Review ‘Summer’s Lease’ by Carrie Elks

Meet the
Shakespeare family: four sisters, four stories . . . four ways to find true
love

Cesca Shakespeare has hit rock bottom. Six years after the play she wrote
bombed at the box office, she’s unable to hold down a job, keep an apartment,
and worst of all her family have no idea how far she’s fallen. So when her
fairy Godfather offers her the use of his friend’s Italian villa for the
summer, she grudgingly agrees to try writing a new play. That’s before she
finds out the house belongs to her arch-nemesis, Sam Carlton.

When Hollywood heart-throb Sam Carlton sees his name splashed across a gossip
rag, all he wants to do is hide. That’s how he finds himself traveling to
Italy, deciding to spend the summer in his family’s empty villa on Lake Como.
Except when he arrives it isn’t as empty as he’d hoped.

Over the course of the hot Italian summer, Cesca and Sam have to come to terms
with their pasts. What begins as a tentative friendship quickly grows into an
intense attraction – and then a scorching fling. But they can’t hide from
reality forever . . . as their different worlds collide, Sam and Cesca face a
choice: is this just a summer romance, or could their love weather even the
coldest winds?

A brand new series from the bestselling author of Fix You and the Love in
London series.

After
reading a lot of three star reads lately, I was really in the mood for a book
that would blow my mind and I wouldn’t be able to put down. And ever since I
saw the beautiful cover of ‘Summer’s Lease’ by Carrie Elks, I knew this was a
book I wanted to read. It looked so pretty, and the book description sounded so
good.

In
‘Summer’s Lease’ we meet Cesca Shakespeare. Cesca is a twenty year old who is
trying to get by on her own in London. Ever since Cesca’s dream ended horribly
6 years ago, Cesca is trying to stay strong and move on. But when she losses
yet another job, she starts to think things will never get better. So when her
godfather offers Cesca the chance to go to Italy for the summer, to stay in a
rich guys house, the choice is easily made. Hoping Cesca will be able to start
writing again, Cesca goes into her new adventure with her hopes high. But when
the rich guy’s son suddenly decides to get away for the summer too, things get
heated very fast.

Well, I
can’t say anything else before I tell you guys how much I loved this book! I
loooooved it. Not only is ‘Summer’s Lease’ a nice, sweet and very romantic
read, I also loved the main characters and their stories. From the moment I
started reading this book, I couldn’t put it down, and it was exactly what I
needed.

The two
main characters Cesca and Sam are really great and totally different. Cesca is
poor, and trying to get by one meal after another. Sam is a famous Hollywood
actor who is followed by paparazzi everywhere. But despite all their differences,
they have one thing in common: they both want to get away from their life for a
while.

This book
was definitely very romantic, but also very funny at times. It really put a
smile on my face, and I really felt like I personally knew these characters.  

I love
everything about this book. I loved the story, I loved the characters, I loved
the scene in Italy and I loved the chemistry between Cesca and Sam. It was just
such a great novel I didn’t want it to end.

Although
I’ve only been to Milan, Italy ones for work last year, and I didn’t get to see
a lot of the country, I always wanted to visit more of this beautiful land.
I’ve heard some great things about the beautiful lakes and landscapes in Italy.
And this book definitely made me want to grab a bag and go there. It really was
that good.

The author
did a great job on developing the characters and the scenery. And since Cesca
is one out of four sisters, I’m really hoping there will be more books about
the Shakespeare sisters. I for one can’t wait to read more!

Carrie
Elks lives near London, England and writes contemporary romance with a dash of
intrigue. At the age of twenty-one she left college with a political science
degree, a healthy overdraft and a soon-to-be husband. She loves to travel and
meet new people, and has lived in the USA and Switzerland as well as the UK. When
she isn’t reading or writing, she can usually be found baking, drinking wine or
working out how to combine the two.

For more information
about Carrie Elks please visit her website.
Or visit her on Facebook and Twitter.

I received this book from the Little, Brown Book Group in exchange for my honest review.