From Summer Fling to Year Round Thing: A Romance for the Books

The phrase "summer reading" usually evokes either an idyllic three months of beach books or a tedious list of classics to be crammed in before the next school year.  But for Samantha Gale, the nightmare isn't limited to Dickens and Tolstoy.  Because Sam is dyslexic and has struggled with reading her whole life.  Now twenty-eight and between chef gigs, she's returned to her childhood home on Martha's Vineyard to plan her second act.  On the ferry over, she escapes being hurled on by a frat boy thanks to the gallantry of one Bennett Reynolds.  Ben is a swoon-worthy librarian, and Sam would like nothing more than to distract herself with a summer fling.  So she lies about her dyslexia and pretends to be Stephen King's biggest fan.   

Welcome to Jenn McKinlay's latest, Summer Reading.  I've enjoyed many a McKinlay romcom and mystery, but from the foreword, I knew that this book would be special.  In it, McKinlay explains what inspired her to write a novel about dyslexia -- and print it in a neurodivergent-friendly font and format to boot:

"Having been an avid reader all my life, I can't imagine not having books and stories to escape into when life gets difficult.  But I'd watched up close as several of my family members did not find reading as enjoyable as I did and had to navigate a world that was incredibly unfriendly to those with dyslexia.  Books weren't the safe place for them that they were for me, and it made me much more aware of how many people find decoding the written word a challenge." (xi)

As someone who also finds comfort in books, I was instantly sympathetic to anyone who can't seek such refuge.  That said, Sam's dyslexia makes her life -- as well as her relationship with Ben -- take on another dimension.  A library card-carrying knight in shining armor, Ben accepts Sam for who she is.  He even shares his love of books by reading her a romcom that just happens to be McKinlay's own Paris is Always a Good Idea.  (How's that for mignon?)  But Ben has his own stumbling block: his eccentric artist mother refuses to tell him who his father is.  Because her family has lived on the island for generations, Sam is the ideal person to help Ben research his dad's identity.  As the two work and play, their bond grows even stronger, leading Sam to hope that it'll last long after Labor Day.      

Summer Reading is a refreshing and irresistible romance, all wrapped up in a classic opposites-attract trope.  

But then, maybe the reason that opposites attract is that they're not so opposite after all. 

Giving Pants and France a Chance

Top and jeans: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Bag: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Enchanted Eiffel Necklace

Bow: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Socks: Amazon; Shoes: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Top: New York & Company; Pants: Vylette, Kohl's

Shoes: Mix No. 6, DSW

Headband: INC, Macy's

Elephant Anchor Necklace

Sweater: Maison Jules, Amazon; Bag: Skinnydip London, Macy's

Shoes: Betsey Johnson, DSW

Everything But The Kitchen Pink Necklace

It's true.  I'm taking on trousers and the land of croissants.  My pink pants are even from the French-sounding brand Vylette -- although that label has gone the way of the guillotine.  No matter.  I went the extra mile for Francophile style with my Enchanted Eiffel Necklace (because what's the City of Lights sans unicorn?) and my micro review of Jenn McKinlay's Paris is Always a Good Idea. 

Oddly, this romcom can best be described by The Big Bang Theory (Season 5, Episode 9).  Leonard and Penny are on a platonic movie date when Leonard suggests that they see a documentary about building a dam on a river in South America because he's tired of Penny picking romcoms that are "an hour and a half of beach houses in the rain until the woman turns around and realizes that love was here all along."  Penny retorts that that's a great movie and it's starting in ten minutes.  The classic soulmate search trope that Leonard so callously mocks is Paris is Always a Good Idea in a nutshell -- or, more appropriately, a popcorn kernel.  Here are (some of the, remember this is micro) details:  

After hearing that her widowed dad is getting remarried to a woman who won him in a bachelor auction, super-serious-professional-woman-who-doesn't-have-time-for-fun Chelsea Martin (shoutout to Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?) gallivants across Europe to track down three old flames to reignite her belief in love.  But she can barely choke down a bite of baguette before her office nemesis Jason Knightley pops up and cock blocks her.  Sure, this plot's a little familiar.  But then again, so are the plots of those movies.  And sometimes the familiar is what you need.

I can't say the same for documentaries.  Unless they're about croissants or baguettes or why we love romcoms so much.