Although this book is billed as a 'beach read', I could not relate to the characters and it did not keep my interest.

This was such a captivating story! It was an excellent summer read. I would love to see it adapted as a limited series or movie.

Summer on the Bluffs by Sunny Hostin is a great book. I so enjoyed that January LaVoy performed the book. She adds so much to a book with her flawless delivery. The book has interesting characters and realistic situations. Thank you #NetGalley and #Harper Audio for allowing me to listen to this book.

I was excited to read Summer on the Bluffs and when I pulled it up to read it, I realized that this was an audio book version. Which I have just discovered is not for me. I did purchase an e*copy and really enjoyed reading it

⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks Netgalley and HarperLuxe for an advance reader of this book.
Coming of age stories are always a favorite of mine. When 3 young ladies are given the opportunity to spend time with Amelia andher husband Omar an externally wealthy couple that summers on Martha Vineyard. You spend a little time getting to know these young ladies before they are full grown women being asked to spend on last summer on the bluff. After the passing of her Omar, Ama is ready to give the home to one of her “goddaughters”. Each of the three girls are at different points in their lives, some with more drama than the others. I never saw the twist in this book coming which is always nice! It was a quick read that kept me Interested.

A beautiful story of how love can create a beautiful life and family does not always have to be blood. By bringing her family she has chosen her three nieces who she raised each summer and mentored throughout their lives to be able to live to their fullest potential. Knowing she was able to give bak to these beautiful girls who build amazing lives for themselves.

QOTD: do you watch any talk shows? I don’t, but I’m a huge podcast listener lately, which I guess is pretty similar.

So, I had no idea who @sunny Hostin was when I started Summer at the Bluffs, but have learned since that she’s most well-known for being one of the hosts of The View.

My favorite thing about her novel was the setting! In fact, I wish I got more detail about it. I’d never heard of The Bluffs before, but after reading some other reviews and doing some of my own Google research found that, “Oak Bluffs is known for being a home to the African-American elite, a history of segregation and classism was prevalent throughout Martha's Vineyard.”

I didn’t love, however, that there were so many characters and storylines to keep track of, which usually I don’t mind. It was hard to appreciate the god-sisters relationships to each other, because there was so much more time spent on their individual stories than intersecting their storylines.

All of that said, I’ll likely read the next book in the series, and OMG how cute is this cover?

Thank you @netgalley for the gifted audio copy!

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Beachy and enjoyable. I'm so glad that this is going to be a series. I also like the perspective that the author brought to the book and the narration of the audiobook was lovely.

I LOVE Sunny from the View and couldn't wait to read this book. The diversity and representation was really special and refreshing. All together this book was great, and I would whole-heartedly recommend!Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for a copy of this audiobook for an honest review.

I received an arc audiobook of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This was my first read by author Sunny Hostin and she is a great writer. I will be looking at her other titles. This book was well written, with strong characters, storyline, and plot. I wanted so badly to find out what happens in the end that sometimes I wish it had moved along faster.

This was not exactly what I thought it was going to be. The cover is a bit misleading. The story was much heavier than I was prepared for. I am not sure if I will read the following novels.
This book is heavy on name dropping, status, wealth, real estate. Family drama with many secrets.

I used to be a big fan of The View and loved hearing Sunny’s opinion on hot topics. She is intelligent, respectful and a little sassy and I really appreciate her views. I was so excited to see this new book from Sunny and was thankful to have received an ARC from #NetGalley.

We clearly do not have enough black representation in either authors or in main characters. And especially in fun beach read stories or stories reflecting, wealthy successful women. I was over the moon excited when I picked up this one.

Unfortunately, this story fell really flat for me. I loved that the characters were black, successful, wealthy women, but past that, the story was very weak. Characters in each chapter had to be described by what they were wearing, from head to toe. Designer names and very specific articles of clothing were mentioned ad nauseam. If it was sprinkled throughout, maybe just at the big events, I could have had fun with that. But it was at the club, or in the coffee shop, or in the office, or at home getting dressed for work, or when someone was seen on the street, any time and all the time. Just too much!

Also, the book referenced other black women in negative ways. Now why would Sunny do that? I just can’t fathom it. One example is a slam against Meghan Markle. Unnecessary. It didn’t move the plot forward, didn’t fit in the storyline and wasn’t necessary. A story about successful black women doesn’t need to detract from other black women. I don’t get it!

The characters themselves started out interesting, but quickly became very shallow shells throughout the book. The story also begins with an interesting theme but then skips around so much that the main thread – which of the goddaughters is going to inherit the house – is completely lost. Like gone.

It was really a mess of a story and by the end, I just didn’t care.

Thank you to #WilliamMorrow and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I am a sucker for all books set in idyllic locations like Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod. This was was not exception. I enjoyed it but felt that something was missing. I liked the relationships between the women and also their relationships with Ama but I wished the backstory of how she got to be their godmother was more developed. I also felt that the racism and colorist themes missed the mark somehow. I think there will me more in this series and I will likely read them but I would not say it was a favorite- fun but not memorable.

Thanks to NetGalley for the Advanced copy of the audiobook.

Summer on the Bluffs by Sunny Hostin
Narrated by January LaVoy
Publisher: Harper Audio
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Women's Fiction
Publication Date: May 4, 2021

Summer on the Bluffs by Sunny Hostin is the first book in the Oak Bluffs series and I am so glad there are more books to come.

I absolutely loved, loved, loved this book! I laughed, I cried, and felt so many emotions. These characters felt so real and alive. At times, this story took my breath away. There was so much depth to this book. I loved discovering the history of this incredible family and seeing how their lives were intertwined. I was mesmerized by this book and couldn't get enough. I can't wait to see what's to come with Oak Bluffs!

The narration by January LaVoy was spectacular! She is a marvel at the spoken word!

I'm so grateful to Sunny Hostin, Harper Audio, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Summer on the Bluffs by Sunny Hostin is the perfect definition of a beach read. It has ultra rich folks, secrets, lies, adultery, and so much drama. The audiobook feels like a friend spilling all the tea about a well known family.

Amelia "Ama" Tanner is the proud owner of a summer home on Oak Bluff an exclusive affluent black beach community along Martha's Vineyard. She is a self made Wall Street millionaire who has more than paid her dues in life. She has spent decades with her husband Omar who truly fell in love at first site with Ama. Though they never had children of their own they have help provide and care for three very unique goddaughters.

All of that changes after Omar's passing when Ama invites her now adult goddaughters for one last summer together on the bluffs where she will decide which of them will inherit the summer home that has been a source of reprieve from life for all of them.

These three goddaughters, Perry, Olivia and Billie are not related and how each came into Ama's life is the culmination of this book. Their connection to her is heartbreaking, captivating and, I have to say for me, jaw dropping. Each woman has a fascinating story of their own from being cheated on, dealing with racism, and the fear of coming out.

The narrator January Lavoy is phenomenal at not only portraying so many distinct characters but in making us feel the emotional journey they each must face.

I wish we spent more time with the beginning of Ama and Omar's love story; especially after learning about Ama's feelings for another before meeting Omar.

There's real life drama, emotions and an element of soap opera dramatics which I devoured like a tidal wave. This is the book everyone will and should be reading this summer.

Summer on the Bluffs is a good story with good characters. I liked that they were all strong females who worked hard despite any inner demons they were wrestling with. While reading, I just wanted a bit more. I didn't feel like I truly knew the women deeply at the end of the book. Sunny Hostin writes well and while I enjoyed the premise of the story, I was hoping she'd go deeper.

This is a great summer/beach read.

Sadly, this book was simply not for me, I was expecting a different kind of book. I did not finish it. The narrator was quite good but the story just was not to my taste.

Perry, Olivia, and Billie are three very different grown women, but they have one thing in common - Ama and her late husband adopted them a “goddaughters.” This summer on Martha’s Vineyard will be Ama’s last summer, so she has invited her three “goddaughters” to Oak Bluffs to see who will inherit the house. The three grown women are all struggling with secrets, and Ama has a few of her own.

I enjoyed this book, but it is a book where you are told a lot of the story vs. experiencing the story. If you like that type of storytelling, you’ll really enjoy Summer at the Bluffs. I’m in a season of my reading life where those books kinda bore me. While I could tell I like the story, I just wasn’t a fan of the way the story was written. It’s definitely a classic beach read. Also, the audiobook is really well done - I enjoyed the narrator.

Thanks to @NetGalley, William Morrow & Custom House, and Harper Audio for my ARC!

This was the book my heart needed this week and I didn’t even know it.

Summer on the Bluffs by @sunny is the first in the new Oak Bluffs series and I can’t wait for more. At the heart of the story is Ama, and her three grown godchildren that Ama and her beloved deceased husband, Omar, helped support and raise in some way. Now Ama is bringing the girls together for a final summer to decide who she will leave the family home on Oak Bluff to. She has invited all three of them to spend the summer with her the way they did when they were kids. Each of the women want the house desperately. Each is grappling with a secret that they fear will make them lose Ama’s approval and the house.

Oak Bluffs is the most exclusive black beach community in the country. Known for its gingerbread Victorian-style houses and modern architectural marvels, this picturesque town hugging the sea is a mecca for the crème de la crème of black society—where Michelle and Barack Obama vacation and Meghan Markle has shopped for a house for her mom. Early on in the book, this west coast girl started googling pictures of Oak Bluffs because Hostin does an amazing job of transporting you there and giving a bit of the history too.

And that’s when I realized why I couldn’t put this story of found family and home down. The love, hope and Black joy celebrated throughout this book made me smile. Stories showing loving, successful Black women thriving are the ones I want to read! Hostin seamlessly weaved in issues of micro-aggressions, racism, and colorism. We learn of each woman’s story and I found myself cheering, and crying, for each godsister. Don’t go in thinking this is just a beach read. It is so, so much more than that! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Audio for the ALC. January LaVoy is one of my favorite narrators and she was excellent for this story.

Amelia Tanner, Ama, is a successful black woman and one of her prized possession is a cottage on the bluffs in an exclusive black community. With no children of her own, over the years she brings three “goddaughters” to the bluffs in the summers and stays in touch throughout the year. Ama’s beloved husband, Omar, with whom she has shared her time with the girls, dies. She is reconnected with a man she once had feelings for and is ready to set off with him. It is time to share her plans for the cottage and how she chose Perry, Olivia, and Billie to be a part of her family. The story is great and the love Ama has for her husband and the girls is natural and heartwarming. The lives they share, the sibling rivalries, and the struggles as black women are insightful. I loved Ama’s knack for cooking, loving, and sharing with those she cherishes. The events of Ama’s life with Omar and the girls are described so well and it is a treat to be among them. The real crux of the story, however, is when Ama reveals how she chose each girl to be a part of her family. This story has wonderful characters, deep descriptions of places to visit, and the true meaning of love and loss.