The Girl from Summer Hill by Jude Deveraux: Review


Posted May 1, 2016 in review Tags: ,

The Girl from Summer Hill by Jude Deveraux: ReviewThe Girl from Summer Hill by Jude Deveraux
Pages: 384
one-flame

Series: Summer Hill #1
Genres: Contemporary Romance
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The first book of a new contemporary romance series set in the mountains of Virginia in a town with full of family legends, romance, and secrets from New York Times bestselling author of the Nantucket Brides trilogy.
Sparks fly as fiery Casey Reddick and brooding Hollywood actor Tate Landers clash in the Virginia summer heat. A chef who puts her career first and her love life second, Casey doesn’t see what every girl in town is swooning over. She made up her mind the moment she met Tate—he’s gorgeous, but stuck-up, nothing like his ex-brother-in-law, Devlin who’s playing the Wickham to Tate’s Darcy in local production of Pride & Prejudice. Casey makes the perfect Elizabeth Bennett—how could she be star-struck when she’s heard Devlin’s damning stories about Tate? As they rehearse together, however, Casey finds herself attracted to Tate—he’s much more down-to-earth than she expected and any physical contact between the two of them literally gives her a tingling, electric shock. As opening night draws near, Casey has some difficult decisions to make. Whom should she believe? The seemingly sincere, slighted Devlin or Tate, whose rough, arrogant exterior may only be skin deep. She’s come to love that jolt she gets when they touch—but will she get burned?

The Girl from Summer Hill
Jude Deveraux

what i think

A few things I should mention:

  1. I am not a fan of Austen. Yes, I said it. I love romance and I hate Pride and Prejudice. Ok, maybe hate is strong, but I don’t love it like many people.
  2. I am finding that straight contemporary is just boring to me. Apparently I need
  3. I cut my romance teeth on Deveraux’s books. I am obsessed with some of her older stuff. Seriously, OBSESSED!

Now that I have put that out there, here are my thoughts on Deveraux’s newest book. Her writing style is complex. This is book 1 in the series and she has LOTS of characters to introduce. The POV was all over the place and it kind of gave me whiplash. There is a character named Gizzy. Just no. There is a very slight parallel to Pride and Prejudice. Its not an exact modernization so that will drive some people crazy. For me, this is one of the things that worked since I am not a huge P and P fan. I kind of liked the tragic backstories of all the characters. It gave me some of that angst I (apparently) desperately need. I also am not a fan of the ‘movie star with regular girl’ trope. It just seems trite. There is a pretty good plot twist near the end.

See, even my review of this book is confusing. Did I like it or not? I’m still not sure! If someone can figure it out, please tell me how I feel about this book!

 

  • POV: 1st
  • Tears: no
  • Trope: famous, modern retelling
  • Triggers: none
  • Series/Standalone: 1st in series
  • Cliffhanger: no
  • HEA: View Spoiler »
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if you liked

Nobody but You by Jill Shalvis, Obsession by Nora Roberts…then you will probably like The Girl from Summer Hill!

where to get it

iBooks icon Amazon-icon

 

5

Jude Gilliam was born September 20, 1947 in Fairdale, Kentucky. She has a large extended family and is the elder sister of four brothers. She attended Murray State University and received a degree in Art. In 1967, Jude married and took her husband’s surname of White, but four years later they divorced. For years, she worked as 5th-grade teacher.

She began writing in 1976, and published her first book, The Enchanted Land (1977) under the name Jude Deveraux. Following the publication of her first novel, she resigned her teaching position. Now, she is the author of 31 New York Times bestsellers.

Jude won readers’ hearts with the epic Velvet series, which revolves around the lives of the Montgomery family’s irresistible men. Jude’s early books are set largely in 15th- and 16th-century England; in them her fierce, impassioned protagonists find themselves in the midst of blood feuds and wars. Her heroines are equally scrappy — medieval Scarlett O’Haras who often have a low regard for the men who eventually win them over. They’re fighters, certainly, but they’re also beauties who are preoccupied with survival and family preservation.

Jude has also stepped outside her milieu, with mixed results. Her James River trilogy (River Lady, Lost Lady, and Counterfeit Lady) is set mostly in post-Revolution America; the popular, softer-edged Twin of Fire/Twin of Ice moves to 19th-century Colorado and introduces another hunky-man clan, the Taggerts.

Deveraux manages to evoke a strong and convincing atmosphere for each of her books, but her dialogue and characters are as familiar as a modern-day soap opera’s. “Historicals seem to be all I’m capable of,” Jude once said in an interview, referring to a now out-of-print attempt at contemporary fiction, 1982’s Casa Grande. “I don’t want to write family sagas or occult books, and I have no intention of again trying to ruin the contemporary market.” Still, Jude did later attempt modern-day romances, such as the lighthearted High Tide (her first murder caper), the contemporary female friendship story The Summerhouse, and the time-traveling Knight in Shining Armor. In fact, with 2002’s The Mulberry Tree, Deveraux seems to be getting more comfortable setting stories in the present, which is a good thing, since the fans she won with her historical books are eager to follow her into the future.

Jude married Claude Montassir, with whom she had a son, Sam Alexander Montassir, in 1997. They eventually divorced. On Oct. 6th, 2005, Sam died at the age of eight in a motorcycle accident.

Jude has lived in several countries and all over the United States. She currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina and has an additional home in the medieval city of Badolato, Italy.

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Samantha
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One response to “The Girl from Summer Hill by Jude Deveraux: Review

  1. I also cut my teeth on romance with Jude Deveraux! I have read all of her books and always look forward to her next book. Not sure that I will read this one………. Great review! Thank you for sharing.

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