The Summer I Saved You

By: Elizabeth O'Roark

Narrated by: Samantha Brentmoor, Robert Hatchet

An angsty single-parent romance

Lucie

From the moment I first saw Caleb, I knew he belonged to me. And I knew I’d have to save him—because how else does the girl nobody wants win over the boy beloved by all?

Nothing about his life or mine has gone to plan. He’s isolated and miserable. I’ve got a vindictive ex, two young kids, and more problems than I can count.

But what hasn’t changed is this: It still feels like he’s mine. And it sure looks like he’s in need of saving.

Caleb

My life is a prison sentence. I came to the lake to serve it alone...but Lucie’s throwing a wrench in my plans.

Lucie—the little kid shut away each summer in the house next door. Now she’s grown—and God, did she ever grow up—and I can’t seem to escape her.

Everywhere I look, she’s there. Reminding me of all the things I used to want, used to dream about.... And making me want every last one of them again.

©2023 Elizabeth O'Roark (P)2023 Elizabeth O'Roark

Good listen

An emotional but beautiful story. Instead of being a traditional second chance this is more of a “hey this person I liked when I was younger is back in my life maybe it’s time to see what it could be.” That’s simplifying it but you get the idea.

Overall it was a good story that kept my attention.

One of my favorite series of the year

* Single mom
* Second chance
* Love after loss
* Grumpy/Sunshine
* Workplace

Audiobook review - Narrated by Samantha Brentmoor and Robert Hatchet

4 stars for story
5 stars for performance

This series brings all the angst! I absolutely loved the realism in this story. The relationship in this one didn't fall into place instantly and we get to see real life problems and hang ups that allowed a real connection to the story. I did feel so bad for Lucie as she's been through a lot of hardship in her life and still she has to really fight for her happiness and what she feels she deserves. Caleb also has suffered loss and doesn't trust easily when it comes to relationships or families. When Lucie moves in next door as a single mom to twins, his days of denial are over and he has to face some hard truths.

Samantha Brentmoor is at the top of my list for female narrators! I always feel so much emotion from her performance and this one is no different. I don't remember having listened to Robert Hatchet previously but I'm so glad I finally did. He also portrayed Caleb's character in a way that had me really sympathizing with him.

One of the better series I've read/listened to.

EOR's audios are the best!

There is truly nothing like an EOR audiobook and Samantha and Robert did an amazing job at bringing these characters to life.

Beautiful and moving

Elizabeth O'Roark stories always saturate me with feelings. SO many feelings! The Summer I Saved You is a beautifully heartbreaking and heart-healing story of second chances, new beginnings, hope and heartbreak, hurt and healing. It's a beautiful love story of two broken souls each coping and surviving in their own way. And oh the angst! But most of all, this is story about self-love, about characters learning to love themselves again, learning to LIVE again, even when they are lost, drowning in their own mistakes and heartache.

Our heroine Lucie is going through a really challenging divorce, and she's trying to start anew by moving back with her twins to her family's old lake house, putting her right next door to her childhood crush. But turns out he's also her new boss...AND has changed considerably. Caleb is no longer the boy who saved her from drowning, the dreamy heart throb she loved from afar. He's hardened into a mercurial, brooding, and at times out of touch jerk. But a jerk whose cracks start to show quickly as he meets her kids...and soon finds himself falling for his sunshiney new employee and neighbor. But both of them have some MAJOR baggage to work through, so while the connection between them is tense, a future together is complicated at best. Caleb is still married to his estranged MIA wife, Lucie is going through a divorce. Both are recovering from painfully toxic relationships that have done a number on their hearts and minds, and both have heavy responsibilities. Caleb needs to save his business, Lucie needs to care for her children. And neither of them are in a place to save themselves.

LUCIE! OH MY HEART. What a character!! I love her so hard. Elizabeth does a beautiful job of pouring her heart on the page. I felt so keenly how she desperately wants to MATTER to someone, her loneliness, how she was so hungry to just BELONG somewhere, to feel like someplace and someone was hers. Gah, it was so heartbreaking, so REAL, and so relatable. She’s a heroine you can understand, and one you can root for. And there are parts of her that I think all readers can resonate with- she just feels really authentic. She somehow is optimistic and exuberant even though she’s in a horrible situation that she’s literally barely surviving. So many people have hurt her, but she’s still so full of love and light. And the beautiful and selfless ways she chose and prioritized her kids. I loved how unapologetically Elizabeth allows her to prioritize her motherhood- as that being a huge part of her identity, how her selflessness and willingness to sacrifice things she wants for her kids- it’s core to who she is, and she’s unflinching in changing that. She feels like not just a beautiful articulation of finding strength and empowerment and fulfillment from within but she also just feels like a beautiful tribute to the unconditional love of motherhood. Which is a really powerful theme in this story- the power, the weight, the depth of being a parent and how that impacts your being. Lucie is one of the best heroines I've read- truly, I'm not even a mother but I connected with her on a visceral level. She's bleeding her heart on these pages.

And Caleb- he was so much more than I thought he would be, and certainly different than the glimpses we saw in the prior story. I loved this delicious man, even when he was a big grump jerk. I actually loved that you didn’t take him TOO far. Even early on we see that he’s still kind and GOOD- he’s broken and has unaddressed pain that has festered into some ornery grumpiness, but he’s not over the top. Elizabeth shows us contrasts- so he doesn’t feel like one of those “grumpy alpha” caricatures but actually just a man struggling. TRULY struggling. And it also makes Lucie’s faith in him, and her interest, palatable (and believable) because we see glimmers of his true self. Caleb is broken in a way that is so compelling. He's a man who is really insecure, even if he won’t admit it, and he’s really afraid. I loved that contrast to Lucie, a heroine who is openly insecure and struggling, but who has done something SO brave- she’s made major life changes and faced her demons and is stepping out on her own. That juxtaposition in the characterization was really was a beautiful catalyst to Caleb finding the courage to love…and to stop being so scared of failing everyone around him. To accept that his failure was his lack of courageous connection and him seeing that as a threat to begin with.

The chemistry- HOLY MOLY. I loved these two together, they have such a great energy between them. Certainly a physical attraction that sizzles off the page (loved the spicy moments!), but their chemistry has depth. Not just because of their history, but because of how they connect more deeply over parts of their own journeys. They both have a loneliness to them, they both feel they’ve let people down and are grappling if they’ve made the right life decisions (and how those decisions impacted their children), both are missing something. And it’s so clear in how you develop them that the missing piece is each other. Their banter is also so fun and sexy- and I appreciated how the sexy, the funny, and the more emotional moments all worked together to give them a believable attraction and pull to each other. The chemistry effortlessly evolves once they were over their push-pull, and seeing them lean into their attraction felt like an important SHIFT in how they interacted, but it also felt natural. The evolution to tension is chef's kiss!

Their story is not neat, or clean, or easy. As a child of a mother who had to start her life over after a nasty divorce, I felt parts of this story in my BONES. There is a decided vulnerability to the prose- perhaps it's the authors own soul we're seeing into, or perhaps Lucie and Caleb are just so richly created that we feel them so keenly. But feel their story you do. There are a lot of real elements to their journey. And HEALING is hard. But the romance is in how they learn to fight for themselves again, and they also learn to fight for each other. I love how much this is about Lucie saving herself…and saving Caleb too. Just like she wanted. How they rescue each other to overcome the insecurities and fears that have kept them BOTH from fighting for each other in the end. Lucie fights for what she deserves, and refuses to settle- and she earns her fairy tale. And Caleb realizes the only way he can fail others is by not being brave enough to risk loving them. Gah the themes are beautiful and so universally resonant and just really heartfelt. The story has all sorts of emotive punch, but at its core it’s really sweet and tender, making me all goo-y for them all.

This is loosely connected to the first book in the series, but Caleb was more periphery in the first story so don't expect too much cross over. I can not WAIT for the story that's going to come next, and for more of the emotionally rich, heartwrenching, and poignant story telling from the always impactful Elizabeth O'Roark.

The audio performances were stellar- especially Samantha as Lucie. This story owns my heart and the narrators brought it to life effortlessly- made me fall even more in love with and even more connected to these characters.

Angsty and emotional

🎧 Audiobook Review🎧

The Summer I Saved You by Elizabeth O’Roark narrated by Samantha Brentmoor and Robert Hatchet.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶

Dual narration
Single mom
Small town
Workplace

There were a lot of layers to these characters and this story Lucie and Caleb have a history. Lucie having stayed in the home next door when they were younger has moved back and still has hidden feelings for Caleb who is now her boss. What a way to make the story have more angst than them immediately butting heads. Lucie with her twins has left a messy marriage and Caleb is going through his own issues with relationships and other deep trauma. I enjoyed the banter and angst do wish we saw a bit more of their interactions when they were younger. But overall enjoyed the story and Samantha and Robert’s excellent performances!

I was provided an audio copy of The Summer I Saved You and this is my honest review.

TBWBA 😋 (IYKYK😉)

4.5🌟 1.5🌶️

I was a little shy about going into this one, as I just couldn’t imagine it could live up to TSWF, but I should really learn to take more chances sooner, because this book was amazing!!

There was angst, there was heartbreak, tender moments between Caleb and the kids, and so much longing and loving. There were times where I could feel my heart actually breaking and a time or two that I nearly cried. But it was all worth for their beautiful HEA. 🥰

There are some tough topics and some scenes that might bother some, so I recommend doing your research before picking this up. But I do highly, HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who loves angsty single mom small town romances. 💛🧡

Samantha and Robert did such an incredible job of narrating this, of becoming their characters. I’m familiar with Samantha and love her work, but Robert was new to me narrator. I loved what he did with Caleb and it’s safe to say that this won’t be the last audiobook I listen to where he’s concerned. ☺️

Subtly Heartbreaking and Perfect!

This author has a way of breaking your heart and then just putting it all back together like nothing happened! This story was so good. Angsty, spicy and real!

Looooove

First off- I love this narrator pairing, and I love this author! If you’re looking for an emotional, angsty, single mother, childhood love romance… this is it. It’ll get you right in your feels! Sam & Rob were absolutely incredible.

Angsty Goodness!

The Summer I Saved You is not the story I was expecting. The characters were wonderfully flawed and relatable and I loved them for it. The angst, work place banter, and swoony moments between the couple and aww moments between Caleb and Lucie's kids made this a story I didn't want to stop listening too. There were a few parts of the back story I wish played a bigger part where more resolution was told but overall loved this one!

Samantha Brentmoor & Robert Hatchet were a pleasure to listen to!

I am so obsessed with this series!

Elizabeth O’Roarke has now become an auto-read/buy author for me! I loved The Summer We Fell and instantly needed to read the next book in this series. The characters were written so flawlessly, and well developed, pulling me right into their messy love story with all the emotional baggage and I loved their hot chemistry for one another.

I loved Lucile’s character, and Caleb was the perfect grumpy hero to her sweet sunshine.

WHAT TO EXPECT
-single parent
-workplace romance
-forced proximity
-grumpy x sunshine

🎧I paired the book with the audio and thought it was wonderful! I love being immersed into the story this way, and felt Lucile and Caleb’s characters come alive through the narration by Samantha Brentmoor and Robert Hatchet. I will definitely be adding them to future narrators I love.