Smart Girl Summer by Kristin Rockaway (Review)

Title: Smart Girl Summer
Author: Kristin Rockaway
Type: Fiction
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Montlake
Date published: August 23, 2022

A complimentary physical copy of this book was kindly provided by Thomas Allen & Son in exchange for an honest review.

This summer’s not going as Abby Atkinson planned. A thieving PhD advisor, a screeching halt to her grad program, and zero job offers have left her high and dry. Nothing a little eat, pray, love across the Mediterranean can’t fix, right?

Or eat, pray, tutor, more like. Her dissertation might be dead, but she can still teach. She’ll just have to do it for six weeks on a superyacht with a billionaire and his daughter.

A playboy billionaire, according to the tabloids―but Abby’s not so sure. As big as his bank account is, his heart’s that much bigger, especially when it comes to his daughter. Their strained relationship could use some mending, though, and Abby can help. She was hired to teach junior high math, but she’ll make room in her lesson plans.

Falling for her boss wasn’t part of the plan either, but…

Maybe it’s time she let her heart, not her head, teach her something new.

⤖ My Review ⬻

Smart Girl Summer by Kristin Rockaway is a light, fluffy summer romance read that’s perfect for a beach day. I went into this book not expecting much detail from the characters or the plot, and that’s exactly what I got. I will say, the main character, Maddie, was fairly well-developed and I felt connected to her journey and her struggles but I didn’t quite get the same connection with the other characters. I would have liked to learn more about both the male MC, Richard, and his daughter, Bijou.

I thought the settings were really fun. From the yacht to all the stops along the way (and also the parts that took place in New York City), I could really picture the characters and the places they visited. I really enjoyed traveling alongside them and experiencing these different parts of the world through them while reading Smart Girl Summer.

While I did enjoy the book, I think I would have enjoyed it even more if there was more tension and more pining between the two main characters. I felt like the story was a bit rushed, and I would have liked to see a bit more of the struggle and angst between Maddie and Richard.

Lastly, I wanted to add that had a good amount of women empowerment, which I very much appreciated. Overall, I did enjoy Smart Girl Summer and would recommend it to readers looking for a light and easy summer romance read. However, if you’re looking for a more detailed and complicated plot, this one might not be for you.

⤖ About the Author ⬻

Kristin Rockaway is a native New Yorker and recovering corporate software engineer. After working in the IT industry for far too many years, she finally traded the city for the surf and chased her dreams out to Southern California, where she spends her days happily writing stories instead of code. When she’s not working, she enjoys spending time with her husband and son, browsing the aisles of her neighborhood bookstores, and trying to catch up on sleep.