Book Review: The Summer I Met You by Victoria Walters

Summary:
Escape to Cornwall and meet the characters of Talting in this wonderful digital short story and prequel to Victoria Walters’ captivating debut novel, THE SECOND LOVE OF MY LIFE.

This is a summer romance that will last a lifetime…

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That Moment

The Summer I Met You has been on my radar for a very long time now so when I finally got my hands on it, I had to dive in. This is the prequel novella to Victoria Walters‘ debut novel, The Second Love of my Life, and boy what a prequel it is! This book is a mighty tease, in the best possible way! It’s a fantastic introduction to Victoria’s writing, and into the characters that live in Talting. The novella is light, fun, and also incredibly cute. It definitely had me itching to read The Second Love of my Life – even if the novella is also slightly bittersweet.

When You

With this being a novella, there is a worry that there isn’t enough time to have a strong plot but that fortunately isn’t a problem in The Summer I Met You. Split between now and then, this story tells the tale of not only how Emma and John met but also how they fell so quickly in love. It also shows the adorable reaction that John receives when he arrives at Talting. This novella was full of a cute, uplifting story that I really liked. It was one of those just heart-warming tales of love that are ever-so-wonderful to read, dream and imagine about!

Suddenly Realise

For a book that was only 65 pages long, you wouldn’t expect great, or much, characterization or for the reader to fall in love with the characters, especially those that are only mentioned a few times, but there was and I did. There are still so many sides of these characters to see but you could definitely tell they’ve all been well-developed with distinct and unique personalities. I personally felt very connected to Emma in this story, which I didn’t think would happen as we’re quite different! I also thought John was a great, sweet and lovable guy too. And I loved getting a glimpse of Rose and Lucas as well, they seem like caring and fun characters. The only small issue I had with the characters and plot is that in parts it felt like we were being told about the characters rather than seeing it for ourselves but I can understand why that had to happen and I still fell in love with the book and characters so it wasn’t a major issue!

You’ve Been Rescued

It has been a long while since I have read both a novella and a romance but I’m so glad I broke it up with this book. The Summer I Met You is a very quick but heart fulfilling story about the first blossoms of love. It’s about finding that right person and finally opening ourselves up enough to let them in. It is cute, sweet, full of hope, and ultimately addictive too. It’s the type of story that I would turn to to cheer me up. A wonderful exploration of love and all of its magic. It’s the perfect prequel as I’m now dying to read The Second Love of My Life. So if you want a quick but charming, and emotional read then you should definitely get your hands on this novella!