The Jacobson family seemed to have it all. Leo and wife Sylvia raised their four children in Westfield, New Jersey with love and lots of support. A beach house on the Jersey Shore (Beach Haven, LBI) provided the perfect summer getaway. But Sylvia fell ill and passed away and Leo decided to move to Boca Raton, Florida. Their now grown-up children needed to help go through the contents of the beach house and prepare it for its sale. Noah, the youngest brothers, went out to purchase a lottery ticket and sisters Laura and Sophie happily joined in for their chance at the multi-million-dollar Powerball prize. Oldest brother Matthew, an attorney and the most successful of the siblings, wanted no part of the silliness citing the odds against winning. When it turned out that the three Jacobsons had a winning ticket, their good luck appears to be short-lived. Each family member is impacted by their sudden wealth and the normal issues they've been experiencing in life become magnified. Without the guidance from their wise mother, the family needs to find a way to pull together. Will they realize that their family bond is their most valuable asset?

Author Elyssa Friedman writes enjoyable contemporary novels that are so relatable. Having just lost a spouse, sold my house in New Jersey, and moved to South Florida, Jackpot Summer is a book I fully connected with (although I have never played the lottery). Friedman deals with the messiness of family dynamics in a way that is both heartwarming and funny. A perfect book to head to the beach with.

Rated 4.25 stars.

Jackpot Summer, written by Elyssa Friedland, is a delightful and insightful novel that delves into the complexities of family dynamics. This heartwarming story skillfully explores the nuances of relationships, leaving me with a renewed appreciation for the things that truly matter. Friedland's witty and touching narrative is sure to bring a smile to your face.

Thank you to PRHAudio and Berkley for the ARC/ALC! And thank you to Elyssa Friedland for the fun giveaway win!

“I think a lot of families leave things unsaid, for better or for worse”…

The four Jacobson children have always been close. Though each has taken a different path in life, they all come together to help clean out their family’s old beach house after their mother passes away. Sisters Laura, Sophie and brother Noah decide to buy a powerball ticket, while their brother Matthew tells them he thinks lottery tickets are stupid. When the lottery ticket ends up being a winner, all hell breaks loose. Despite thinking money would solve their problems (or at least alleviate some of them), the siblings find themselves even more lost. Laura, now an empty nester, is struggling to reconnect with her husband Doug. Sophie attempts to make a go of her fledgling art career, while Noah aimlessly drinks his money away and loans it to anybody who asks. Meanwhile, Matthew is miserable at his job and though he didn't need the money, he is feeling alienated. With their father retired in Florida, they miss their mother’s guidance more than ever.

I have loved every one of Elyssa Friedland’s books that I have read! “Jackpot Summer” is no different. Somehow, she always captures family dynamics SO well, across multiple generations. This story showed how each of their lives were different but ultimately they still were bound together. Amid lots of laugh-out-loud moments, the topic of grief was addressed in the loss of their beloved mother and how their father didn’t know how to be for the kids what she had been. How they faced that was truly heartfelt. Also, I loved how even though they won the lottery, they quickly discovered that money didn’t buy happiness. One other thing I also appreciate from Friedland’s books is the Jewish American representation. Steeped in history and tradition, the “Jackpot Jacobsons” quickly warmed my heart (in between all the laughs!)

I definitely hit the jackpot when I won a giveaway from the author for this book - thank you so much for the autographed copy and lottery tickets. Even if I didn’t win on the scratch offs, I definitely felt lucky to win this book :)

”Jackpot Summer” releases June 11, 2024! This review will be shared to my instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly :)

This was a nice family story. I liked the plot line of the lottery winning to keep the story moving along. VERY outside of my normal reading range, but overall I enjoyed it. Good characters, nice setting, compelling enough plot. For me, who predominantly reads mysteries and thrillers, it's probably a 3 star, but I gave it a 4 star because I think general fiction readers will really like it.

I received a free digital copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Can you imagine winning the Jackpot or Lottery, and what you would do with the winnings? I can certainly imagine if this dream for me came true! Elyssa Friedland, the Author of “Jackpot Summer” has certainly written a “WINNER” , a captivating and enjoyable novel. The Genres for this novel are Contemporary Adult Fiction, Family Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Romance, and Fiction. In this well-written novel, the author enchants us and vividly describes the world of new wealth through a winning jackpot family of different generations. The author describes her colorful and dramatic characters as complex, complicated, quirky, dysfunctional and some that we can relate to.

The four Jacobson adult siblings have been brought up to respect what working hard for money is, and the value of a dollar. The Grandfather, Leo especially stresses that one should work hard and respect money. When three of the four siblings win the Lottery, dramatic chances seem to be on the horizon. Every summer the Jacobson families meet at the New Jersey shore, where Leo’s is selling his home to head for Florida, after his wife passed away. This is the last summer that the Jacobsons will be together at the shore. As they clean out the house, they notice items that remind them of special memories. One of the brothers and his family are already well-to do, and it is questionable if they contributed to the winning ticket. The younger children seem to be dazzled by the money. Is being extremely wealthy the answer and solution or problem in one’s life?

In this witty and thought-provoking novel, Elyssa Friedland discusses the importance of family, friends, community, love and hope. I highly recommend this memorable novel to others.

The four Jacobson kids are back at the family shore house for the weekend. Unfortunately, they are there to clean out the house for their father to sell it after they lost their mother. When Noah heads out to the 7-11, three of the four decide to throw in for some lottery tickets after seeing the jackpot of 262 million. Little did they think that a week later they would be one of 4 people that won the jackpot! After they receive their winnings, the three siblings all handle it differently, but none really handle it well.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…GIVE ME ALL THE JERSEY SHORE BOOKS! There is so much to say in a synopsis of this book, so I just went with the basic of all basics instead! I loved all the Jacobson children and their spouses, even when I didn’t particularly like them. I think we all wonder what would happen if you were to win a massive sum, but history shows that most do not handle it well and end up broke shortly after. This book isn’t just about winning the lottery though. It’s more about family, loss, grief, healing, acceptance, and love. This book was just a damn delight to be honest and I highly recommend it!

Thank you to @berkleypub for my gifted copy of this book!

Summer reading is off to a great start! I really enjoy a messy family drama, and what could make a family messier than a Powerball win that not all the siblings go in on? This was right up my alley. It’s reminiscent of the show Schitt's Creek, where all the characters are messy and dysfunctional, but come together with a lot of heart.

I've loved all of Elyssa Friedland's books, and she is one of the few authors whose work I will happily read, no matter what she writes! I also love that Annette Feldman from her book The Floating Feldmans made an appearance. It’s always delightful when characters from different novels interweave.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

The four Jacobson children reunite for a weekend to clean out and sell the Jersey Shore home they’ve loved since they were children. They are preparing to say goodbye to the home, reminisce about their recently deceased mother, and help their father with his move to a Florida retirement village.

They did not expect to win the lottery that same weekend when three of the four siblings entered a Powerball drawing. But win they do, and when money becomes the focus, the family starts to fall apart.

Why I Liked It: As one of 4 siblings, I particularly loved the dynamics in this story. Anyone from a big family knows the constant texting, side arguments, and inside jokes are very real. I like that their love for each other trumped all in the end.

Thank you, NetGalley and Berkley Pub, for my free book for review.

Ah, the irony of money, meant to alleviate their financial struggles, turning into the very source of sorrow and division among the siblings. As readers, we are given front-row seats to the intricate lives of the siblings—Matthew, Laura, Sophie, and Noah. It's a rollercoaster of entertainment and relatability, delving into their sibling dynamics and their tangled web of relationships with spouses, partners, and offspring. I couldn't help but admire the distinct voice of each sibling.

Amidst the chaos, some moments tickled my funny bone, but also instances that tugged at my heartstrings, especially when the characters had their epiphanies about what truly matters in life.

Overall, it's a heartwarming exploration of family dynamics, a tale that leaves you with a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Is my new goal to become a Elyssa Friedman completist?…it is!!!

Having only read one other I have come to the conclusion she is an auto read… the way she writes a messy family story is my cup of tea!

In the short of it…the Jacobson siblings have come together to clean out their widow fathers home and while reunited three of the four siblings chip in money to buy a lottery ticket… once they realize they won, each of the siblings lives become a little more chaotic then they imagined.

The Jersey Shore is becoming a hotspot in my armchair travel lately and Friedland had painted this destination as a top hotspot for me to visit in my lifetime. A lottery winning!!! That’s a plot I don’t think I’ve read in a book but it was such a fun one to journey through alongside the complex family dynamics.

I’m looking forward to checking out Friedland’s backlist. Jackpot Summer I can totally see myself revisiting! These siblings have a place in my heart!

Thank you Berkley Pub & PRH Audio for this gifted ALC

Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Lyon.brit.Andthebookshelf/

BOOK REVIEW: JACKPOT SUMMER 💰☀️🏡

The four Jacobson siblings go to their beach house on the Jersey shore to help their dad pack up their childhood home after their mom recently passed away. While there, 3 of the siblings buy lottery tickets and despite all odds, WIN! They think the money will solve all their problems, but it actually presents each of them with unique challenges. Lots of interesting and complicated family dynamics in this one!

While this is definitely a unique story, for me it ultimately fell a little flat as I didn’t really connect with any of the four siblings. I enjoyed seeing their growth throughout the book but didn’t feel a strong sense of connection. I have heard so many good things about Friedland’s other book, The Last Summer at the Golden Hotel, so I’ll still give that one a shot!

Big thanks to Berkley for providing this eARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and freely given.

"Jackpot Summer" by Elyssa Friedland is a fun, thought-provoking read. Three of the four Jacobson siblings hit the lottery jackpot, thinking it’ll fix their messy lives, but it ends up causing more chaos. Matthew, Laura, Sophie, and Noah were raised to be frugal, but now as adults, they’re all struggling in different ways. When their dad decides to sell their family beach house, they all come together, and the lottery win just makes things more complicated, bringing out old family issues and personal dramas.

What I love about Elyssa Friedland’s books is how real her characters feel. There’s no perfect happy ending, but everyone ends up in a better place than where they started. Her writing focuses on everyday people, and it’s so relatable. The siblings’ text exchanges were hilarious, and following their individual stories was really engaging. They each have their own flaws but you’ll be rooting for them nonetheless.

I did wish the book went deeper into some of the storylines, though. There was potential for more and I would have enjoyed seeing additional POVs. But overall, "Jackpot Summer" is a great read about family, wealth, and figuring out what really matters.

Overall rating: 4.25 stars

DNF'd at 20%
I was initially looking forward to reading this and even more excited to get a Berkley approval (IYKYN), but this quickly turned into a disaster. First, the chapters were soo long. It's definitely a turn-off for me when it comes to reading. Second, I felt it was extremely wordy and just spewed unnecessary information, and I found it hard to connect to any one character because there was so much go on. The nail in the coffin for me was the sexual content. With this being a book about siblings, I especially don't want to read about porn and masturbation. Gross.
Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for the opportunity to read and review this advanced copy.

This book is about three siblings winning the lottery. One problem. There are four siblings. So, their dad is selling their Jersey Shore beach house and they have gathered to clean it out. While they are there they see a news story about the lottery and decide to go buy some tickets, except their brother Matthew and his wife. Now Matthew and his wife are lawyers and do not "need" the money so who cares, right? This book is a family drama about learning what is important in life and what isn't. This book was a little hard because it is hard to relate to people who just won millions and are not happy. Each chapter is the POV of one of the siblings. The chapters are long. There is a lot going on with each sibling and I enjoyed seeing how their lives changed and of course how they thought it would be the answer to all of their problems and of course it wasn't. I also enjoyed the text exchanges with the siblings. I thought it was an interesting premise for a book and we all have thought about what we would do if we win the lottery but are you sure that is what you would do? And what about all of the sob stories from people that come out of the woodwork? I think it would be a good book club conversation.

Another favorite from Elyssa Friedland! I loved following along with the four Jacobson siblings as three of them win the Powerball and learn that money doesn't always solve your problems, including your relationship with your siblings.

When Laura, Sophie, and Noah hit it big, they think the money will help them out in a number of ways. While their brother Matthew didn't go in on the ticket with them, they grapple with what to do, but figure since Matthew and his wife both have high paying jobs, they don't need the money as much as they do. Once the money is in their hands, they all go in very different directions with it. Laura and her husband spend it on everything they can think of, making up of 20 plus years of penny pinching. Noah, being naive, gives it to anyone who asks, and Sophie is the smartest with it, using it to purchase a new studio space for her art.

I loved having each siblings perspective throughout the book and their group chats to show their relationship. Out of the four siblings, Sophie’s storyline was my favorite, and maybe because I felt I related to her a bit, and I think she had some of the best growth out of the siblings. The characters all have their quirks and they will make you laugh throughout reading, and also sympathize with them as their lives go in all different directions. The Jewish representation was absolutely fantastic, something I can always expect in an Elyssa book!

Jackpot Summer is both funny and poignant – a wild and wooly story of four siblings who suddenly get it all and then realize you can’t buy love.

The Jacobson siblings are living their very ordinary, messy lives when they receive a sudden financial windfall. Of meagre means, they grew up saving money and budgeting down to the last penny, so winning the New Jersey lottery should make everything better than it was. But as wiser people have said, mo' money equals mo' problems.

The usually at odds siblings have only united to help their father, Leo, pack up the family’s summer home on Long Beach Island ahead of his move to Florida. They succeed in cleaning out the house, though it’s an emotional event. Then the lottery win happens, and changes everything. Only three of the siblings go in on the winning ticket together – Laura, Sophie, and Noah. Matthew is the odd sibling out, agreeing with his wife, Beth, that lotteries are a losing game. When the others win millions, he feels left out, to say the least.

While coping with the sudden publicity of the win, fighting over who should own what, blowing their cash, and dealing with their widowed father’s wisely staying out it of it to become a Floridian pickleball fanatic, the siblings also have difficult personal lives to deal with. Laura is a stay at home mom whose Instagram-perfect marriage is close to toast and shredding to pieces in pubic; Sophie is dealing with jealousy as her boyfriend’s art career threatens to eclipse her own; regular guy Matthew hates his well-paying but boring job as a lawyer and loathes that it keeps him away from his family and son, and Noah – he of many failed business ventures – has been living at home and can barely keep himself afloat financially.


The Jacobsons must now figure out what family means, try to fix their lives, figure out what to do with the family home – and do it all by themselves, without their late mom Sylvia to guide them. Who will survive?

The family itself, naturally, though it’s touch and go for a while there. Jackpot Summer does a great job balancing each sibling’s point of view, ladling on observational humor, and not sacrificing honesty and emotion in the process.

Each of the siblings has their flaws, and they’re each worth rooting for. All the while, the book has a great message about how money can’t heal your wounds. Jackpot Summer is laugh-out-loud funny and had me chortling along as things became wilder and well-meaning gestures of kindness fell apart. It’s an easy-breezy beach read that will make you smile as you snuggle within its covers.

My first “summer” read of the season and what a joy it was!

I immediately fell in love with the Jacobsons and their beloved vacation home on the Jersey Shore! I saw a little bit of myself in all of them as they navigated being adults. Matthew, grappling between making the money to give his son everything he’s ever wanted or being home and spending time with him; Laura, who simultaneously lost and found herself in motherhood; Sophie, who didn’t know exactly where she belonged in her career; and Noah, who was just trying to figure out how to exist without his mother and the beach house that cradled so many childhood memories for their family.

This was a heart warming tale of sibling love and self reflection and I loved it!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Berkeley for this advance copy of Jackpot Summer, due out 6/11/24!

I’ve given Friedland’s last 2 books 5 stars, and I’m now thinking that she’s just the author for me. I love how she manages to weave these characters together, and I always love reading about siblings that are drastically different from each other and how the family dynamics play into that. This premise follows 4 siblings, Matthew, Noah, Laura and Sophie, and I loved how each chapter ended with a text thread in their group chat - it was such a fun touch to remind us about their family dynamics. I totally ate this up as a quick summer read!

Thank you SO much to the publishers and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for this review. Pick up Jackpot Summer on June 11th, coming soon!

Elyssa Friedland has been one of my faves ever since I read LAST SUMMER AT THE GOLDEN HOTEL. I adored that book so much and immediately proceeded to purchase Elyssa’s entire backlist 🥰 so it’s probably no surprise that JACKPOT SUMMER was one of my MOST anticipated releases of 2024!

In JACKPOT SUMMER, the Jacobson siblings reunite on the Jersey Shore to help their recently widowed father pack up their childhood home. Each sibling is struggling through life in their own way. Three of the siblings go in on a lottery ticket together and end up winning 💰 surely it will solve all of their problems, right? Wrong… it leads to sibling rivalries and spur-of-the-moment purchases that rapidly drain the winnings.

I’m always a big fan of stories with complicated family dynamics — and boy did this have many! Between the siblings and their father, these characters were all over the place and kept me on my toes. I loved it 😂

I especially enjoyed the siblings’ Fantastic Four group chat. Their banter and antics were so entertaining 👏 I loved the lessons the characters learned along the way and how Friedland brought the story to a close.

JACKPOT SUMMER is a hilariously beautiful story about family and what it means to be lucky.

Jackpot Summer is a delightful summer read full of family drama and a look at the "what if" question. What if I won the lottery? The Jacobson siblings have gathered to help their father clear out the family summer home on LBI (Long Beach Island) after their mother passed away. This location is iconic and the author has done it justice. When three of the four siblings chip in and then win the lottery, everyone's life is affected. While the money brings freedom, it also unearths issues. I really enjoyed the story and seeing how each of the characters reacted to the money. I felt like regardless of whether their choices were good or bad, the characters were relatable and sympathetic. Elyssa Friedland has a way of capturing the feel of a location and group of people. I know that this will be a great summer read, especially for those who have spent time at the Jersey Shore.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Books for the advanced reader copy.