I feel like there is going to be an ongoing trend with my blog where I mention “reading something super heavy” and “needing something light to pick me up.” I suppose that says a lot about me, huh? 

Anyway, this week I’d like to take time to pay homage to my ‘post-soul-wrenching-savior’ “Canadian Summer” by Kimberly Ann, the first in the Logan Creek series. 

We follow Kade (Cadence) and Brody as they navigate the difficult waters of a steamy, but ultimately failed fling. Five years ago, they met while camping and fell very quickly and very deeply in love. Unfortunately, fate (in the form of a jealous wanna-be lover) took matters into her own hands and blew up any chance they had at happiness with TNT. Jump cut to the present – they’ve moved on (or so they thought) – and Cadence has come back to take over her aunt’s bakery, only to run into her old flame. He’s not nearly as friendly as he once was. In a town as small as theirs, it’s impossible to avoid each other.

I was immediately drawn to this book. I don’t know whether it was the cover, the synopsis or the title that sang to me. But I knew the moment I saw it that I had to read it. And I did. I devoured this book. 

The characters were believable. Likable. Flawed. Human. Their relationship was complex, if only by virtue of how things ended. It was a slow burn, by all accounts, which is precisely my brand of romance. To top it all off, their conflicts felt believable. A lot of my gripes in the romance genre come from manufactured confrontations and forced emotions. This all felt very organic to the characters, which speaks to a very well thought-out plot and beautiful execution on the writer’s behalf on understanding her own characters. 

I was honestly shocked by how much I enjoyed this read. Often times when it comes to something this simple, I end up thinking ‘well, this is nice to shut my brain off too.’ I don’t often feel particularly connected. I did feel connected to this lovely pair and I was over the moon with the ending. 

[SPOILER AHEAD]

My only gripe would be how the bakery’s fire was treated. It was a major plot point in the book, and certainly did an excellent job setting up a plot line for the next installment of “Logan Creek”. Honestly, this might even be a bit nitpick-y. I just felt that there could have been more done to explain that it was an active mystery. It was almost like, “well, it happened, now here we are dealing with the thing” and not a whole lot of, “how did this happen? Why did this happen? Let’s scratch our heads for a bit.” It felt a bit glossed over, which, I understand was likely the writer’s intention since I anticipate it featuring more heavily in Lila’s story. I felt like if it was speculated on more it could have provided more intrigue in the story moving forward.

That all being said, this was an easy five stars for me. I definitely recommend this for anyone who loves small-town, second-chance, steamy romance!

You can find Kimberly Ann on Instagram, her Facebook Group, Facebook Page, Tiktok, Twitter, and Goodreads. You can also sign-up for her newsletter here!

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