Book Smart Kate

Book: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Audiobook: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

by Elle Kennedy

The third book in the Avalon Bay series is a perfect end-of-summer read.

Cassie is a college student in Boston, spending her summer with her grandmother in Avalon Bay. Cassie spent her childhood in Avalon Bay before her parents’ divorce, when her mom moved them to Boston. Now that her grandmother has sold the hotel they owned (the hotel is the connection to the Avalon Bay series) and is selling her home, Cassie is hoping for one last summer of fun…and maybe a summer fling to gain some confidence and experience before she starts her senior year? Tate is the reigning king of flings in Avalon Bay but friend-zones Cassie because he doesn’t think she’d be able to do no-strings-attached like he can. 

As they forge a friendship and Tate tries to help her find a viable summer fling candidate, he realizes he got it all wrong. He’s the one who can’t stop thinking about her, and when their families get involved, things get really messy.

I’m glad I stuck with this series, as I’ve enjoyed each book more than the last. All of the characters from the past books return, and you are rewarded with the grand opening of the fully renovated hotel, which was falling apart when Mac purchased it in book one.

In these last two books, Kennedy delivers a frothy, spicy summer read with some emotional depth and complexity. In this case, Cassie and Tate both have a lot of shit to work through with their parents, and they each help the other navigate it. Kennedy also manages to have a third-act breakup that fits the story and feels emotionally correct for the book without making it drag on. 

Overall, it is lots of fun and a speedy read. The audiobook is also excellent. It is a dual read by Caitlin Elizabeth and Teddy Hamilton. Teddy is one of the best narrators (Fourth Wing, Love Hypothesis, The Roommate, The Cheat Sheet, etc.), so I often listen to whatever he narrates.