I don't know what kind of magic Annabel Monaghan puts in her writing, but she's done it again. I read Nora Goes Off Script earlier this year and couldn't put it down. Same Time Next Summer wove the same spell over me.

Same Time Next Summer tells the story of Sam and Wyatt, kids who spent their summers together at neighboring beach houses. The story is told in two timelines with a then and now section. Sam is returning to the summer house for the first time with her fiancée and is shocked when she finds Wyatt next door like no time has passed. As the book progresses we learn what happened 14 years ago and what happened the summer they fell in love.

This book was a romance, but it was also about reflecting and rediscovering yourself. Sam was an easy character to root for and I loved watching her reconnect with her family and her true self. I loved the dual timeline point of view and felt the author did a great job of mingling the past with the present.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for a review copy. I can't wait for her next one!

Just the perfect summer beach read! Annabel Monaghan weaves a fun love story. I look forward to her next book!

This latest book by Annabel Monaghan can be best described as charming. Sam and Wyatt’s relationship wasn’t without its complications but watching it unfold (or reading it) was heartwarming. You could feel the chemistry between these two characters. This was a past lovers, love reignited, second chance love story. Absolutely loved this book.

Annabel Monaghan is an author who redeemed herself in my eyes. Same Time Next Summer was lightyears better than her previous book. Beach town? Second chance romance? The characters developed really nicely over the story, however I wish there was a little more in the flashback scenes. This was still a really nice romance that made feel all warm and gooey inside

Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan is the story of Sam and Wyatt and how you can recapture the love of youth despite misunderstandings and hurts. Sam and Wyatt grew up together and fell in love but circumstances cause their separation. The book focuses on both time frames--youth and adulthood and I enjoyed both settings. You can see the plot points coming at you but the author makes the journey an enjoyable one. This is a good summer read.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion. This book is available for purchase now.

This was a cute and easy summer read. I loved that. It was set on Long Island and the emphasis on just the feeling of summer and being a teenager and growing up and falling in love during this sweet summertime. It made me want to find a beach home and start summer traditions with my family there.

My hearts soared watching Sam revisit the place that she spent so much time as a child, and remembering who she was at her core. I think that was such an important lesson, and I think that was shared beautifully. I wish there was more about Wyatt shared so we could fall in love a little more with his character, and even his relationship with Sam. My only wish is that there was more time to dive into Wyatt and Sam’s new relationship, so we could truly fall in love with them throughout this book. But other than that it was an easy summer read and definitely heartwarming!

If summer reading was a book, this is it. I loved NGOS and the second chance romance here was literally the perfect summer story! Keep ‘em coming please!!

“I am in a bit of a dream state. I didn’t realize it until now, but while I have been getting myself together, I have also been waiting for this. On some level, I hoped that if I came back to myself, Wyatt would come back to me too. Sam I am, and vice versa.”

This book was so nostalgic and I loved it so much. Think the Summer I Turned Pretty series but Belly and Conrad don’t speak until they are in their 30s and she’s getting married to someone else.

Sam and Wyatt were incredibly wholesome and very much the “I have always been in love with you” couple. They grew up together during the summer and their relationship developed overtime. Until something happens and Wyatt pulls away, leaving Sam reeling.

So when Sam is back on Long Island with her now fiancée, the last person she wants to see if Wyatt. Her first love and someone who once she sees again, occupies too much space in her head.

I enjoyed how the book went from past to present. I think the flow was really natural and it kept me captivated the entire time (I read this book in one sitting). This book is the perfect summer read for people who want to believe that the one that got away could be the one that comes back for forever. (

I love dual timelines especially when one is a nostalgic flashback to highschool, but this one didn't work for me. It didn't feel real. I didn't feel the connections. I didn't feel the angst of wanting a couple to get together. I feel like show, don't tell makes sense. I just didn't feel the emotions or reasoning of the characters.

4 1/2 stars

What a wonderful second chance romance! I really enjoyed this one. Sam is checking off the boxes in her checklist called life. Engage - - check but not to who she planned on marrying when she was younger. No that would have totally been Wyatt, her first love and next door neighbor at the shore. The very same person who she hasn't spoken to in years but is coming face to face with all of a sudden after all this time. But it will be fine because she's engaged and Wyatt doesn't hold any power over her anymore. Right? Sure.

This book did a nice job of balancing the back and forth between the time periods so you could learn how Sam and Wyatt fell in love and then eventually fell apart. It was so heartbreaking - - especially when you realize just how much could have been fixed if they would have spoken to each other. But too much time passed and then it just became more complicated.

I think this book really speaks to the subject of never really forgetting your first love. It also should make people realize life is short and to not waste time. If you love someone, tell them.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced review copy of “Same Time Next Summer” by Annabel Monaghan. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really liked ‘Nora Goes Off Script’ and this book proved to be a similar fast read that I didn’t want to put down. It had wonderful summer vibes and would be a great beach read.

The story follows Sam as she plans to get married. But when she visits her family beach house as a potential wedding location, she has to face her past in the form of her first love. While the angst was there, I’m not a fan of books that set up infidelity like this. I really didn’t like this element and wish there had been some other conflict keeping Sam and Wyatt apart. Honestly there was enough tension from what happened in the past that I wish that had been the focus on them healing from all those issues. The story is told in present timeline and flashbacks. Sometimes stories can struggle with this element but I thought it was well done and I liked being in both timelines. I was very curious about why Sam and Wyatt fell apart and it kept me turning the pages to find out what happened.

4/5 stars

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of this summer read! I read Nora Goes Off Script last year and it was good, but I think I loved this book more! The transformation the characters make throughout the story was easy to follow, understand, and made me root for certain characters! The family dynamics and how they intertwined was also intriguing. I love the idea of growth from young love and the idea of the main character finding her purpose. This was a book I wanted to keep reading and not put down, I wanted more! I truly loved this story.

There’s something about Monaghan’s writing that feels like coming home. It’s a comfort hug that gives you room to breathe. The breath of fresh air that accompanies a summer vacation.

Returning to the town you grew up in can come with a lot of anxieties – especially when exes are involved, and Monaghan capture this perfectly for Sam as she returns home to a small Long Island town with her now fiancé to find a venue for their wedding. But the last thing she planned for was running into her first (and potentially only‽) true love, Wyatt, who is the perfect boy-next-door who made her heart race years ago.

I loved the concept of this book. That Sam, a people-pleaser (relatable, right?), spent years cultivating a persona that she felt was “perfect”. That made her feel as though her life was on track. But all it takes is a visit home (the one place she could ever truly be herself) and a run-in with her first love (the only person to ever truly accept her for who she was at heart) to start questioning everything she had come to know as acceptable in her life.

Suddenly, with adult conversations that allow for clarification of childhood misunderstandings, Sam and Wyatt are able to better understand one another, what drove them apart, and just what each person has been up to in one another’s absence. But with Wyatt back in her life, Sam can’t seem to settle back into the life she crafted for herself anymore. It doesn’t feel right.

I loved everything about this book. I loved that the miscommunication largely happened in the past, that the awkward run-ins with ghosts from your past felt genuine and realistic, and that the ability to completely reinvent yourself (again) in your thirties is entirely possible and something you shouldn’t fear or shy away from. I cannot recommend this book enough!

Tropes:
- Second chance romance
- First love
- Self-discovery
- Girl/boy next door
- It’s always been you
- Small town
- Beach read

Ever since Wyatt broke her heart, Sam has been a different person. The girl that loved spending the summer at the beach, speaking her mind, and being impulsive has been replaced with an engaged woman who likes for things to be predictable and steady (or, some may say, boring). Sam brings her fiancee Jack to her family beach house for what should be a short trip so that they can check out a wedding venue to appease her parents. Only Wyatt is back at the house next door, playing music and bringing out some parts of who she used to be, along with her little sister.

This story is told from the perspectives of "then" and "now," so the relationship between Sam and Wyatt is given piece by piece and you don't get to know the whole story of their breakup until near the end. I did not particularly care for "now" Sam at first - who changes their whole personality after being hurt by their first love and manages to stay on that path for over a decade? I didn't like Jack either, but the reasons I didn't like him were the reasons Sam had chosen him - he was dependable (aka boring and rigid) and he would basically explain why his choice was the correct one whenever they chose something different so she'd back down. While I could see why Sam fell in love with "then" Wyatt, the now version seemed a lot more detached. Which makes sense considering that Sam is engaged to another man. Once we find out what happened between Sam and Wyatt to cause their breakup, I was completely hooked! I loved to see Sam and Wyatt both opening back up and Sam's relationship with her dad improving. This is a fantastic summer read and I'm looking to go back and check out some of the author's previous books.

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Long story short, this book was every freaking thing!! I loved it so much. This is the perfect summer read that we’ve all been craving. It will drawn you in right from the start and you won’t want to put it down.

I normally have hard time connecting with a love story when one of the main characters has a fiancé for a majority of the book but I just wanted them together SO bad!!! Wyatt and Sam had my heart from the very beginning. This is perfect for people who loved Love and Other Words. I laughed, I smiled, I cried, I felt all the feels. I would have loved to see more of Sam and Wyatt together, but that’s really the only change I’d have made. This was my first book by Annabel, but definitely not the last!

Sam hasn’t seen her first love, Wyatt in 14 years. Their breakup devastated her and left her questioning everything she thought she knew. She’s finally gotten her life back on track with the perfect job, the perfect fiance, and an easy predictable life. She returns to Long Island for the first time since that fateful summer 14 years ago, only to find Wyatt next door. Being back at the place where the first fell in love and actually seeing Wyatt brings back so many memories for Sam. It leaves her questioning if she should give up her stable, safe life for this man who makes her feel like no one else ever has.

I really enjoyed this second chance romance. The flashbacks to then were full of teenage angst and perfectly captured that feeling of first love. Then compared with the “now” chapters it was easy to see how both Sam and Wyatt changed and grew up. In both timelines, I loved them together. There’s something special about romances where the characters quite literally grow up together, and this story had all of that magic. The one thing I struggled with was how long it took Sam to realize which man to be with. It was so clearly obvious to me and took her way too long to shake things up and make a change. Overall, this was a cute summer read.

Thank you to Putnam Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.

A cute and fun, light summer romance that focuses more on nostalgia and a sweet love story than on cringey romance tropes.

I’m not typically a romance reader, so I tend to only get interested if the story has another aspect to it that strikes my fancy. In this case it’s summer beach nostalgia, and while the book is lighter on sense of place and beachy nostalgia than I would have preferred, it’s a fun read for summer.

I appreciate that this never gets too maudlin or overwrought in the way that many romances do, and the protagonist and her family and lovable and charming.

There’s some ridiculousness that’s tough to ignore (this woman’s job situation is absurd on pretty much every level, the therapist she goes to should probably be brought before the board, and Wyatt actually mistreats her more than Jack does in ways that I think absolutely matter), but if you can get past that stuff, it’s likable and well-paced enough to forgive some silliness.

PERFECT SUMMER READ!!!!! This is a fun, entertaining and above average romance novel with some drama and smiles and bringing some much needed feel good factor.
When Sam and her fiancé Jack head back to her family's Long Island beach house in search of a nearby wedding venue, she is thrown for a loop when it turns out her first love Wyatt has returned as well. As she and Wyatt begin to reconnect, Sam is confronted with the memories of all that she shared with him and finds herself torn between her past and her present.
A huge thanks to NetGalley and especially to Hodder and Stoughton for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

This was a cute if not predictable, clean romance! I loved Nora Goes Off Script, so this one was a bit of a letdown for me, but there were still things to enjoy about it.

I loved the setting; it's set on Long Island at a family beach house and invokes the feeling of summer and long days at the beach as you're reading. The narrative jumps back in forth from the present day, where Sam and Wyatt are adults, to their summers together as teenagers. I was especially swept into the current-day timelines because I wanted to see how things would pan out.

I wanted more depth from this story. The book is already pretty short, and I wanted more from present-day Wyatt. It felt predictable and did feel like it veered into YA territory. But, overall, a quick and breezy summer read that goes by fast and drops you into a summer setting.

Same Time Next Summer was a light-hearted, quick read. I enjoy a second chance romance. Not much spice!