One Perfect Summer by Paige Toon

Just as 18 year old Alice is about to go off to university, she spends her summer in Dorset, where she meets Joe. They fall in love and make promises and plans for the future but their world is shattered when a family problem causes Joe to suddenly disappear without a word. Heartbroken, Alice goes onto Cambridge and slowly picks up the pieces of her broken heart. When she catches the attention of the charming Lukas, she wonders finally has she gotten over her first love. But then years later, Joe makes a reappearance in her life and all the feelings that Alice had thought had disappeared, come flooding back.

“One Perfect Summer” has got to be one of the sweetest and heartwarming books I have had the pleasure of reading and is most definately my summer read, with an wonderfully illustrated cover, of a couple holding hands, it would be hard to miss this delight on the bookshelves.

For the 36 hours that it took me to read this book, I would have happily placed a “Do Not Disturb” sign beside me so I couldn’t be interrupted as I couldn’t put the book down.

Beautifully written against the backdrop of the seaside village of Dorset and the historical and cultured town of Cambridge, the story had me hooked from start to finish.

I thoroughly enjoyed accompanying Alice on her journey blossoming from a vulnerable teenager into a independent, strong, young woman as she tries to recover and hide her heartbreak whilst always wondering “What if?” Joe Strickwold as the lead love interest, is my new hero. You can keep your Edward Cullen and Christian Grey. I loved Joe, devastatingly handsome and such a sweetheart, I too fell for him, hook, line and sinker. One of the loveliest things about this story is that Paige has successfully created characters that you truly did care about and wanted them to find their happy ever afters.

Supporting characters in the book were just engaging and entertaining as Alice and Joe. Lukas, the charming german love interest who introduces Alice to a world of luxury and exotic locations but also has a dark, controlling side to his demeanour, regularly drew a surprised gasp from me, whereas her flatmate, Jessie made me chuckle with his bachelor behaviour.

Although I have been a fan of Paige Toon for a number of years, I have to admit that in my opinion that “One Perfect Summer” is definitely her best book to date. If you have never read Paige Toon before, then I implore you to this, as it will have you captivated from the start to finish.

Often with books, there are stories that can make you laugh, cry and there are occasionally stories that can leave you sad. When you come to end of the story, close the book and you realise that there is nothing more to read. This was the case for me, I felt a little sad when I reached the final page knowing this was the end of my journey with Alice and Joe, but on the plus side, I heard rumours that there will be sequel, so that is something to look forward to.

For those who believe in love and enjoy happy ever afters with a twist, then “One Perfect Summer” is the book for you.

You can buy[amazon_link id=”1849831289″ target=”_blank” ] One Perfect Summer on Amazon [/amazon_link] and other good bookshops.