Our Secret Summer Review — Is It Worth Reading?

Verdict: A steamy, forbidden age-gap romance in which a heartbroken painter and her best friend’s 59-year-old mother end up sharing a Big Bear lake house for the summer — classic Harper Bliss heat and angst, but readers are split on the speed, the believability and Bliss’s usual polish.

Best for: Readers who love big age gaps, forbidden romance and explicit scenes, and don’t mind insta-attraction.

Heat level: 4/5 (romance.io: explicit open door, 20 ratings)

Rating: ★★★★☆ (3.5/5 — a 3.59 Goodreads average across 1,230 ratings and 3.43 on StoryGraph from 279 reviews)

Tropes: Age gap (26 years), best friend’s mother, forbidden romance, forced proximity, secret relationship, summer romance, dual POV.

Our Secret Summer is Harper Bliss’s 2025 contemporary lesbian romance. Raffo, a painter reeling from the end of a long relationship, retreats to her best friend’s family lake house in Big Bear — only to find his mother, Dylan, already there, hiding from her own mistakes.

It holds a 3.59 average across 1,230 Goodreads ratings, with 52% of them four or five stars, 3.43 on StoryGraph from 279 reviews, and 4.5 stars across 412 Amazon ratings.

What Is Our Secret Summer About?

After a ten-year relationship ends, Raffo has lost her painting mojo. Her best friend Connor offers his mother’s lake house, assuming it is empty while she is in Europe. It is not: Dylan is very much there, and their first meeting is memorably awkward.

Dylan is everything Raffo should avoid — older, off-limits and utterly captivating. A shared summer sanctuary turns into something far more dangerous as their chemistry ignites. But summer can’t last forever, and with Connor waiting in Los Angeles, their love risks the very relationships they cherish most.

What Makes This Age-Gap Romance Work

Heat: Readers call the intimate scenes “blistering,” as expected from Bliss.
Setting: The summer lake-house atmosphere suits the story.
Angst: Once the two part for other people’s sake, fans say the book shifts into gripping, Bliss-style emotional push-pull.
Connor: The son’s reaction is a real part of the story, not an afterthought.
Dylan: Readers find her sweet and warm.

Book Synopsis

They promised themselves it was only for the summer. Raffo retreats to a lake house in Big Bear, desperate to heal her broken heart. But peace and quiet prove impossible when she discovers Dylan — her best friend’s mother — already staying at the house, hiding from her own mistakes.

What starts as a shared sanctuary turns into something far more dangerous when their chemistry ignites, and passion blossoms into a love neither woman saw coming. With Dylan’s son waiting in Los Angeles, their growing love risks destroying the relationships they cherish most.

My Review

This is Bliss working a familiar setup — two people escaping their own heartbreaks under one roof — and keeping it steamy. The first half is almost all attraction; the second is about consequences, as Dylan and Raffo try to protect Connor and themselves. Fans say the middle, when the hard decisions pile up, is where the book really hooks you, and that the ending is lovely.

Critics are sharper here than for most Bliss books. Several readers found the romance too abrupt — more lust than love — and struggled to believe Raffo would leap into bed with her best friend’s mother while still crying over her ex. Others found Connor’s long refusal to accept the relationship immature, felt no chemistry, or were uncomfortable with the size of the gap. Two readers did not finish because the writing did not feel up to Bliss’s usual standard.

My honest note: For Bliss fans who want heat and angst, it delivers. If you want a slow, convincing build, try another of her books first.

Element	In Our Secret Summer
Central relationship	Dylan French (59, mother of Raffo’s best friend) & Raffo (early 30s, painter)
Core tropes	Age gap, best friend’s mother, forbidden, forced proximity
Setting	A lake house in Big Bear, California, and Los Angeles
Heat level	4/5 on romance.io — explicit open door
Length	274 pages
Series	Standalone
Content notes	Graphic sexual content, death of a parent, breakup grief

How Spicy Is Our Secret Summer?

Romance.io rates it 4 of 5, “explicit open door,” from 20 ratings, and StoryGraph readers flag graphic sexual content. Fans praise the scenes as wonderfully written; one younger reader was uncomfortable with a 59-year-old in them.

StoryGraph readers also note the death of a parent, and Raffo is grieving a ten-year relationship.

Who Should Read This Book?

You’ll likely love it if: you want a large age gap with a heroine near sixty, forbidden tension and explicit heat. It is on our mature lesbian romance list.

You may want to skip it if: you dislike insta-love, or the “best friend’s parent” trope makes you wince.

In short: A hot summer fling with Bliss-style angst — divisive, but steamy.

What Readers Are Actually Saying (September 2026)

On Goodreads the split is 22% five stars, 30% four, 34% three, 10% two and 2% one — noticeably more mixed than Amazon’s 4.5 stars. On StoryGraph, 73% tag it lighthearted and 51% emotional, and 78% found the characters loveable. The audiobook, narrated by Abby Craden, won over one reader who struggled with the ebook.

Why readers love it (according to the discourse): The heat first. Second, the angst after the summer ends. Third, the lake-house setting. Fourth, the ending.

What readers argue about and complain about: Insta-love, above everything. Second, Connor’s reaction. Third, believability. Fourth, writing below Bliss’s usual standard.

The comparison worth making first: For a better-reviewed Bliss age-gap romance with a parent’s best friend, try If You Kiss Me Like That. For another steamy twenty-year gap, see Ain’t Too Old to Grind.

Frequently Asked Questions

How big is the age gap in Our Secret Summer?

About 26 years. Dylan is 59, and readers put Raffo in her early thirties.

How spicy is Our Secret Summer?

Spicy. Romance.io rates it 4 of 5, “explicit open door,” from 20 ratings, and readers call the intimate scenes a Harper Bliss hallmark.

Is Our Secret Summer a forbidden romance?

Yes. Raffo is best friends with Dylan’s son, Connor, and the fallout with him drives much of the second half.

Is Our Secret Summer on Kindle Unlimited?

Not at the time of writing — the Kindle edition was listed for purchase at $8.99. The audiobook is narrated by Abby Craden.

Does Our Secret Summer have a happy ending?

Readers who enjoyed it call the ending beautiful. Bliss keeps you wondering whether it can work out before it does.

If You Loved Our Secret Summer, Read These Next

Try If You Kiss Me Like That or Love Me Like You Shouldn’t for more Harper Bliss, or Ain’t Too Old to Grind for a 55-year-old and a 35-year-old. For more, browse our lesbian age-gap romance list, our mature lesbian romance list, or the full Book Reviews archive.

The Bottom Line

Our Secret Summer sets out to be a steamy, forbidden summer romance, and it has the heat and the angst Bliss fans expect. What holds it back is a romance many readers found too fast and too lust-driven to believe. For committed Bliss readers, it is worth it. Check Our Secret Summer on Amazon →