I devoured Amy Mason Doan's debut, "The Summer List", and was thrilled to get an early copy of "Summer Hours". I love Amy's ability to conjure the sun-washed days of youth and contrast them with the sometimes jaded adults we become, all in flawless prose that keeps you turning the pages. In "Summer Hours", we follow good girl Becc who, while breaking free of her carefree and boundless childhood, makes decisions and finds herself the victim of circumstances that lead to a future her younger self would never have expected. As Becc traces her past and her present, and the effect on her relationships along the way, "Summer Hours" examines how we can reconcile the decisions we make with the people we once thought we were.

Becc, Eric and Serra have been best friends since forever. High school is ending and Becc and Eric won't give into the odd attraction between them. Eric's parents broke up and his mom has a new hot young boyfriend. It's safe to say Eric is carrying a lot of resentment for but when Becc tries to talk to him about his pushes her away. They are now in college, Becc and Serra are still close but Eric is distant. Becc runs into Cal that is no longer with Eric's mom and Becc is tempted to let her miss goodie goodie image behind. I won't spoil this for you but this story is so good and juicy. Becc and Eric's relationship evolution is slow but so worth the wait.

Entertaining,touching and clever. I thoroughly enjoyed this lovely and timely book.
Even though I really, really wanted to peek at the last pages to see what would happen when this road trip ended, I’m so glad I went along for the ride.
Characters, even relatively minor ones, are so intriguing and descriptions of places along the way depicted so vividly that it pays to savor every page of this wonderful novel.
The plot, a gender-swapped nod to The Graduate, is an evergreen story of a good person trying to make it in the real world, and the scenes at her first jobs are so timely as women grapple with #MeToo and the power dynamics of the workplace. But the issues are explored in a subtle way that doesn’t detract from Becc’s extremely-relatable story of love, hopes for the future, and friendship. And her lifelong friendship with Eric, the boy from long-ago who deserves a second look, warmed my heart.
Highly recommended!!

Loved, loved, loved this delightful nostalgic tale of friendship, love, and the impact of choices we make as teens. For fans of stories about the West Coast and stories that make us think of many ""what ifs" from our own lives. Amy Mason Doan is a master of women's fiction, the descriptive and emotional portrayal of family, friendship, love, and choices women make.

Becca, Serra and Eric are best friends in high school, but circumstances lead to an estrangement between Eric and Becca. Both have career aspirations that are not fully realized 10 years after graduation. The story follows them from high school, through college, to a road trip for Serra’s wedding ten years later. Becca is trying to find out who she is, while her relationship with Eric fluctuates. I enjoyed this ARC from Netgalley, and recommend for readers of women’s fiction.

Sometimes the things one does as a teenager can affect everything in your life thereafter. This is something Becc discovers as her choices affected her longtime friendship with Eric and tempers her everyday life. Summer Hours weaves a story of the past as they play against the present in Becc’s life.

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of this wonderful novel. There is so much to love about The Summer Hours. The characters are well-drawn and complex, the setting up and down the west coast took me on a glorious trip, and the story felt nostalgic and familiar. This is a story about growing up, coming of age, and learning to balance ambition with happiness—but above all it's really a story of the one who got away. This central theme along with the myriad of movie and song references had me thinking about my high school experiences and how things could have been different, what ifs playing through my head as I kept reading to see how Becca's affair with an older man, Cal, would affect her relationship with her high school best friend, Eric. Would Becca and Eric find each other or would her decision change the course of her life forever? I love that Doan used her experience as a journalist to create Becca's career—I learned so much about working as a journalist along the way. You are in a for a luscious summer treat with this confection of a novel. Now I need to go back and read The Summer List!

This novel is perfect for anyone who has ever thought they should have their life completely figured out and put together by 25, anyone who spent their younger years chasing an unrealistic ideal, or anyone who was a teen in the 1990s. Great story, relatable characters, and it kept me up till 1 am because I was dying to find out what happened.