Back of Book:

There’s something magical about the lake. Things always feel the same here.

Comforting. Stable. But this summer, everything will change.

For years, Mia Miller’s family has been spending one week every summer at the Agate Harbors lake resort in northern Minnesota. The trip not only brings her a break from her overbearing parents who don’t have any patience for her sensitivities and her sister who only cares about finding the next party, it’s the one time a year she gets to see her favorite person: Bower Hanson.

Since they were young, Bower and Mia have felt connected by a bond neither knows how to define. They treasure their time together when Mia comes to visit his grandparents’ resort. But when a night gone wrong as teenagers lands Bower in significant trouble, he and Mia lose all contact for years.

As an adult, Mia knows what she wants: a quick engagement with Archer, a guy her parents love. So what if he constantly tries to change her, claiming it’s all to help with her sensory processing disorder diagnosis? She can ignore the voice in the back of her head questioning if her fiancé is right for her…until her bachelorette party in Agate Harbors, where she runs into the last person she expected to see again.

Guarded and recovering from past wounds she has no idea about, Bower reminds Mia that he’s never wanted her to change a single thing about herself. Their connection reignites as quickly as it did all those years ago, but will it last beyond this week at the lake?

Only So Many Summers is the first book in the Agate Harbors series, told in two timelines and featuring a Minnesota lake resort setting, mental health rep, and a second chance at love (no cheating). There is adult content; see author’s website for a full list of content warnings. Perfect for fans of Carley Fortune and Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation!

Book Number: One 

Genre: Adult | Contemporary | Romance 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

A summery romance told over many summers at a lakeside resort in Minnesota that gives a second chance at love to two childhood best friends. 

Mia Miller has spent one summer at Agate Harbors for as long as she can remember. It’s always a magical week where she can escape her parents’ strict expectations and truly be herself. Every year, she meets up with her best friend, Bower Hanson, who is the grandson of the resort’s owners. As they grow older, their summers only seem to get better. That is, until Bower ghosts Mia for several years, and Mia prepares to move on with her adult life. But when she runs into Bower one more time, she begins to wonder what could be between her and her childhood best friend if they were only given the chance. 

I signed up to ARC read this one some time ago, because it isn’t often that I come across books that are so Minnesota coded on my Instagram. It has taken me a bit of time to get to it, but I’m so glad I came across this one, because it was such a sweet romance. Thank you so much Evi James for the eARC! 

This book starts when Mia and Bower are eight and nine years old respectively. I love adult books that show many years of the main couple’s lives, as I feel like it really gives the reader the chance to get to know them. Seeing these two do all the typical Minnesota summer things such as fishing, spending time on the lake, eating s’mores, and watching fireworks on the Fourth was such a joy. Getting to witness the childhood part of childhood friends to lovers first hand is rare, but I was grateful for every second of it. 

The way that Bower helps Mia with her sensory processing disorder also known as SPD was one of my favorite parts of this book. Mia may not process the world around her the same way as everyone else, but it frustrates me to no end that her parents still forced her to do things she disliked, such as wearing sandals. Bower was always the first to lend a hand and carry Mia across the beach or loan her a pair of rain boots so sand didn’t get between her toes. As a young adult, he was doing these things to hang out with her, but as they grow older, such events have a romantic tinge to them. The way that he uplifts her differences is so sweet, and made me connect with Bower from the start. He doesn’t see her differences as a burden, rather something to be celebrated, which is pretty swoonworthy if i do say so myself. 

As Bower helped her, Mia also helps Bower in return. I don’t want to go into too many details as this occurs quite late in the book, but Bower has gone through some things that has left him struggling with PTSD. Mia is super understanding and wants to do everything she can to support him, too. I thought this was a great way to talk about some real-life situations that people deal with as well as increase the trust between our main characters. 

Meddling grandparent isn’t a trope that I see terribly often, but I’m always happy when I do! Bower’s grandparents absolutely adore Mia (especially his grandma, Betty) due to the fact that she helps keep him out of trouble. As time progresses, Betty really starts pushing the kids together which had me constantly smiling to myself. The entire situation with Betty was so beautiful, though it was tinged with sadness due to the fact that Betty and the family are dealing with dementia. 

This book only has one spicy scene in it, and it was honestly so sweet! It isn’t often that one reads about someone losing their virginity on a boat, but that is indeed something that goes down in this one. Bower is such a gentleman to Mia and of course doesn’t push her to do anything she is uncomfortable with. He talks her through the entire process of having intercourse for the first time so that she feels safe and in control. It stood out to me that Mia describes much of what she is feeling both emotionally and physically during her first time, which is something that I appreciated. I think authors sometimes get so caught up on the physical that they forget to focus on the emotional side, too. If you like slow burns and tasteful spice, Mia and Bower’s romance serves up both. 

I was scared for a minute that Mia was going to cheat with Bower, because she is in a committed relationship with another man for a solid portion of this book. I am happy to report that nothing shady goes down, though Mia still could have been a bit more straightforward to both of the men in her life. Mia and Bower both struggle with self-doubt and not thinking they are good enough for each other which got on my nerves a bit, but I get it. Luckily, these two don’t have too terribly thick skulls and they move to remedy their errors within a timely fashion. 

Ruby and Dean are such great wingmen. Ruby is Mia’s little sister, so she is always in Mia’s business. She’s such a sassy queen with a lighthearted nature, and her chemistry with Dean is solid. I’m so happy that book two is about these two goobers, because I need them to get together like yesterday. Also, I saw that James talked about how their story is going to be an emotional one and that Ruby is hiding a ton under her carefree nature, so I’m super stoked to check it out! 

Overall, “Only So Many Summers” is a sweet slow burn romance that is perfect reading for a summer day. The lakeside resort is such an awesome setting for a romance, especially because we get to see our couple reunited summer after summer. I thought it was really fun to see them grow into the adults that eventually fall in love with one another. Mia and Bower have such a such a cute relationship; he is always such a gentleman to her, even if he is a bit of a rebellious one. Seeing these two fight for their second (well, maybe third) chance at love was inspiring and I was rooting for them every step of the way. This one tackles some hard topics such as dementia and PTSD, but the overall atmosphere is lighthearted. I’m looking forward to returning to Agate Harbors in the future and seeing Ruby and Dean realize they have feelings for each other.