THE GRUMP WHO STOLE SUMMER
Author: Ella Fields
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: January 7, 2022
USA Today bestselling author, Ella Fields, returns to contemporary romance with an all-new angsty enemies to lovers standalone.
I never meant to hurt her.
Okay, so that might be a lie. The truth is, I just… panicked.
My soul died when I was fourteen, and there was no reviving it. But when the one person who’d tried made headlines, got dumped by her Ivy League college, and was forced to work in my bookstore, I began to wonder if I needed it when my heart beat faster at just the sight of her.
I began to wonder if I’d been wrong to push her away three years ago, and if she was as I’d hoped and feared—different. If maybe, she could truly accept a guy like me.
All of me. Every vile, cruel, tattered piece.
First, I had to find out a few things.
Would she still smile and laugh when I said something acidic?
Would she still melt beneath the pads of my inexperienced fingers?
Did she still want me as much as I wanted her?
And finally, could she ever forgive an undeserving prick like me?
Something told me I’d regret not finding out.
Told in dual POV, The Grump Who Stole Summer is a full-length standalone, enemies to lovers second chance romance. It contains some sensitive subject matter.
Did I hurt you?”
“No, but you have ruined me.” He kissed under my jaw. “The score is finally even.”
When I think of angst, Ella Fields immediately comes to mind. The woman has ruined me when it comes to her particular brand of angst. And like the masochist that I am when it comes to her books, I eagerly scream “hurt me” every time she releases a book. I have no shame in my game. She writes an asshole like no other. *dreamy sigh*
Now this one was a bit different and not quite what I expected. It was an enemies to lovers with a twist, but not as rip your hair out angsty as Ella’s usual. The story itself took me a bit to get into. The characters, while unique, didn’t click with me right away. Though they certainly did grow on me.
Smith is a not just a grump, he’s a recluse. He hates everything and everyone, and barely manages to keep his book store afloat because he can’t be bothered to smile or be polite to a customer.
Alice is a bit of spoiled princess, though not all is at it seems with her. After going a bit too wild in college and getting caught with her boobs out on display in a paparazzi shot, well, suffice it to say her business mogul mother is non too pleased. Her punishment? A volunteering gig at a local book store. What Alice doesn’t realize until she gets there, is that the reclusive grumpy owner and her have a history, and it’s not the kind she wants to think about again. Once upon a time, he broke her heart.
These characters, though they come off a bit…strange at first, are incredibly multi layered. Not all is at it seems, and with each new chapter, I found myself growing deeper under their spell. Though the pacing of the book was a bit slower for me, I can’t complain too much, because the end more than made up for it. I loved the flashbacks of Smith and Alice interwoven into their present. Smith is still the broken, tortured, and grumpy asshole he was when Alice first met him. But still waters definitely run deep with this man, and when the truth finally gets revealed? DAMN.
I loved that Alice’s parents weren’t the stereotypical rich a-holes. They loved her and I loved seeing her mother’s conniving sweet side come out at the end. The twisty ending definitely made the book for me, though. Right out of a soap opera drama, but damn was it delicious.
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