a beautiful woman is one of few things that has yet to be lectured out of me.” 

I gaped. Never in all my life had a man spoken so casually to me. Damon may have grown into a man, but he was not a gentleman.

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Summerhaven by Tiffany Odekirk

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