A Starlit Summer by Kate Frost

January 05, 2025

Engaging, Evolving, Thought Provoking

Genres: Contemporary Fiction/Romance

A Starlit Summer by Kate Frost - Author .

After being cheated out of her dream job, Jenna lands another, if not quite as good, it makes her happy. She is thrilled when she realises that the location is not far from her Great Aunt Vi’s cottage which is currently standing empty whilst restoration work is completed, so rather than residing at the hotel, booked for everyone else, she decides to stay at Bramble Cottage. However, caught up in her excitement at getting a cosy cottage by the sea for eight weeks and working in the beautiful Cornish countryside, in her naivety, she unwittingly allows herself to be taken advantage of by an older more powerful colleague, and whilst the merits of this in terms of furthering both their careers are clear, her self-worth is at stake, and an element of her personal life is left hanging by a thread. She must make a choice, play the game, or stay true to herself.

This novel is my second favourite of Kate Frost’s books. Its also the second that I’ve read that had the main character working within the broadcasting industry, however this time, the main character is in front of the camera which I actually enjoyed more. It was also a really nice change to read work from this author that wasn’t set somewhere abroad. Although, the settings of sunny climes take you away in your head to somewhere with better weather and scenery, sometimes it is nice to be able to perhaps have a clearer more realistic mental picture of a place that is more familiar to you. Kate’s descriptions of the environments in her novels are always very detailed and well put across, even if you haven’t visited that place, it is always very easy to attain a clear vision. However, this novel still contained all the same ingredients, beautiful people, gorgeous weather in an equally stunning environment which has its merits as reading material in the middle of a cold December, but also makes you feel very envious even though it is only fiction. The story is very cleverly interwoven with a message of the importance of self respect, valuing yourself and thinking about how you want others to view you and steering your life towards that goal. If you want to be respected, you have to earn it. Whilst the narratives of Kate’s books (and I have read about five of them now) aren’t over complicated and are somewhat formulaic, I like the comfortable familiarity of her books. I know that I can come back to them after reading more intricate and complex plots. These novels are the sort of stories I grew up reading and they are nice to re-visit when I just need an uncomplicated and entertaining storyline.

I found Jenna to be a confusing and frustrating character, very naive in the ways of her industry. Not seeming to be wanting to be taken for a dumb blonde, but giving rise to it occurring. Putting herself in very obvious situations with the star of the moment and then wondering why the situation is being perceived the way it is. She describes Milo as clearly ‘seeking her out’, that should have been her first clue that he was up to something. If she was looking to stay low key and not get press attention, then why would she want his attention? Having said that she is very clear in her thoughts on her relationship with Finn always seeming quite logical and measured when weighing up their long term prospects given that she is permanently residing in London for her work, as well as self preservation. So although it was somewhat annoying because I wanted them to end up together, I could understand her motives for not running after Finn. I’m not at all sure that he was worthy of the amount of chances she gave him, given that he was so quick to firmly believe what he read, rather than talk to her.

Kate also managers to intertwine humour with her mother ‘whispering’ the things that she thinks are inappropriate, and Jenna’s friend and Carla telling Jenna that she was trending on twitter and that she’s a ******* hashtag! Both of those scenes really made me laugh.

The ending, as with all of Kate’s books was well written and gave the characters journey a predictable yet anticipated conclusion. I think there may be room for a sequel here following up the discovery of the letters between her Aunt and Henry….just a thought… This thread of the story made perfect symmetry alongside Jenna’s work being based in the 1940’s.