I was in such need of a quick romance read and Vi Keeland’s The Summer Proposal did not disappoint. This book follows Georgia, a woman whose fiancé has just decided to go back to boyfriend status, move across the world, and open their relationship, and Max, a sexy hockey player who crashes Georgia’s blind date.

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The summary, from Amazon:

From #1 New York Times Bestselling author Vi Keeland comes a new, sexy standalone novel.

The first time I met Max Yearwood was on a blind date.
Max was insanely gorgeous, funny, and our chemistry was off the charts. He also had the biggest dimples I’d ever laid eyes on.
Exactly what I needed after my breakup.
Or so I thought…
Until my real date arrived.
Turned out, Max wasn’t who I was there to meet. He only pretended to be until my real date showed up.
To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.
Before he left, he slipped me a ticket to a hockey game a few blocks away, in case things didn’t work out on my actual date.
I tossed the ticket into my purse and went about trying to enjoy the man I was supposed to meet.
But my real blind date and I had no connection.
So on my way home, I decided to take a chance and stop by the game.
When I arrived, the seat next to me was empty.
Disappointed again, I decided to leave at the end of the period.
Just before the buzzer, one of the teams scored, and the entire arena went crazy.
A player’s face flashed up on the Jumbotron. He was wearing a helmet, but I froze when he smiled.
You guessed it: Dimples.
Apparently, my fake blind date hadn’t invited me to watch hockey with him, he’d invited me to watch him play.
And so began my adventure with Max Yearwood.
He was everything I needed at the time—fun, sexy, up for anything, and only around for a few months since he’d signed with a new team three-thousand miles away.
Max proposed we spend the summer helping me forget my ex. It sounded like a good plan. Things couldn’t get too serious when we had an expiration date. Right?
Though, you know what they say about the best-laid plans.

Buy The Summer Proposal here.

Georgia hasn’t made much of an effort to do any dating on her part since Gabriel decided they should open their relationship while he works in London. She agrees to a blind date, and when a drop dead gorgeous man walks into the bar and agrees that he’s there to meet her, she mistakes him for her date. Only Max was just walking by and spotted Georgia and isn’t really her date at all. He slides her two tickets to the hockey game that night. After Georgia’s lackluster date is over, she decides to head to the hockey game to deliver the lucky Yoda figurine Max accidentally left with her. She’s not a hockey fan and knows nothing about the sport. Georgia is surprised to sit front row, center ice, and confused why Max isn’t there – until she spots him on the jumbotron and realizes he’s a player!

Georgia is still dedicated to the idea of Gabriel even though she feels very hurt by him. He’ll be back at the end of the year. Max just wants a chance to spend some time with Georgia and lets her know he’s getting traded and will move at some point in the summer. They agree to a short term relationship, which Georgia wants to take slow even though the chemistry between them is sizzling. She also realizes there are so many things she’s never done and makes a list of them. Max helps her accomplish those things over the course of the early summer – and inevitably the two give in to the attraction between them.

But things change when Gabriel decides he wants back in Georgia’s life and when Max actually faces the prospect of moving. These two have a lot to work through to make a relationship work, but they really love one another, so of course it’s entirely possible.

One quote I loved in this book was:

True love should always be even though or in spite of, never if I hadn’t.

Wow, that hit me right in the feels. While Georgia and Gabriel’s love was all about “if”s, with Max, things are different. I loved the connection between these two characters. I will say there are some outdated gender role-based moments (girls who like Star Wars being unusual and comments Max and his brothers make to one another), but overall, this was just such a fun read and exactly what I needed. 4 stars!

Find out more about how I rate books here.

The Summer Proposal by Vi Keeland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was a huge fan of this! While I will say there were a few “gender role”y things I wasn’t as into (girls not being into Star Wars, some of the comments the brothers make to each other), overall I think this was such a fun read. I loved the dynamic between Max and Georgia and that through her relationship with him she was able to see she deserved more than her relationship with Gabriel. I thought it was fun, like the perfect level of slow burn to hold my interest, that they started off slow but had a little bit of innuendo flirtation going on. Maggie at times made me laugh and other times made me roll my eyes which I think is what all good best friends do. The quote: “True love should always be even though or in spite of, never if I hadn’t.” – loved it. This was just what I needed. Lately these books (romance novels I’m reading for a work project) have been taking me a week or two to read and I blew through this one in three days.2312

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Book Club Questions

1. Why do Georgia and Max make a good couple?
2. What attracts Max to Georgia?
3. How is Max different from Gabriel?
4. Georgia says, “True love should always be even though or in spite of, never if I hadn’t.” What are some examples of even thoughs, in spite ofs, and if I hadn’ts in this novel?