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Strawberry Summer

Melissa Brayden

Start date: April 4, 2017

Finish date: April 30, 2017

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What Members Thought

May 24, 2017 Luce rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, 2017-read, family, small-town, romance, job-ceo-executive-owner, job-rancher-farmer, young-adult, 4-stars

4 STARS for the audiobook, narrated by Paige McKinney. (Minus 0.75 stars for narration. See below why. )

I'm not that into YA books although I find I read them more than I thought. This book is partially a YA - if only because the first part of the book, Maggie and Courtney are in High School and College. It's not technically told in flashback as it does follow a straight (so to speak :-) ) timeline.

The book is told in first person - by Margaret aka Maggie. She is a native to the small CA town an 4 STARS for the audiobook, narrated by Paige McKinney. (Minus 0.75 stars for narration. See below why. )

I'm not that into YA books although I find I read them more than I thought. This book is partially a YA - if only because the first part of the book, Maggie and Courtney are in High School and College. It's not technically told in flashback as it does follow a straight (so to speak :-) ) timeline.

The book is told in first person - by Margaret aka Maggie. She is a native to the small CA town and her family owns one if not the largest Strawberry farm in the area. Courtney is the heiress to a department store chain who moves to her father's hometown where he has built a new store. We meet them when they are juniors in High School.

I really enjoyed the book, but I want to think it might have been a 5 star book if not for the narration. Oh she wasn't a horrible narrator overall, it was just her choices for Maggie's speaking voice. Maggie's thoughts are in a pleasant adult voice but talks in a very juvenile, high speaking voice. I thought - oh good they are now in college - maybe now she will deepen Maggie's voice. But no. It's even more annoying to hear an adult with this voice. Especially since she has given Courtney a low sexy voice. Maggie's reactions sometimes sound like a teenager. I couldn't help thinking - why would Courtney find this attractive? However all the other voices she does are well done - which made Maggie's glaringly more annoying. I'll definitely re-read this book, but read it myself next time.

In spite of the narration - I liked the book and loved Brayden's side characters. All are so well done. LOVED Maggie's parents. And even Travis. I also loved their loving family life. Reminds me of my nephew's family. They have EPIC, very competitive game nights - even now when the kids are in and/or graduated from college! Boyfriends and girlfriends must survive this gauntlet. As the now infamous quote from my niece will attest - standing on her chair yelling when her teammates lost focus... "Pictionary Is NOT just a game people!"
...more

19 likes · Like · see review

Mar 14, 2017 Cheri rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance, audio, arc, lgbtq, netgalley

Have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I've not been a fan of the last couple of books I read by the author and stopped reading her altogether the past couple of years but this one has taken over as my favorite Brayden book. The characters all sounded like different people and the story had some twists and turns that weren't predictable. Lots of honest emotion going on - both from the characters and from me. No tears though. I dropped no tears but did get a few lumps in my throat.

All of t ...more

13 likes · Like · see review

Apr 14, 2017 Jess rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance, california, kindle, lesbian, bold-strokes-books, bisexual

This book is sweet, refreshing, and perfect for a summer day--just like a strawberry!

Spanning over a little less than a decade, this love story chronicles the on-again, off-again romance between Margaret and Courtney, two girls who meet within the small community of Tanner's Peak, California. It starts when they are still in high school and ends when they are delving into their adult lives. It might sound formulaic, but there's so much affection and humor written into this story that it is anyth This book is sweet, refreshing, and perfect for a summer day--just like a strawberry!

Spanning over a little less than a decade, this love story chronicles the on-again, off-again romance between Margaret and Courtney, two girls who meet within the small community of Tanner's Peak, California. It starts when they are still in high school and ends when they are delving into their adult lives. It might sound formulaic, but there's so much affection and humor written into this story that it is anything but generic. Margaret could've been the sheltered farm girl who is awed by city-girl Courtney, but those archetypes are stripped away quickly as we get to know them.

I remember reading another review stating that this is a rare romance in which the characters actually talk to each other, which is incredibly refreshing. They might be lovers, but they're also friends, and their honesty and dialogue jumps off the page, even when things get rocky. They have very distinct voices and personalities, and they show immense growth throughout the years. Margaret is a very fun protagonist. She's full of self-deprecation and she's more than a little salty, but she's genuine and has a big heart.

Not only do Courtney and Margaret steal your hearts, the supporting characters are fantastic. Margaret's family is especially heartwarming, (view spoiler). The fact that Margaret's mother is a romance writer is great--her family feels very real, and they aren't afraid to enjoy each other's company and conversation. The book nailed that small-town feel very well. It didn't come off as stifling or overly conservative. It felt more like a great, big, nosy family.

I was surprised by how hard I was hit by (view spoiler). It was a death that comes out of nowhere...senseless, heartbreaking, and life-changing. It was so unfair. But I think it was a really bold and well-written move on Brayden's part. In romance, death is almost always reserved for elderly mentors or those who were ill for a long time, and it almost always serves to bring the romantic pairing closer together. In this case, death was much more realistic--it had a huge impact on the plot, characters, and romance, making it impossible to be wished away by hugs and kisses. It was a literary death that worked very well for the story and it had a huge emotional impact. Out of the many books I've read, I can't recall a romance that touched on grief so realistically.

(In the scheme of lesbian literature, I totally lost it at the book club scene where all the lesbians are discussing the pros and cons of The Well of Loneliness. Not only are all use nerdy lesbian bookworms having a field day, it actually says a lot about happiness and what we think we deserve in life, which was very touching and came at a perfect time in the novel).

I do wish Courtney would've just said she's bisexual. I know some people don't like labels, but I guess it just gets old in F/F romance sometimes. I thought a writer as savvy as Brayden would go beyond the "I don't like labels" trope. Besides this, there's very little to complain about with this book. It's sexy, sweet, earnest, modern, and just plain good. I can't believe I haven't read Melissa Brayden before! ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Mar 25, 2017 Kennedy rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017-ng-romance-enjoyed

While reading this story, I thought back to my high school experience and the unexpected curve balls I chose to navigate alone or with the assistance of others. What I recall as most important was the value and importance of having others around you that cared about you in more than words but with their action. Margaret (Maggie) Beringer, in general, had others but struggled with uncertainty and confidence. Courtney Carrington, in general, lacked others but appeared to overflow with confidence. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Mar 18, 2017 Alena rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, queer

Netgalley

That was a deeply satisfying read.

The first few pages had a decidedly Poppy Jenkins feel, then for a few pages I channeled Carol (probably just a sign that I consume too much queer lady media), but it really wasn't either of that. It does a few things I don't like. It relies very heavily on flashback, in fact, more than half of this book is flashback, I would say. Also, the dialog at times seems like Brayden is trying to outdo Brayden and it just grated on me at times for a few millisec ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Apr 11, 2020 Galadriel. rated it liked it

This book has the potential to be amazing for me, I love Melissa’s books... but I think that being in lockdown in the middle of a pandemic might be affecting my judgment. So the 3 stars are mostly because I couldn’t connect with it... which may not be the book’s fault :(

2 likes · Like · see review

Oct 20, 2019 Angie rated it liked it

Shelves: lgbtq, rich-poor, samtam, ebooks, queer-ladies, sapphic-romance, friends-to-lovers, second-chance

I'm not really sure how to review this book. I loved to much about it, especially how the romance between Maggie and Courtney is an opposites attract, friends-to-lovers, city girl/country girl, second-chance forbidden romance that's very much a Montague and Capulets situation. I also think it's neat that Maggie and Courtney both come from big-named families: Maggie of the famed Beringer Strawberry Farm and Courtney of Carrington's Department Store. But the pacing to me felt really off. This was ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 15, 2017 Morgan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: recommended, lesbian, ya

This was a fun little surprise! I haven't been a big fan of Brayden's other novels, but this story was adorable. Everything came together here--great characters, chemistry between the two protagonists, sharp dialogue, and supporting characters that didn't (entirely) exist to help push the two protagonists together. Back to the dialogue for a moment--it was genuinely hilarious! The setup for this book is in no way original: being told from the offset that some inciting incident for a breakup betw ...more

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Mar 08, 2021 CK529 rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sapphic-romance, lgbtq

I loved this book; definitely one of my favorite lesbian romance's I've read so far. It felt very realistic to me, with real life ups and downs, pain and joy, and relationships of all types - family, friends and romances. There was very little of the often overdone romance formula stuff that can get annoying with it's repetition and all the characters were wonderfully done, even the ones that aren't good people. ...more

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