Review: All Summer Long by Melody Carlson

All Summer Long by Melody Carlson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Tia Gets a Second Chance at Love When an Old Crush Suddenly Reappears

Though it means giving up the chef's job at her uncle's small town Italian restaurant in Washington, Tia D'Amico is thrilled to move to San Francisco to help her aunt with a new business venture: transforming an old luxury yacht into an upscale floating restaurant. The icing on the cake is that Leo Parker, Tia's crush from a long-ago sailing camp, has been hired as the yacht's captain. The only problem is that he's engaged to someone else.

Tia hides her feelings and rolls up her sleeves as she sets out to make her aunt's dream a reality. But as the tide turns on Leo's relationship, does Tia dare hope he might set a course for her heart?
All the romance of a summer in San Francisco is captured in this delightful story from an author who has made a career of tugging our heartstrings.

All Summer Long is the 2nd book in the Follow Your Heart series by Melody Carlson but it can be read as a stand-alone with no problem.

I enjoyed reading about Tia and Leo's experiences in getting this cruise boat up and running and Tia's excitement at getting this chance to spread her wings.  The descriptions of San Francisco were lovely and relaxing.  However,  I didn't really enjoy the "romance" in this book. I generally enjoy Melody Carlson's books (see my other reviews here). Her books are usually a clean, sweet, easy read. And for the most part this one was that. However, the romance between the two main characters was non-existent because he's engaged.  Like I said, I enjoyed the main story line but it would have been a whole lot more engaging if you were reading about a developing romance between Tia and Leo instead of just Tia's struggle to keep her feelings to herself.  Just my opinion.  Also, for this to be a Christian romance, there wasn't much Christian content at all.

*Thanks to Revell Reads for a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are my own.*

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Melody Carlson has written more than 200 books (with sales around 6.5 million) for teens, women and children. That's a lot of books, but mostly she considers herself a "storyteller." Her novels range from serious issues like schizophrenia (Finding Alice) to lighter topics like house-flipping (A Mile in My Flip-Flops) but most of the inspiration behind her fiction comes right out of real life. Her young adult novels (Diary of a Teenage Girl, TrueColors etc.) appeal to teenage girls around the world. Her annual Christmas novellas become more popular each year. She's won a number of awards (including Romantic Time's Career Achievement Award, the Rita and the Gold Medallion) and some of her books have been optioned for film/TV. Carlson has two grown sons and makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and yellow Lab dog. To find out more about Melody Carlson, visit her website at http://www.melodycarlson.com/.