I enjoyed this book and really wanted to "love" it but there were a couple of aspects of the structure of the story that prevented me from giving this a rave review. The book focuses on the friendship between Keely and Isabelle, two young woman who grew up together and also grew apart together. Both have dreamed about becoming writers when they grew up. Where Keely grew up in a middle class home, Isabelle grew up in an affluent family who traveled often. Keely has been infatuated with Isabelle's brother Sebastian for as long as she can remember. I understood the puppy love that Keely felt for Sebastian but had a difficult time understanding her continued attraction to him as an adult. Sebastian's character was never truly fleshed out and he seemed to pop in and out of the story without us ever getting a clear picture of his thoughts and intentions. There was very little development of Keely and Sebastian's relationship at an adult level so I wasn't very vested in whether they eventually would get together. I think that the story would have been much stronger romantically if Keely and Sebastian had some basis for an adult relationship beyond unrequited childhood emotions. As the story progresses, Isabelle seems to grow more selfish and vengeful. Some of her actions are unforgivable. I feel that the story was meant to show how these two women could find places in each-other's lives as adults as well as mutual forgiveness. However, the character of Isabelle never seemed to grow as a person and even at the end seemed rather selfish. I couldn't root for their friendship because I didn't feel that Isabelle was a person I would want to be friends with. Although the book was enjoyable, it could have been much deeper with some additional character development.

Nancy Thayer is one of my top "summer read" authors and Surfside Sisters has everything (and more) from a book to tote along on your next vacation - be it to the beach or your cozy couch.

Isabelle and Keely are best friends from almost the first moment they met and grow up together on the magical island of Nantucket. They stick through thick and thin until Isabelle's high school sweetheart comes between them and Keely decides to leave the island and move to New York to pursue her burgeoning writing career.

This was a super quick read for me and I hated to put it down when I had to. While I was completely engrossed in the book, I did find that there were bits I felt that were glossed over and could have been more flushed out.

Overall this is a perfect summer read and one of Nancy Thayer's best to date. If you love Nantucket, beaches or just a good book about friendship and love, this is it!

I always enjoy Nancy Thayer's “beach read” novels that take you away to her Nantucket setting. In “Surfside Sisters”, Keely and Isabelle are childhood best friends growing up in Nantucket whose lives we follow over the years into adulthood. The novel follows the ups and downs of their relationship, but also focuses on other relationships the girls have. The story is told from Keely’s point of view, so she is really the primary main character as we also closely follow her relationships with her family and dating life, and her journey to becoming a writer. I think the books develops the characters fairly well for a book spanning over the course of many years. Overall, it was an enjoyable story. It wasn’t my favorite of Nancy Thayer’s books (it wasn’t quite as focused on the “beach life” of Nantucket) but it was a nice, light-hearted read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an advanced copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good beach read! A story of friendship, and life. Ups and downs, and a realistic story line! I loved this book.

3.75 Stars. I recieved this as an uncorrected proof from Netgalley. Thank you!
So Isabelle and Keely have been friends since they were kids. This is all about their ups and downs, growing up, boyfriends, family and their love of writing. All in all it was an enjoyable read, but I never really connected with the 2 main characters. The storyline was relatable with the growing apart as you age, and I loved hearing about her struggles as a writer.

*****Surfside Sisters is a story about the ups and downs of a friendship between two women that began in childhood. Keely and Isabella were inseparable until high school. Both had a burning desire to write. Isabella’s family was wealth; Keely’s family middle class, plus Isabella had a brother...a beautiful brother that Keely has crushed on for years. Their relationship began to change in high school when the boy Isabella likes asks Keely out. Things really change once the girls get to their respective colleges and then Keely’s father dies. Keely must give up college to help her mother keep the family home, and Isabella is selected into a writing program Keely desperately wanted. Told from Keely’s point of view, Nancy Thayer has written a wonderful book about the connection these two continue have in spite of disappointments, betrayals, jealousy, romances and life in general. The story, centered on Nantucket, is not one this reader wanted to put down. I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book. Most highly recommend.

Nantucket may have been a beautiful place to grow up, but Kelly had always longed for fame and bright lights. She found them as an author in New York City, along with a picture perfect fiancée, a doctor. But life feels hollow and when Keely’s latest book is rejected by an editor, she decides to return home to try to ground herself. It won’t be an easy trip though, Keely’s best girlhood friend Isabelle, has committed the ultimate betrayal with Keely’s high school boyfriend. That, coupled with Keely’s mothers psychological problems don’t appear to make for a very relaxing trip, but everything changes when she encounters Isabelle’s brother, Sebastian

Best friends on Nantucket, Kelly and Isabelle face the perils of growing up. Both have plans to become writers but life is not always as you like it. Lots of romance, heartache and a great Nantucket ending. You will not want to put this book down. Great summer read!!

Move over Elin Hilderbrand, this is my first reading of Nancy Thayer and I do not know why I waited so long to read her novel. I flew through this book in 2 days and honestly this is one of the better books I have read so far this year. She twists an enticing tale of love, betraying friends and want. She also made me loathe one of the main charaecters, Isabelle, because she was just so frustrating. You will be cheering Kaylee on the whole story, I promise! So happy I got this book early!

Oh how I look forward to a new Nancy Thayer book every year, and I am never disappointed. Nantucket is the place I want to be. Ms. Thayer's characters are believable and likable. Their challenges are real. Now I'm going to do what I always do when I finish reading her latest book. Read it again.

Main Thoughts:
I love a good Nancy Thayer - she is one of my favorite beach/summer/feel-like-I-live-on-an-island author and this book did not disappoint. I enjoyed the arc of the book, I felt engaged for most of the text, and the plot felt new (and not like your stereotypical beach read).

That being said - throughout the whole novel it felt like something was missing. I love Thayer because she always does such a good job of developing the plot and her characters - and parts of the book definitely felt glazed over.

While it won't be on my list of Favorite Beach Reads or Nancy Thayer books - I would certainly read it again!

Things I Loved:
This novel had a great arc - I loved that it took place over a number of years and allowed for us to see the characters progress through multiple major life moments.

I also enjoyed the multiple settings - as much as I love reading about Nantucket it was nice to see the book take place in a few different locations.

The supporting characters - I always feel like Thayer does a good job of creating supporting and not secondary characters. In other words, the characters surrounding the main characters always feel developed and just as important as the main characters. She delivered on this - as usual!

Things I Didn't Love:
As usual, many of the things which I loved were also things I struggled with. While I liked that the story took place over multiple years, it sometimes felt like some of the bigger life events were glazed over. There were certain moments in the story where I wish Thayer had dug a little deeper - and developed them out a little more.

One of my favorite things about Thayer's novels is her ability to create incredibly nuanced characters (beyond the stereotypical) who have striking relationships. I felt like two of the main characters, Lara and Isabelle, had a rather flat relationship. While I enjoyed understanding each character on her own, the storyline of their relationship felt a little stereotypical and repetitive. There were moments in the novel when it felt developed and other moments when it felt disjointed and rather surface level.

Nancy Thayer characters are so believable, you’re immediately drawn into their world, and invested in their life. Set in Nantucket and NY, Surfside Sisters follows the life of two best friends who grow up together and want the same dream of becoming a published author. From childhood to their late twenties this novel tells the story of their friendship and their dreams. The ending is a little pat but overall a great read.

5 stars. Like all Nancy Thayer books, Surfside Sisters was an indulgence. It’s not often that a book touches your mind and your soul. I read the book in one sitting. The book is based on a friendship between a rich girl and a poor girl over 20+ years in Nantucket. The characters were well developed and will stick with you beyond the end of the story. The story flowed well and the ending tied up the story perfectly . A must read.

I have always wanted to read a book by Nancy Thayer and I am so excited that I took a chance on this one. Now I want to grab all her back list copies and devour them like I did this one! This book dives into the intricacies of friendships and it's fallout's. The author writes with knowledge and care and makes readers feel as if they are a part of the story. I think this is the perfect summer read and everyone going to the beach this summer should pack it in their beach bag!

I always enjoy a Nancy Thayer book set in Nantucket and this is a nice summer read. Keely and Isabelle grew up together on Nantucket and were the closest of friends. As they matured through the ages, their friendship hit typical road bumps including young love, career aspirations, and adult relationships. This is the story of their friendship and growth and challenges.
To me, the prologue of the book was awkward and threw me off from the beginning. After I got done with the book, I even went back and looked at the prologue again, because I think it initially set my mind in a different direction than where the book started. I would just start with Chapter 1!

A story of friendship and betrayal and following your dreams. Keely and Isabelle dream of being writers growing up together on Nantucket but family and men get in the way. Is it possible to be friends and envy what the other has?

This lovely novel is a realistic saga of friendship between two best friends who dream as children of becoming published authors. From childhood into teen years, their lives are parallel yet opposite due to the wall wealth can build between people. As adults, the two allow envy to cause estrangement with touches of revenge when one achieves inclusion in a prestigious writer’s group while the other becomes a published author. The setting of the Nantucket beach mirrors the eternal churning turmoil between true friends whose lives remain intertwined with a piece of their hearts yearning to repair the friendship. Family ties, death, illness, career, marriage, birth—all occur causing each a range of choices and reactions. In the end, With both truly bound to the island by family and the men they love, the friends are able to reestablish their friendship with the very thing that drove a wedge between them—a local writer’s critique group. Through their love of words, they overcome the evils of jealousy and regain the strong gift of friendship between two writers that only others who share the same dream of becoming published authors truly understand.