Welcome to the Suddenly Last Summer blog tour, hosted by CBB Book Promotions. My stop includes a review and the tour giveaway. Thanks for stopping by!
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Publication Date: 6/24/14
Format: eARC
Pages: 384
Source: Author
Rating: 4 stars
Bestselling author Sarah Morgan delivers another irresistible hero in her O'Neil Brothers series who's more tempting than dessert and twice as sinful!
Fiery French chef Élise Philippe is having a seriously bad day. Not only have the opening day plans for her beloved café fallen apart, but Sean O'Neil is back in town, and looking more delectable than ever. Last summer, they shared an electrifying night together…and the memories have Élise really struggling to stick to her one-night-only rule! Her head knows that eventually Sean will be leaving, so all she can do is try to ignore her heart before she spontaneously combusts with lust.
Being back in Vermont—even temporarily—is surgeon Sean O'Neil's worst nightmare. For Sean, returning home to the Snow Crystal Resort means being forced to confront the reasons and the guilt he feels about rejecting his family's rural lifestyle years ago. But discovering that Élise has settled in Vermont and still sets his blood racing is a very welcome distraction! Thinking he can persuade her into a replay of last summer is tempting, but remembering how good they are together is going to make walking away more difficult than he could imagine…
Fiery French chef Élise Philippe is having a seriously bad day. Not only have the opening day plans for her beloved café fallen apart, but Sean O'Neil is back in town, and looking more delectable than ever. Last summer, they shared an electrifying night together…and the memories have Élise really struggling to stick to her one-night-only rule! Her head knows that eventually Sean will be leaving, so all she can do is try to ignore her heart before she spontaneously combusts with lust.
Being back in Vermont—even temporarily—is surgeon Sean O'Neil's worst nightmare. For Sean, returning home to the Snow Crystal Resort means being forced to confront the reasons and the guilt he feels about rejecting his family's rural lifestyle years ago. But discovering that Élise has settled in Vermont and still sets his blood racing is a very welcome distraction! Thinking he can persuade her into a replay of last summer is tempting, but remembering how good they are together is going to make walking away more difficult than he could imagine…
My Review
Suddenly Last Summer is a story I've been heavily anticipating since Sleigh Bells in the Snow. I adored that story, with its beautiful Vermont setting, endearing love story, and the charming, struggling O'Neil family. What had me worked up for this story, though, was the promise of a fiery passionate romance between two fiery passionate characters, Elise and Sean.
Sean O'Neil has never wanted to be part of the family business. While his grandfather was drumming the words "family, responsibility, legacy" into his heirs brains, in his mind, Sean O'Neil was hearing "duty, obligation, stuck". Stuck in a life that -like his own father- he wanted no part of. Unlike his father, Sean stood up for himself, left to become a renowned surgeon end rarely comes back, causing a painful rift with his grandfather. Sean was complicated, and I liked that. I could empathize with his feelings of being torn between family and wanting a life of his own. To explore and not be held down by obligations to a life he never signed up for , but in which he was born into.
Elise Philippe is a world-class chef who is more than content to spend her career at a resort in quiet Vermont. After the painful loss of her mother and years of abuse at the hands of the mam she loved, a quiet life sounds perfect. The O'Neil family took Elise in, made her a part of the family and part of the business. This life is exactly what she desires. She doesn't share Sean's craving for a bigger, fast-paced life, though she does crave him. She knows Sean would never be happy living at Snow Crystal Resort, while there's no where she'd rather be.
Apparently one O'Neil (Sean) gave Elise an extra-special "Welcome to the Family" gesture the summer before. Sean is up to another night with Elise, but she is reluctant to go another round which would violate her one night only rule for men. Considering that Sean has in intentions making a life in Vermont, he's in agreement. But with her fire and his passion, it's only a matter of time before the clothes go flying, again.
Suddenly Last Summer is a sexy, heartfelt love story between two willful, independent characters who slowly learn that it's okay to fall in love, to need and be needed, that life is best when shared with your perfect match. I really enjoyed this installment in the O'Neil Brothers series, almost as much as the first. Now it's on the sexy single father Tyler O'Neill and Brenna, his life-long friend whom I'm convinced is his perfect match. I'm sure that will be another great installment in the fun and romantic O'Neill Brothers series!
Sean O'Neil has never wanted to be part of the family business. While his grandfather was drumming the words "family, responsibility, legacy" into his heirs brains, in his mind, Sean O'Neil was hearing "duty, obligation, stuck". Stuck in a life that -like his own father- he wanted no part of. Unlike his father, Sean stood up for himself, left to become a renowned surgeon end rarely comes back, causing a painful rift with his grandfather. Sean was complicated, and I liked that. I could empathize with his feelings of being torn between family and wanting a life of his own. To explore and not be held down by obligations to a life he never signed up for , but in which he was born into.
Elise Philippe is a world-class chef who is more than content to spend her career at a resort in quiet Vermont. After the painful loss of her mother and years of abuse at the hands of the mam she loved, a quiet life sounds perfect. The O'Neil family took Elise in, made her a part of the family and part of the business. This life is exactly what she desires. She doesn't share Sean's craving for a bigger, fast-paced life, though she does crave him. She knows Sean would never be happy living at Snow Crystal Resort, while there's no where she'd rather be.
Apparently one O'Neil (Sean) gave Elise an extra-special "Welcome to the Family" gesture the summer before. Sean is up to another night with Elise, but she is reluctant to go another round which would violate her one night only rule for men. Considering that Sean has in intentions making a life in Vermont, he's in agreement. But with her fire and his passion, it's only a matter of time before the clothes go flying, again.
Suddenly Last Summer is a sexy, heartfelt love story between two willful, independent characters who slowly learn that it's okay to fall in love, to need and be needed, that life is best when shared with your perfect match. I really enjoyed this installment in the O'Neil Brothers series, almost as much as the first. Now it's on the sexy single father Tyler O'Neill and Brenna, his life-long friend whom I'm convinced is his perfect match. I'm sure that will be another great installment in the fun and romantic O'Neill Brothers series!
Favorite Quotes
"If I have a one-night stand with someone chances are I'll bump into them in the store the next day. I'd die."
"Why would that cause you to die?"
"It would be majorly embarrassing."
"If it was something you both agreed to, why would it be embarrassing? You just say bonjour and smile or if the sex was really bad I suppose you might just smile a little less. Be a little cooler so that they don't think you want to do it again."
Brenna gave her a look of exasperation. "Are all French people like you?"
"You're jealous." He said it slowly, like a revelation, and his sudden smile made her want to push him straight back in the lake and hold his head under.
"Why would I be jealous? I do not at all care who you sleep with, tu me comprends?"
"I do understand you," he said calmly, "but the correct sentence structure should be 'I do not care at all.' You split the infinitive, baby."
"I am not your baby. And I will split as many infinitives as I want to split, right along with your skull!"
O'Neil Brothers Series
(covers lead to GoodReads pages)
Grand Prize includes a La Bonne Vie Cupcake necklace, Sleigh Bells in the Snow (first book in the series), Suddenly Last Summer and a bookmark
Second prize is Sleigh Bells in the Snow, Suddenly Last Summer and a bookmark
About Sarah Morgan

As well as writing for Harlequin Presents, her first full length novel, Sleigh Bells in the Snow will be published by HQN in October 2013 and Ripped, her first title for the Cosmo Red Hot Reads from Harlequin programme will be out in November 2013.
Sarah lives near London, and when she isn't reading or writing she loves being outdoors, preferably on vacation so she can forget the house needs tidying