This was a beautiful story about two people who just can’t get their timing right.

“Summer After Summer” they give it another chance, with years in between.

I love the way the timeline is set out. Lauren takes us from the present to the past and back again.
I feel like everything plays on your emotions so much more that way.

When her family home in the Hamptons sells, she decides to head home to help get it ready for the new owner. It’s the summer, she won’t be teaching, and her marriage is in shambles anyway so why not.

But he’s there. Again.

And there might also be a snake or two in the grass…

Overall this was a light-hearted and sweet love story that gave me “The Summer I Turned Pretty” and “Every Summer After” vibes 🥰

I really enjoyed this modern take on a Jane Austen novel.

Olivia, the main character, leaves New York and a failing marriage to return to her family home in the Hamptons. After years of financial irresponsibility, her father has been forced to sell the home that has been in the family for generations. Since neither of her sisters has done much to help, Olivia has taken on the job of sorting through everything left in the house, including her late mother’s things. I think the author did a great job portraying not just the main characters, but also the secondary characters, as real, multi-dimensional people.

I really liked Olivia and was rooting for her and Fred, who became the love of her life when she was a teenager. Every 5 years, they would come together, but for a variety of reasons, they were never able to stay together for long. I was rooting for them to have finally grown and changed enough to make it together for the long haul.

The book has romance, some mystery, and a bunch of basically decent people in a small-town setting. I think the author did a great job bringing the book to a satisfactory conclusion. I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator did a great job.

I received a complementary copy of this audiobook. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Title: Summer After Summer by Lauren Bailey

Release Date: May, 7th, 2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Stars

Olivia Taylor returns to the Hamptons to help her family pack up their estate amidst her failing marriage to Wes and financial troubles. Despite feeling like she's running away, Olivia takes charge of the situation, as she always has. A lucrative offer to buy their property means saying goodbye to her childhood home and memories.
Olivia's history with Fred, her first love, resurfaces as they meet again after five years. Despite multiple failed attempts at romance, Olivia believes things could be different now. Both have changed, and Olivia hopes the fifth time will bring them the happiness they've longed for.

"Summer After Summer" by Lauren Bailey presents readers with an enchanting romance brimming with opportunities for love to bloom anew. Against the picturesque backdrop of the Hamptons, we follow Olivia Taylor as she returns home to assist her family during a tumultuous period marked by marital strife and financial challenges. The resurgence of her connection with Fred, her first love, adds layers of depth to the narrative as they navigate the intricacies of rediscovering love.

While the novel boasts a heartwarming storyline and lovable characters, some may find the pacing a tad sluggish at times, detracting from the overall reading experience.

Nonetheless, This a a great tale of love, redemption, and personal growth, ensuring that "Summer After Summer" remains a compelling choice for fans of contemporary romance.
Despite potential pacing issues, "Summer After Summer" remains a gratifying and engaging read that encapsulates the essence of second chances in matters of the heart.

I listened the audiobook narrated by Megan Tusing, whose adept portrayal of various characters made it easy to differentiate between them, even as they aged.


Thank you to The Publisher Dreamscape Media, The Author Lauren Bailey & NetGalley for an advanced reader copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest review.

Tropes:
Second chance
Teenage ❤️
Their timing is never right
Opposites attract
Jane Austen adaptation of Persuasion

This is a review ONLY for the Persuasion obsessed people.

I am sucker for Persuasion adaptations. I have read 3 or 4 of them just the year. I love all Persuasion adaptations. But this one is a no for me. I feel like the author and I read different versions of Persuasion.

In this adaptation, Anne is Olivia. She is going through a divorce while her family is retranching from their house in the Hamptons. Wentworth is Fred, a boy who went into the army to be able to afford school and that's how we got rich.

I feel that a couple of the changes made in this book kind of defeat the main plotline of the real persuasion. The first one is that Olivia and Fred reconnected at different points in time (every 5 years). So where is the guarantee that this time it will stick? Second, Fred is super toxic in this version. Most of the times that they get together he is trying to convince her to quit her career (Is that how the author sees Wentworth in the original Persuasion?), maybe in the original he is pushy at first, but nor later, in the adaptation I was rooting for her to be single in the end. This isn't what you want from a Persuasion adaptation. The second one is that Anne having a previous takes away from the idea that she was pining for him for all these years, which is a major plot in persuasion!

I received the audiobook of this book as an ARC and the narrator is amazing! She does an amazing job of interpreting different characters.

This book is told in alternating timelines, between 2023 (present day) and summers starting in 2003, then every 5 years thereafter. There were parts of this book that I really liked, and parts that I didn’t like so much. There a few different storylines that run through this book. The first (and the best one) is the storyline surrounding Olivia and her family dynamics - as she grows up throughout, sorts through family possessions getting her family house ready to sell, and revisits her memories of her mother, who died when she was young. There is a minor thread about her tennis career throughout those years, but I really felt no connection to this thread; I actually wish the writing had us hoping for her success, and rooting for her, but it felt more like a job than a passion. The last one - Olivia’s “love story” with Fred, I just found exhausting; the connection really didn’t seem strong enough to really even warrant reconnecting as they seem to do.

The narrator of this audiobook was great - she did a great job with telling the story in such away that made it a little more enjoyable to me. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but she definitely added something!

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

A second chance summer romance between a Tennis star and the English boy she fell in love with as a girl. Perfect for fans of books like Every summer after by Carley Fortune and great on audio. This was a fun, entertaining beach read full of drama and romance. Definitely worth picking up this summer if you're in the mood for a light-hearted read. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

3.5 stars. This was a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s book Persuasion. The right relationship is driven away initially by family and then always at the wrong time.

The story is set over a 20 year time frame mostly on the beach of the Hampton’s. The narrator did a great job with the reading and voice changes of the different characters over the years.

The characters are likeable and I felt invested in Olivia and Fred’s journey right from the beginning. There were times when I felt Olivia was emotionally immature for her age and her decisions were a little annoying - but it could be why she needed to wait until later in life to be with the right person.

This would be a great summer beach read!

Thank you Net Galley, Lauren Bailey, and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to preview this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This alternating timeline focuses on a young love that remains in Olivia's life. I wish it had more of their first summer together and why they clicked instantly, but focused more on the missed connections later in life.

The ending was a bit predictable as it was very clear that some people were just in relationships for the money and not love. There's constant threads throughout that show that they don't care about the person they are with but rather the money they can bring in and offer.

Overall, I think that this book has the recipe to be great, but misses the mark just short.

Another 2024, 5 ⭐️. This book releases in May, and it is going to be well loved.

It is set in several time periods: 2023 and from 2003, 2008, 2013 and follows Olivia and the two loves in her life Fred and Wes.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Exploration of love and resilience. Olivia's journey of self-discovery delves into the intricacies of forgiveness, second chances, and the enduring power of hope. It's a testament to the author's skill that there are moments of profound beauty and heartwarming simplicity even amidst the turmoil.

A bingeable beach read following Fred and Olivia throughout the years as they try to make their on and off romance work. I enjoyed the two timelines and how they propelled the story. If you’re looking for a quick cute summer read, this is it!

When listening to this book, it felt pretty similar to the tone and immaturity that I felt when reading The Summer I Turned Pretty series.

The story flips between different 5 year periods in the main characters' lives, starting from 16 years old to mid 30s. Because there was so much jumping between past and present, it felt like there was a major lack in development of the characters over time and rather than focusing on their growth, there was a lot of focus on milestones (such as Olivia's tennis career) that didn't necessarily add to the plot aside from location convenience.

I wanted to be able to feel more butterflies and sparks from Olivia and Fred, I just didn't get that raw emotion.

This one wasn't for me, but I would recommend it if you're seeking a quick beach read and like Jane Austen, as this is a modern retelling of Persuasion.

This book is a mix of second chance romance with a hint of family drama. This book felt like November 9th mixed with a beachy high society book. This book follows Olivia who is on the brink of divorce as she goes back to her hometown as her dad is selling their family home. As her and her sisters are boxing up their past she finds out the ex whose always been "the one who got away" is the man buying their house.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. I found myself wanting to know as much as humanly possible about the couple I was rooting for. The one downside to this book is that it takes a while to get information. And you are rooting for a couple when you don't know why they broke up let alone broke up multiple times. That being said I do understand why it is written that way, it definitely kept me reading all day. Haha! The break ups (each one - and there are multiple) feel a little childish especially when they are older. The first time I understood but the second one? Very frustrating. The jumping back and forth between the past and present kept the story moving and II definitely was invested. I would rate this book a 3.5 but I will round up to a 4!

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a beach romantic read. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. This book is perfect! Summer after Summer is a retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion. It had duel timelines, which I love. It was a modern take on a classic and I LOVED IT.

Summer After Summer was my first "beach read" of the season. The story was good but I found there was something missing for me and I could not fully get into the story. I am not sure if it was my mood but, I just felt "meh" when listening to it. The narrator's voice was easy to listen to.

Thank you Net Galley, Lauren Bailey, and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to preview this audio book and the opinions expressed are my own.

Summer After Summer took me on a heartfelt journey as Olivia navigates the bittersweet nostalgia of returning to her family’s summer getaway in the Hamptons, where they are needing to pack it up as it is being bought by none other than her first love, Fred..
As Olivia grapples with the decision to sell the cherished property, her reconnection with first love Fred added an extra layer of emotional depth.
The audio format enhances the experience for me as I am attempting to try more audiobooks, and this one was easy for me to follow.
I found this book to be a perfect blend of nostalgia and romance, As I had hoped it would be.
I would recommend it as an enjoyable listen that will leave you longing for your own summer love story.
I believe this is the author’s debut novel, and I would look forward to reading/listening to more from her.

Thankyou to author Lauren Bailey, Alcove Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this book ahead of The publishing date.
Charlene 🤗📚🌸 @lastnownext

Modern interpretation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. It’s rather slow in the beginning. I wasn’t captivated by the story until the halfway point but after I thoroughly enjoyed it. Narrator was quite good. If you like modern Austen interpretations, you’ll like this book.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher.

I enjoyed the start of this book and I loved the ending but overall I felt kind of bored and meh throughout the book. I didn’t fall in love with any of the characters or the settings and I wonder if that would have been different if I had read the physical book. I don’t think I clicked with the narrator’s voice unfortunately. Overall I will recommend this book to anyone looking for a light summer read.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media & NetGalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed my time listening to this audiobook, it was like being transplanted to summer in the Hamptons!

This story is told in alternating timelines when Olivia and Fred met, and their current life. Usually alternating timelines can get confusing, but this one was executed perfectly. I loved seeing the beginning of how Fred and Olivia met, while still rooting for their eventual happy ever after.The story and world building was great, and I enjoyed getting to know all the characters.

This book totally felt like “The Summer I turned pretty” but the adult version. Full of love, loss, healing, the beach, fireworks, and fabulous summer parties, this is the perfect book to binge this summer! I highly recommend adding this book to your beach bag!

*My only complaint about the audiobook reading was that when the narrator would say something she was thinking she would make her voice go very low, and it was super hard to hear what she was saying during these parts (especially when driving in the car).