Jack has been working and running the restaurant for as long as he can remember. It’s been in his family since his Grandparents opened it, and he took over after his father’s death. He is tired though, and a big restaurant group has been circling, hoping to buy him out. Their offer is insanely generous, and Jack is starting to wonder if he should just give in…

Oh my Ethan Joella. You can do no wrong my friend! Seriously, this book immediately pulls you into the world of working and running a restaurant. The employees become your own family, your own friends. Ethan just has a way of writing his characters that just make them feel so real and relatable. Having visited Rehoboth Beach, I just adored the setting and the guide pages inserted throughout the book! This book had me cheering by the end and I just loved every second!

A beautifully layered story about a fifty-two-year old man who finds himself at a crossroads, and also a beach town tale of found family, first chances and last chances, and doing the right thing even when it's hard.

This was a short book but took me a while to get through. Jack owns his family’s restaurant (3rd generation) in Rehobeth Beach. The book follows his decision making around possibly selling, his employees and their stories, his best friend Deacon and wife Andie, and has flashbacks to earlier parts of his life. I can see some people loving this, but it lacked excitement and the ending fell flat for me.

A beautiful book featuring more of the writing I have grown to love from Ethan Joella. In this case it is a story of a man who is struggling to figure out what comes next in life. We get tender insight into all of the different characters that populate his life and the town of Rehoboth where he lives. This is about change and growth and relationships and all of it is so richly and gorgeously written (but not overwritten). I will definitely read Joella's next book too!

I am officially an Ethan Joella fan. I will read anything he writes at this point because he simply doesn't disappoint. His writing makes me think of Anne Tyler with real characters in small towns living beautiful, ordinary lives.

People whom you can't help but connect to and grow to love. People whom you root for and who end up feeling like family. People you remember long after the story is finished.

Jack is no exception. He stays with the reader long long after the book is over. So do all the other characters from the diner.

Joella's books make me feel less alone in the world. They are the best of what fiction can do which is give you a whole world to get lost in, remind you of the beauty of community and of the extraordinary in our ordinary lives. I love every moment I get to spend with his books. I hope there are many, many more to come.

with gratitude to netgalley and Scribner for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a cute story. Jack is the main character who inherits his family's restaurant in Rehoboth Beach. Throughout the story you learn about Jacks and the other characters that work at Schmidt's restaurant. I was invested in this story from the first chapter and didn't want the story to end. Thank you NetGalley, Scribner, and Ethan Joella for the ARC.

I loved this story… same as I loved this author’s book,
A Quiet Life.
So pick this book up and take a trip to Rehoboth Beach.. in Delaware.
Jack grew up here and owns a restaurant by the boardwalk that has been in his family for a couple generations. He is at the age when all his friends have relationships and families, while he spends all his time running the restaurant and really nothing else.
A big company comes in and tries to buy it from him
We meet many locals and friends of Jack and the people who work for him..
There is also something Jack finds out from his past that is life changing.

Great story, great characters!

Thank you to Netgalley, Scribner, and Ethan Joella for the ARC!

Publishing date July 2, 2024

Jack is the third generation Schmidt to run the family restaurant. He has always put the restaurant first. He doesn't have time for relationships, hobbies or even a day off. A big corporation who has been buying up properties along his stretch of beach has made him a very lucrative offer that seems too good to be true, but is it? Jack really wants to accept their offer but his employees are like family to him. Can he trust them to keep them employed and treat them right? Will they honor his family legacy? I love this book! Thanks to @NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I highly recommend it.

The Same Bright Stars is a beautifully written story that is both captivating and quiet. Our main character Jack Schmidt is a 3rd generation restaurant owner in the beautiful beach town of Rehoboth Beach, DE. I have been to Rehoboth Beach and eaten at family-owned restaurants, so it was easy to picture the overall feel of the story. As the story unfolds, we get to know Jack's life, but more importantly his relationships. Through work, family, and friends, relationships are at the heart of the story. The story is heartfelt and evoked a lot of emotions as I was reading.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Imagine if Luke Danes was the lead of GILMORE GIRLS, and you have THE SAME BRIGHT STARS.

Jack Schmidt has been running his inherited restaurant off the coast off Delaware for decades, and he’s tired. He has a loyal staff but feels like he missed out on fully living his life outside the family business. He never had kids of his own, and came close to marriage before his engagement abruptly ended. When he’s offered a chance to sell the property and live a quieter life, it’s quite a tempting offer.

There are so many important storylines in this novel: people who lose their way after the death of a parent, employee-boss loyalty and boundaries, family secrets and late-in-life revelations, deep rooted family trauma, and getting a second lease on life. I like the quirkiness of Nicole, a widow who tries to get Jack to sell his business and wants to win his heart in the process. I also really loved Genevieve, Jack’s long-term staffer whose son keeps getting into trouble and destroying her spirit.

Like A LITTLE HOPE, THE SAME BRIGHT STARS feels like the show THIS IS US in novel form: cozy, heartfelt, devastating at times, but always full of hope. As long as we all exist under the same stars, there’s always a chance we can make things right with each other.

I've been a fan of Ethan Joella ever since I first read A Little Hope. With A Quiet Life, he was cemented as an auto-read author for me. The Same Bright Stars deals with the subject of grief that we see threaded throughout Joella's other novels, however this one feels different and a bit lighter. In this book, Jack Schmidt is the owner of a small but esteemed restaurant which was passed down to him by his family in the oceanfront town of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware (where coincidentally, the author lives). Jack is tired and lonely as his dedication to the restaurant has cost him in both leisure time and relationships. The restaurant is where he grew up and is riddled with memories so it has been difficult for Jack to see that it may be time to let it go. When he is continuously badgered to sell by a big-time restaurant group, he secretly begins to consider what his life might be like without the restaurant. The Same Bright Stars feels a little "Hallmark" to me compared to Joella's other works, but I don't mean this in a negative way. I mean this in a- Happiness or romance could be right around the corner for anyone- kind of way- and also in a -take this book to the beach this summer- kind of way. I enjoyed the character development of the main character and how his character was further fleshed out by the myriad of connections he has to members of the local community. I enjoyed how in the beginning the character himself seems like a trope- think Luke from Gilmore Girls- but as we (the reader) get to know him more, he offers much beyond that. Joella is still an auto-read author for me and I can't wait to see what he may come out with next!

Jack Schmidt is a workaholic who manages the third-generation Schmidts, a beachfront restaurant in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, in The Same Bright Stars by Ethan Joella coming out July 2. Jack has made the restaurant his whole life for 30 years, forsaking a family of his own, any hobbies, and time off to enjoy the beach.

A restaurant group would like to add Schmidts to their growing list of eateries along the coast of Delaware but Jack does not think he can sell his grandmother’s and his father’s dream. If he were to sell, he would want a guarantee that the company would keep his staff and honor the family legacy.

Jack would really like a companion in his life. His former girlfriend Kitty is in town to nurse her dying mother, and his best friend Deacon is dealing with a mother in memory care who does not always remember that he is her son. Jack’s own beloved mother left him and his father years ago, and his memories of her are mostly fond ones.

Could there be “out there” someone special for Jack? How might his life change if he would sell Schmidts? What kind of opportunities would there be for him? Would his staff and the restaurant thrive under a restaurant group?

This is Ethan Joella’s third novel following A Little Hope, a Jenna Bonus Selection, and A Quiet Life. He also teaches English and psychology at the University of Delaware. He lives in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, the setting of his third book, with his family.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting April 30, 2024.

I would like to thank Scribner and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

Once again, Ethan Joella gives readers a thoughtful novel full of well-drawn characters. The relationships felt real and as a reader, you become invested in the story.

Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for an ARC of The Same Bright Stars by Ethan Joella. This was my first book by Ethan Joella. I really enjoyed it. It was character driven and the writing was beautiful. In this story, you follow Jack Schmidt, the owner of a restaurant. His life is at a crossroads and Jack's got some big decisions to make about the business that's been passed down to him by his grandmother and father. When Jack thinks he may have made the right decision, he gets blindsided by some shocking news. While reading this story, I felt like I could have been reading about real people, and their hardships, worries, and seeing firsthand their touching moments. I will definitely check out this author's other books.

Ethan Joella writes about real people and what they go through. Jack's family has owned the restaurant on the Delaware boardwalk for generations. It's his turn to run it and the long hours means he's given up his life to do so. He's tired and he's thinking about selling. There are a lot of emotions to go through and while he's sorting that out, his friends and his ex girlfriend have things he needs to get involved in and help with. It's beautiful

Thank you @netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of The Same Bright Stars by Ethan Joella. Jack has been running his family’s beach area restaurant for years. He has been approached by a big restaurant group that wants to buy the place. He is very tempted, since he works all the time and is tired of it and wonders if it’s time to have a life. But is it the right thing to do for everyone else, and for the community? I really enjoyed this book, love Ethan Joella’s books. Great story about families and friendship. Highly recommend. #thesamebrightstars #ethanjoella #bookstagram #booklover #reader #bookblog #lovetoread #fictionreader #bookreview #bookrecommendation #readersofinstagram #bookloversofinstagram #takeapagefrommybook #readallthebooks #booksbooksbooks #booksofinstagram #bookwormproblems #bookaholic #booknerd #whattoread #readingtime #bookaddict #ilovetoread #ilovebooks #needtoread #readallday

I've thoroughly enjoyed Ethan Joella's backlist titles and his upcoming release SAME BRIGHT STARS is another win.

This is a beautifully quiet yet poignant story of love, loss and family that is balanced by joy and hope. This story features residents of a small Delaware beach town who are connected by a long-standing family run restaurant. The cast of characters are rich and easy to root for, but no one more than Jack Schmidt. He is a man at a crossroad considering a decision that will have a rippling effect on his found family. Joella took these seemingly simple everyday moments in an everyday town and unraveled them in a relatable way. It just made me feel good. It made me feel like I was wrapped up in tenderness.-

A Little Hope was a unique, intersecting story. I was captivated and gutted by A Quiet Life. But somehow with The Same Bright Stars, Ethan Joella has written a story that is even more wonderful than his prior two.

As someone who was raised spending summers on small beach towns of the Atlantic coast- the setting of Rehoboth Beach felt both familiar yet new. I always wondered what happened to these small businesses when the tourists go home. The Same Bright Stars explores the hard work and tenacity of the residents who share their hometown to provide others with a summer escape.

In The Same Bright Stars Joella centers the story on Jack who is a local restaurant owner. Schmidt’s has been in his family for generations. He watched his grandmother and father work themselves ragged for the entirety of their lives and he is starting to wonder if the same life is appealing to him.

This story covers so much ground. Some twists and past revelations drew out some dramatic reactions from this reader. Family, both found and the one you are born into, is explored. As a previous bartender, I loved the restaurant storyline and how thoughtful Joella was in creating a staff that highlighted the relentless work ethic necessary in the service industry.

In true Joella fashion, the writing style is emotional but quiet. Climatic scenes read so authentic while the weight of character’s actions slowly ripple throughout the story. I laughed, I cried, and I may have threw my copy across the room in anger once or twice. What can I say- this story gets under your skin in the best possible way.

The Same Bright Stars may not end in a perfect happily ever after way. But it does play out in a way that is powerful and feels true to Jack and his local community. And I loved every moment. A perfect 5/5 stars, The Same Bright Stars publishes in July!

4.5 stars!

At first, I didn't know how I felt about this book. I couldn't identify with Jack and felt frustrated by his lack of emotional maturity. But as time went on, I fell in love with the characters and their own individual journeys. I felt invested in Jacks's journey and those around him, and was rooting for them. It was a story of family relationships, friends turned family and all of life's intricacies.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC! This review is my own personal opinions.

4.5 stars
I loved reading this book- had all my favorite things- family relationships, past secrets and grief and how they shape your life. I wanted to go to Rehoboth Beach and eat at Schmidt's so I could meet all of the people who worked at the restaurant. Loved how Jack figured out how and what he wanted from his life, knowing it's never too late to have what you want.
highly recommend.