The Summer Girl (avalon Bay, #3)

The story follows Cassie Soul, a rising college senior spending the summer in Avalon Bay, South Carolina, the beach town where she was born. She is staying with her maternal grandmother, Lydia Tanner, whose family built and operated the beloved Beacon Hotel for over 50 years. After a hurricane and Lydia's husband's death, the hotel and family house were sold because none of Lydia's four adult children wanted to take on renovations. This is Lydia's farewell summer before she moves north.

Cassie's parents divorced when she was 11. Her mother, Victoria, a wealthy and image-obsessed woman, moved Cassie to Boston, while her father, Clayton Soul, remained in Avalon Bay and remarried Nia, a Haitian physical therapist. Clayton and Nia have twin daughters, Roxanne and Monique, who share Cassie's birthday. Cassie loves her half-sisters but feels like an afterthought to her father, who avoids being alone with her. Her relationship with Victoria is worse: Her mother is manipulative and relentlessly critical of Cassie's appearance.

At a beach party her first night in town, Cassie overhears Tate Bartlett, a 23-year-old sailing instructor and local golden boy, getting dumped by his friends-with-benefits partner. Their awkward meeting sparks an easy, flirtatious rapport, and Cassie's best friend Peyton encourages her to pursue Tate as a summer fling. The next morning, Cassie discovers Tate is housesitting the property next door to Lydia's house.

Cassie integrates into local social circles through Tate's friends, including Mackenzie Cabot, the entrepreneur who restored the Beacon, and the Hartley twins, Cooper and Evan. Mackenzie invites Cassie to join Team Beacon for Beach Games, the town's annual competition between local businesses. Cassie and Tate develop a charged awareness of each other through their facing bedroom windows.

At a bonfire, Tate and Cassie share a passionate kiss, but Mackenzie warns Tate privately that Cassie is "girlfriend material," not his usual casual type. Rattled, Tate tells Cassie he wants to stay platonic and declines her proposal for a summer fling, leaving her humiliated. They settle into friendship instead, with Tate appointing himself her wingman. Cassie begins dating Aaron, a charming visitor from New York, but his aggressive kissing technique proves a dealbreaker. When Tate coaches Cassie on how to redirect a kiss, their practice session generates unmistakable tension.

At a charity gala, Cassie meets Tate's parents, Gavin and Gemma Bartlett, who are warm and visibly in love after 25 years of marriage. She bids $3,000 on Tate in a bachelor auction, and afterward they share champagne on the dock. Cassie reveals she is a virgin and admits what she wants most from a fling is passion. That night, both slightly drunk at their bedroom windows, they undress deliberately and engage in mutual masturbation while watching each other, connected by phone. The next morning, neither acknowledges what happened.

The turning point arrives when Victoria shows up two weeks early. Tate overhears her telling Cassie on the back patio that crop tops are unflattering on her body type and that she should consider breast reduction surgery. He watches Cassie retreat in tears. Furious, Tate climbs the lattice to her window, tells her Victoria was wrong, and declares her beautiful. He reverses his rejection and agrees to be her summer fling, insisting they take things slow.

Tate begins sneaking into Cassie's room nightly. Their physical relationship escalates, though Tate defers intercourse, anxious about the pressure of being her first. Cassie ends things with Aaron. She also completes a hardcover children's book, Kit 'n McKenna, which she wrote and her former stepbrother Robb Sheffield illustrated, based on bedtime stories she tells her sisters about a girl who secretly raises a pet dragon.

Conflict arises when Nicole, a waitress who had asked Tate out before he and Cassie got together, shows up at the house for a date Tate forgot to cancel. Cassie storms out, but Tate apologizes and makes amends by taking her on a powerboat belonging to Gil Jackson, the wealthy homeowner Tate housesits for. They anchor at a secluded cove, and that night Cassie loses her virginity in an experience that is tender and deeply connecting.

As summer deepens, Gil offers Tate the chance to solo-sail a prized yacht from Miami to Auckland, New Zealand, a voyage of several months. Tate's father discourages the trip, insisting he needs Tate at the family dealership, Bartlett Marine, and Tate reluctantly agrees to stay. Cassie later challenges his decision, and they strike a deal: After the Beacon's reopening, Cassie will have honest conversations with both her parents, and Tate will tell Gavin he is going. Privately, Tate realizes he has fallen in love with Cassie.

Victoria, meanwhile, makes a surprising effort. She apologizes for her earlier cruelty, buys Cassie a crop top as a birthday gift, and reveals she had a miscarriage when Cassie was 10, suggesting the loss motivated her fight for sole custody. Cassie cautiously begins to trust her mother's change.

At the Beacon's grand reopening gala, Victoria recognizes Gavin and, with cold satisfaction, announces that he had an affair with her 11 years ago and demanded she abort their baby. Gemma walks away with quiet dignity. Tate is stunned. Cassie realizes Victoria cultivated access to Tate all summer to gather intelligence about the Bartletts, waiting for an opportunity to humiliate Gavin publicly.

Cassie confronts Victoria, who shows no remorse, and declares the relationship over. Lydia banishes Victoria from the house. That night, Cassie drives to Clayton's home in crisis. Nia finds her via the doorbell camera, and Cassie collapses in her stepmother's arms, sobbing out years of feeling replaced and abandoned. Nia reveals that Victoria had legally threatened to revoke Clayton's visitation rights if Nia bonded with Cassie, explaining the years of distance between them. Nia brings Cassie inside to talk honestly with Clayton.

The next morning, Tate confronts his parents. Gavin confesses the affair occurred during a difficult period and that Gemma forgave him years ago. In a private conversation, Gemma admits that seeing Cassie regularly would be a painful reminder of the betrayal. Unwilling to hurt his mother, Tate breaks up with Cassie on the dock, telling her he loves her but cannot continue the relationship.

Tate departs for his solo voyage in September, posting weekly vlogs that Cassie watches from her dorm at Briar University. She cuts contact with Victoria, deepens her relationships with Clayton, Nia, and her sisters, and secures a five-book publishing deal for the Kit 'n McKenna series.

During Thanksgiving in Avalon Bay, Cassie runs into Gemma, who tearfully apologizes for putting her own pain above Tate's happiness. Cassie forgives her and flies to New Zealand in December to surprise Tate at the Auckland marina. They confess their love, and with Gemma's blessing, their relationship resumes. By the following March, they are committed and long-distance, with Tate hinting at finding a place together after Cassie's graduation. Cassie's family dynamics have transformed, her writing career is flourishing, and the summer fling has become something lasting.