book recs, author services, general badassery
  • Blog
    • Free Romance Reads
    • Our Thoughts
    • 1-Click Wonders
    • Author on Authors
    • Chattin' with Authors
    • So You're New To...
  • Book Recs
  • Reviews
    • 5-Star Reads
    • Contemporary Romance
    • Historical Romance
    • New Adult Romance
    • Paranormal Romance
    • Romantic Comedy
    • Romantic Erotica
    • Romantic Suspense
    • Teen Young Adult
    • Hall of Shame
  • About
    • Contact
    • Review Policy
    • Guest Post Guidelines
    • Advertising on Romance Rehab
  • For Authors
    • Romance novel blurb help
    • Referral Program
    • Romance Author Services
    • Online Writer's Resources
    • Do It Yourself Blurb Help
    • Proofreading Test >
      • Proofreading Test Answers
  • Blog
    • Free Romance Reads
    • Our Thoughts
    • 1-Click Wonders
    • Author on Authors
    • Chattin' with Authors
    • So You're New To...
  • Book Recs
  • Reviews
    • 5-Star Reads
    • Contemporary Romance
    • Historical Romance
    • New Adult Romance
    • Paranormal Romance
    • Romantic Comedy
    • Romantic Erotica
    • Romantic Suspense
    • Teen Young Adult
    • Hall of Shame
  • About
    • Contact
    • Review Policy
    • Guest Post Guidelines
    • Advertising on Romance Rehab
  • For Authors
    • Romance novel blurb help
    • Referral Program
    • Romance Author Services
    • Online Writer's Resources
    • Do It Yourself Blurb Help
    • Proofreading Test >
      • Proofreading Test Answers
Picture

Summer Magic by T.M. Cromer

4/10/2019

0 Comments

 
Summer Magic by TM Cromer
PARANORMAL ROMANCE
Rating: 3/5
Hotness rating: 3/5
Amazon buy button
Publication date: 04/17/2018
Kindle Unlimited: No
Cliffhanger: Yes

This is one of those tough-to-rate books, folks. There’s lots and lots of great stuff here. But...there’s also the fact that I hated the hero, Cooper, with the heat of a thousand suns, which is somewhat problematic in a romance novel.

But before I get ahead of myself, here’s the good stuff:
  1. The world building is pretty good. And it’s not easy to find good world building in paranormal romance that doesn’t include vampires and shifters.
  2. There is some truly hilarious banter between characters throughout the story. It was really well done. The author has a nice, flowy, fun writing style that’s really fresh in the paranormal market.
  3. I liked all the side characters in Summer’s family. They were pretty obvious sequel-bait, but that’s OK because they were fun and interesting in their own unique ways.
  4. Morty the chimp. He paints and plays jokes on people. He’s awesome. That is all.    

And then, the bad…

Cooper
I’m not even exaggerating when I say I hate this guy with the heat of a thousand suns. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve hated a romance novel hero as much as I hate Cooper. I can forgive him for purposefully crushing Summer’s heart in high school because he was just a dumb kid. A cruel asshat of a dumb kid, but a dumb kid nonetheless. What I can’t forgive is all the times he hurt Summer when they were grown ups. Even after he tells her he loves her and won’t ever hurt her again, he STILL manages to hurt her a few times. One time he even manages to hurt her physically because he acted a fool. And I don’t find it AT ALL believable that a guy who is THAT concerned with whether or not Summer has the ability to control his mind would ever truly accept her for what she is. He was a fair-weather boyfriend and if I was Summer, I would’ve nut-punched him and walked away forever. He was jealous when he had no right to be, short-tempered, stubborn, arrogant, and narrow-minded. He’s lucky he’s good looking, because in my mind, that’s his only redeeming quality.

Summer
Summer would be a decent heroine if not for Cooper. There’s something about Cooper that turns her into a weak doormat. The fact that she didn’t at any point nut-punch Cooper irks me to the point that I’m not sure I can forgive her as a character.

Keaton
Cooper’s brother Keaton is set up as the obvious sequel-bait hero in the next book in the series, and sadly, he’s just as much of a tool as Cooper. I hated him just about as much as I hated Cooper. He was a complete ass to Summer and her sister, Autumn, and he has the same small-minded jackass tendencies that Cooper showed. So, even though I really liked Autumn as a character, I’m not sure I can stomach watching her end up with a fuckwit like Keaton.

All the surprise relatives…
Oh, Lord, there is a lot of family drama going on here. In my personal opinion, there should only be 1 jaw-dropping family secret per book. It’s just TOO MUCH to have surprise relatives and shocking family revelations popping up in every chapter. And since most of those surprises were also obvious sequel-bait...well, it got old REAL fast.

Cliffie alert
Yep, it’s a cliffie. There is no resolution in this book. You’re left with a HFN for Cooper and Summer, but that’s about it. Cliffies often feel like a ploy to trick me into reading other books in a series and I don’t really appreciate that. I tolerate them in urban fantasy, but not so much in romance. Boo, cliffie!

So, long-story-short, even though I violently hated the hero and had some problems with other characters and the cliffie, I still read the whole book and found parts of it to be super enjoyable. I’m not ruling out the possibility of reading other books in the series, but Keaton better grovel A LOT or else I’ll DNF his ass so fast his head will spin.            

Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
It’s not doing anything to contribute to the stigma. It’s a fairly unique premise, so I’d say it’s doing its level best to crush the stigma, even with Cooper dragging the whole thing down with his asshattery.

Need more paranormal fabulousness?

Laugh out loud paranormal romance reads
Laugh out loud paranormal romance reads​
Crazy talented paranormal romance indie authors you should be reading
Crazy talented paranormal romance indie authors you should be reading​
Paranormal romance protagonists who AREN'T vampires or werewolves
Paranormal romance protagonists who AREN'T vampires or werewolves​
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Romance Rehab newsletter sign up

    FOLLOW US 
    Reedsy Top Book Reviewer 2019

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    February 2025
    January 2025
    July 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    January 2024
    November 2023
    September 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017

Picture

BLOG
FREE Romance books
​Book Recommendations

Our Thoughts
1-Click Wonders
5-Star Reads
Authors on Authors
Chattin' with Authors
So You're New To...
What Not to Read
REVIEWS
​
Contemporary Romance
Historical Romance
New Adult Romance
Paranormal Romance
Romantic Comedy
Romantic Erotica
Romantic Suspense
Teen/Young Adult
ABOUT
Contact
Review Policy
Guest Post Guidelines
Advertising on
​Romance Rehab

​
FOR AUTHORS
Online Writer's Resources
Proofreading Test
ROMANCE AUTHOR SERVICES 
Romance novel blurb help
Romance Remedy program

Referral program

Romance author services
  • Book cover critique
  • Animated book covers and social media graphics
  • Beta reading
FREE Romance Rehab newsletter: ​Subscribe here
KnockinBooks LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
​© 2020 KnockinBooks LLC