Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Ultimate Summer
SERIES: Summer Bigger Than Others Anthology
AUTHOR: Alexis Woods
PUBLISHER: Beaten Track Publishing
LENGTH: 49 Pages
BLURB:
When Brett gets tagged by a flying disc, launched from the hands of ultimate frisbee player Sean, he doesn’t expect the mutual attraction to hit just as hard and fast. Sometimes all it takes is a single day to jumpstart an ultimate summer.
Ultimate Summer is a stand-alone short story in the Southern Jersey Shores Series.
REVIEW:
Brett is looking to spend a quiet day reading at the beach when he’s hit by a wayward Frisbee. Pain aside, it may just be the luckiest day of his life because coming towards him to claim the Frisbee is a perfect example of a blond, buff and gorgeous beach god. Brett unexpectedly finds himself wrangled into watching the rest of the game and even asked out to dinner by said beach hottie, aka Sean.
Sean falls madly in…well, not love or lust but somewhere in between from the moment he sees Brett. He’s captivated (would be a good word) by the younger man, who shies away and blushes in such a cute fashion. He’s excited to learn that Brett has recently moved to the area to attend college and he doesn’t waste any time asking the adorable teen out on a date.
Although we don’t go into a lot a lot of depth, because this is a short story, I enjoyed meeting both of the main characters. Sean was fun and easy to like but he had an earnestness about him that made him more than just another stereotype. He was mindful of Brett’s reservations and feelings, even though he was pretty desperate to drag him off to bed as soon as possible. You just felt that Sean was sincerely going to do his best by Brett, and it didn’t matter that it all happened over a twelve(ish?) hour period.
However, Brett was my favourite. When the story started my first impression of Brett was that he was going to be a bit of a “girl”. And I don’t mean that in any sexist way, it’s just that when I read a character that’s all shy and stuttery and needs a big strong man to simply steer them through the day, it always reminds me of the regency m/f I use to read. But I loved that Brett surprised me, then continued to do so throughout the story.
The age gap between the MCs was only really a “thing” because Brett was only eighteen, and actually, other people seemed more concerned with it than either Brett or Sean. One thing though, Sean thought of Brett as “the boy” or “the teen” a couple of times. It wasn’t a lot, but for some reason it really bothered me. I think maybe it just sounds creepy to me if a man is referring to their younger love interest as “the boy”. (Well, unless you’re in a BDSM club I guess.)
You may have noticed in the blurb that Ultimate Summer is part of the Southern Jersey Shores series. It’s story number three but it definitely can be read as a standalone. The presence of Dare & Ace, from the previous books in that series actually seemed a bit redundant however, that’s coming from me, who hasn’t read the other books in the series. I guess if you’re already a fan then you’ll love the glimpse of these two men.
I definitely enjoyed this short story and am seriously considering going back and reading the first two books.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
Beaten Track Publishing – Ultimate Summer
Beaten Track Publishing – Anthology
I’ve read and liked the first two books in the Southern Jersey Shores series. It is good to know that i can read the third book it in the Summer Bigger Than Others Anthology. Thanks for the review i really look forward to read this one 🙂
Sounds like an interesting short read. Thank you for the review =)