Since leaving Polwenna Bay for the bright lights of London, actress Summer Trelawne has tried her hardest to never look back; Jake, her childhood sweetheart, let her down terribly and the beautiful Cornish village holds nothing but painful memories. It’s only when a volatile relationship threatens to destroy all she holds dear that Summer finds herself returning to the place she knows so well.
Jake Tremaine has travelled the world but reluctantly finds himself drawn back to Polwenna Bay to run the family marina and take care of his unruly siblings. While Jake knows his attention should be on the rescuing the business, determined Ella, daughter of a wealthy hotelier, is set on working her way into his affections and beneath his sheets. The last thing Ella will tolerate is the reappearance of a rival…
As the holiday season approaches and seaside life gathers pace, Jake suspects that Summer is keeping a huge secret from him. But Summer is not the only person in the village with something to hide. Is she just an echo of Jake’s past or are there far more important matters at stake?"
Rating: 5/5
You can buy Runaway Summer as an eBook now.
Ruth Saberton is fast becoming one of my go-to authors for a fabulous read, and she definitely hasn't let me down with this brand new book, Runaway Summer! It's the first in the Polwenna Bay series, and I want to start this review by saying what a gorgeously summery cover it is! It screams summer at you, and definitely made me want to dive right in and devour the story. There is something about Ruth's books, especially those set in Cornwall, that are just perfect stories for the summer, and I can't recommend Runaway Summer highly enough.
Summer left Polwenna Bay years ago for the bright, glittering lights of London, and she hasn't looked back since then, keen to leave everything behind and invent herself anew. But when her relationship collapses and she has to flee her home, she finds herself running back to Polwenna Bay, the one place her ex-boyfriend would never think to look for her. But when there, she is forced to face up to her past - namely, her first love Jake Tremaine. She ran out on Jake years ago, and it seems neither of them have really gotten over their break-up. With Summer in hiding, and Jake struggling to get over the reappearance of his ex-girlfriend, it seems that Polwenna Bay is far more interesting than Summer had ever realised...
Once again, Ruth has completely nailed it with this book, and I was totally in love with the story right from the beginning. Sometimes, it takes me a good few chapters to settle into a book and really care about the story, but I was hooked on this one right from the start. While Summer wasn't immediately likeable, I did find myself sympathising with her story, especially once we find out the true reason she has had to flee London. Yes, she ran away and left her family behind, but she was a confused teenager making wrong decisions - who hasn't been there before?! As the book progressed, I liked her more and hoped that she would have the confidence to come out of herself and confide in her family once more, despite their tumultuous past.
Jake Tremaine, however, was definitely my favourite character of the whole book! He's a very responsible family man, intent on keeping the family business running against the odds, and is very family-orientated. So when Summer, his first love, makes a shock reappearance, he is a bit thrown. Mainly because he seems to have a thing going on with Ella, the daughter of a very wealthy hotelier, and he doesn't quite know how to get out of her grasp. You can see how conflicted he is by Summer's return, how hurt he was at her disappearance, and I really did feel for him. I admired how kind he was to her considering what she had done to him, and he certainly sounded like a dream man in many ways.
Although the main story is of course about Summer's return to Polwenna Bay, there were lots of other story threads running through this book that were equally readable and that I enjoyed just as much as the main story. I loved the story involving Jake's brother Danny, a war veteran who is struggling to come to terms with his horrific injuries, and how he must get past them before he loses everything dear to him - most importantly his young son, and his friendship with the new vicar Jules. Then there's Jake's sister Morwenna, or Mo as she is known throughout the book, battling to save her horse business which is in financial dire straits, as well as battling the local developer to not plough down her beloved woods. Yes, there is a lot of characters going on, from the Tremaine's to the Penhalligon's and more, but once you've got them all down, reading the book is a breeze.
The setting of Polwenna Bay is idyllic, and it certianly makes me eager to visit Cornwall, somewhere I haven't been lucky enough to discover for myself just yet. Ruth's writing brings it alive in my mind, whether the sun is beaming down on the beaches or it is teeming with rain in the middle of nowhere. I was drawn into the story by these fabulous characters, all larger than life but ones you certainly won't forget after you've turned the final page. Come the ending, there is a hint to what is coming in the second Polwenna Bay novel, and I am so excited to read that one, it can't come soon enough! This is an utterly perfect summer read - stuffed to the brim with lively characters, lots of love, laughs and tears along the way make for an unputdownable read that I have to say is a MUST for this summer's reading list!
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