Books & Book Reviews

Sweet Pea Summer

Sweet Pea Summer is the second book in the Full Bloom Farm series. I so enjoyed this book that I went and bought Magnolia Sisters, the first book in the series.

Sweet Pea Summer

Can you ever really forget your first love?

It’s been eight long years since May Anderson’s high school sweetheart Tom Riley drove down Main Street in his truck, leaving Hillsboro—and May—in his rearview mirror. Now he’s back and, try as they might, the pair can’t avoid each other.

As Hillsboro prepares to host the prestigious North West Food and Wine Festival, Tom and May are reluctantly called in to plan the big event. Tom needs May’s help to repair his bad-boy reputation and, with the whole town counting on them, May and Tom need to learn to trust each other again.

May is determined to protect her heart, but a lot has changed since high school. She can’t help but notice how the skinny boy she used to know is now a man who perfectly fills out his button-down, and Tom can’t seem to tear his gaze away from May’s sweet smile. It’s clear old feelings are surfacing again, but there is a secret keeping them apart and, until they find the courage to face it, their second chance summer will be only that…

A heartwarming story about first love, family and the importance of second chances. Fans of Jenny Hale, Debbie Macomber and Robyn Carr will adore Sweet Pea Summer.

Sweet Pea Summer

My Review

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Secrets and lies. At some point the truth comes out. And it did for May when Tom came back to town. Tom’s reputation was ruined by her long-kept secret about the way they had parted. The whole town took her side and she had to watch Tom and his business suffer the consequences of that.

Pain and hurt. At some point, if we don’t move past them, they can erode us. And Tom saw that happening within himself.

These two people who clearly haven’t moved on from where they left off so many years ago, still feeling the attraction but denying it. Both hiding behind pain, and yet they spot the ‘old Tom’ and the ‘old May’ in each other now and again.

When they are thrown into planning an event together – they start to rediscover each other and their love. May is forced to tell the truth and Tom is forced to forgive her. Love, forgiveness and trust win the day.

Tom and May, and all the characters in that village seem so real and believable that I just had to read this lovely romance right through.

Altogether a sweet and engaging second chance romance.

I’m looking forward to read more books in this series and other books by the author.

Buy The Book

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Author Bio:


Alys Murray is an author who writes for the romantic in all of us. Though she graduated with a degree in Drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a Master’s in Film Studies from King’s College London, her irrepressible love of romance led her to a career as an author, and she couldn’t be happier to write these stories! Currently splitting time between her home state of Louisiana and London, she enjoys kissing books, Star Wars, and creating original pie recipes for all of her books. Tobey Maguire is her Spider-Man. 

Connect with Alys : Website | Facebook | Twitter

I received a ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, Bookouture in exchange for an honest review.

A lover of words. A self-acceptance blogger. A creativity coach. A book reviewer. A woman happily journeying through midlife, moving from self-improvement to self-acceptance and enjoying being herself. I write about life, wellness, relationships at Everyday Gyaan. An avid reader, I review books at CorinneRodrigues.com and offer coaching to writers and bloggers and anyone looking to explore their creativity at The Frangipani Creative, located in Secunderabad, India.

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