Review: An Irish Summer by Alexandra Paige

An Irish Summer by Alexandra Paige
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

Chelsea made me so angry as she wasted her opportunity to explore Ireland during her summer abroad. I have always wanted to visit Ireland, my great grandparents on both sides of my family immigrated from Ireland and I would love to visit one day. I hope to get there someday and get to experience some of the magic the country has to offer.

This follows Chelsea, who has her future all mapped out. She has a comfortable job working at a cozy bed and breakfast, but when the couple she works for unexpectedly decide to retire and sell the property all of her plans some to a screeching halt. As a consolation, the couple offer Chelsea and opportunity to work at their sister property The Wanderer, a hostel in Ireland. This will give her the summer to figure things out. Chelsea is not thrilled with this opportunity, she likes plans and order and is not a fan of change. Encouraged by her more spontaneous best friend and her parents to take a chance on Ireland, she takes the job at the Wanderer. There she meets the staff who despite her best efforts become a found family of sorts for Chelsea and encourage her to make the most out of the time she has and live in the moment. The biggest proponent of this is the hostel's tour guide and charmer Collin. He is determined to to show Chelsea the magic of his country and get her to slow down and enjoy life a little.

Chelsea was really hard to like. Collin and Flo were so lovely and likeable, I can't imagine them as actual real people being friends with Chelsea. It would have been more realistic that they would have given up on her after a few interactions as she was so whiny and standoffish. Chelsea was so rigid and unwilling to accept her situation. I am all for a plan for your future, but she always putting Collin down for his choice to work at the hostel. Their relationship, while sweet, wasn't very realistic and lacked chemistry. Fortunately, Chelsea figures herself out before it is too late. I also wanted more world building. Ireland is one of my bucket list places to visit and I wanted to experience Ireland through Chelsea and Collin's eyes.

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