I love, love, LOVED Annabel Monaghan's Nora Goes Off Script, and Same Time Next Summer delivers the same crisp, evocative writing style I fell for. I think the author packs a lot into a shorter word count, which I appreciate. This is a story of second chance romance, with childhood sweethearts finding their way back to each other. That is the beauty and the problem with this book.

The first half had me feeling a bit too much déjà vu to Every Summer After and Love and Other Words, BUT the second half redeemed it, and I would recommend this even if you've read the aforementioned books. Same Time Next Summer made me want to feel the beach salt on my skin, peel off any rigidity to which I've succumbed, and get back in touch with a more youthful version of myself. This is a quick read you'll want to savor.

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader copy to review! I enjoyed it.

3⭐️ First I would like to say thank you to NetGalley and Putman Books for the eARC of this story. I was very excited to read this book as second chance romance is my absolute favorite. Although sadly i didn’t like it as much as i had wished i did. This story follow Sam who is engaged and working a job she hates in NYC. For most of her life she went to a beach house in Long Island which is where she met Wyatt. Obviously they caught feelings and dated for a while until things went bad. Now she’s back at the beach house after years to visit venues for her wedding but she runs into Wyatt. I feel that this book and plot had so much potential but it was honestly very bland. I feel like the characters didn’t really have anything to them and it was all very rushed. It feels like the whole story needed a moment to step back and breathe and actually plan out where it wanted to go. Overall it was a very quick read and I recommend it if you’re in look for second chance romance.

I’m really excited to see the cover for this book,
I liked the story a lot. One thing I wished for was more memories from the summers spent together by Sam and Wyatt. I was very satisfied with the ending and I really enjoyed the author’s writing style. I’m definitely adding Nora Goes Off Script to my list, as I want to read more by Annabel Monoghan. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reading copy. This will be a big hit next summer!

'Same Time Next Summer' has a lot of potential, but the book felt like it was lacking. I think that the book could have been executed better with more chapters. I felt like the story seemed rushed, and I would have liked more time with the characters.

The book's main character is Sam, and the book takes place in current time and in flashbacks to Sam's teenage years growing up at her parent's beach house in Long Island. Sam falls for her neighbor/friend, Wyatt, and the two have a sweet teenage relationship. After Wyatt stops talking to Sam (I won't spoil why he stops talking to her), Sam has to figure out to continue on through her heartbreak.

Sam is engaged to a handsome doctor named Jack, and they are both planning their wedding. She goes back to her family's beach house to see if Jack will want to get married there. She hasn't really visited in 13-14 years, but she returns as sees Wyatt again after all this time.

The story is mostly told in 1st person from Sam's perspective, but the flashback point of view are hard to follow. It would have been easier if the story was always told in 1st person, and it alternated between Wyatt and Sam's point of view.

In the end, I enjoyed the story, but I don't think it was very memorable. It's a predictable story with a sweet ending.

Thanks to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the ARC of this book.

For the first half of this, I was annoyed. We have heard this story before. Boy and girl meet as kids at the lake. They fall in love and grow up and one or both or taken. They might still be in love with each other.

As the book went on, I was happy to hear a new story. Wyatt leaves her and they don’t talk for years. He was the jerk. Then we realized Jack wasn’t supportive of Sam’s dreams, and in fact, insults her dreams. He’s the jerk. Then she was on her own and happy. Then Wyatt says he has loved her forever. The wedding at the end was a nice twist.

Annabel Monaghan’s “Same Time Next Summer” was a delightful second-chance romance story, complete with a charming oceanfront small town, an intriguing cast of secondary characters, and a heroine and hero to root for. I found myself caring about Sam and Wyatt and their friends and family. I enjoyed the author’s writing style as well - descriptive enough to make the people and places feel real, but with enough action to keep the plot moving forward. Recommend for fans of Emily Henry or Jasmine Guillory.

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC.

A second chance romance that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. My favorite parts were the ‘Then’ chapters. They did a great job of creating nuances of objects or places that seemed to have no meaning in the ‘Now’ chapters which created a new depth to the story. Very similar to Love and Other Words but just different enough.

Interesting read. I find myself enjoying stories I relate to in some way. If we had a chance to reconnect, would we dare? I'm not that brave. Thank goodness for authors that allow me to live vicariously through their characters. I would recommend this book. So very glad I was allowed to read this ARC. Thanks, NetGalley and G.P. Putnam Sons.

5⭐️ for Same Time Next Summer! This was such a wonderful,sweet, and heartwarming read! I loved everything about this book! Sam and Wyatt’s relationship was so special and felt so real. I cannot get over how beautifully written this book was. I felt myself highlighting sentences over and over. I will forever be reading Annabel’s books! This is the perfect summer read!


📘: Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan
🗓 Pub Date: June 6, 2023

Thank you NetGalley, Annabel Monaghan, and Penguin Group Putnam for this ARC!

*Reviewed on NetGalley and Goodreads. Will review on retail once published!

Same Time Next Summer is for those who love the childhood friends to lovers to strangers to lovers trope where the two main characters have such a strong love that it carries them on even after they're apart. It has a very similar feel to to TSITP, Every Summer After, and Love and Other Words.

However, as someone who enjoys books with this storyline, I personally would not say Same Time Next Summer ranks up to the top with some of those top titles. It felt like the story was missing the element of depth to really love Sam and Wyatt the way you feel the hurt for the main characters in some of those other books. Another weird thing was the way the point of view changed from 1st person to 3rd person whenever the story was told from the past and that really threw me off.

WIth that being said, this was still a good read and I really liked the way the book wrapped up. I even wish we got to read more about the two characters development in the second half of the book because their story was starting to come together well.

3.5 Stars

Initially, I was hesitant to start this read since the synopsis sounded incredibly similar to Love and Other Words and Every Summer After. Boy and girl fall in love as children, have a falling out and are reunited later in life, having realized those feelings never disappeared. I worried this would feel redundant and though I ultimately did end up enjoying the dynamic between the Sam and the guy she ended up with, but I just wanted more.

More romance, more character development, more angst! Certain elements of the plot felt rushed and lacking exploration and given that this book was on the shorter end of the spectrum, I couldn't help but wonder why more wasn't added to enhance the story.

This was a quick read that was overall successful, largely due to Monaghan's writing! This was my first read from her and there were several passages that took my breath away, passages that were so beautifully written and impactful. I would likely come back to her work in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam and Annabel Monaghan for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The two timeframe storyline was a bit hard to follow along at some times, but overall this was an enjoyable book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Unfortunately whenever books have a now & then timeline it’s usually a hit or miss for me and this was a miss…

I’m extremely sad about it because everything about it called to me but I got to the point where I just didn’t care about their past and it was getting heavy to read about it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up.

Nora Goes Off Script was such a great read, so I was super excited to receive this ARC! I do love a second chance romances and this book was hard to put down. I read it in two sittings and this author has definitely become a favorite of mine.

I rated down because I felt some parts and characters were underdeveloped and others, like the ending, were rushed. I would have loved to see a bit more of Wyatt's voice come through. The story alternates POV and I felt that he was under-represented. I realize that the publication date is still 9 months away, so I tried to overlook all of the formatting issues which made it harder to read and disrupted the flow. I think some more editing will really tighten this up and make it a great read. Even as it stands, it was really enjoyable and I can't wait for the author's next book!

This was a lovely story about second-chance love and remembering who you were and finding out who you were meant to be. I will say that the characters (like the fiancé who was supposed to be perfect had issues, of course, so that a familiar trope that we have seen in other books), but overall I really enjoyed this romance and I turned the pages quickly because I wanted to see how it ended. I would recommend this book.

A charming book about reclaiming who you are and what your values are. It is Sam, successful and engaged to a successful physician, whose visit back to her childhood home reminds her of the things that are truly important. Sam must make decisions that upend her career and plans, but with a supportive family, she reclaims her authentic soul.

I thought NORA GOES OFF SCRIPT by Monaghan was one of the best romance/woman’s fiction novels of 2022. While I enjoyed this, it was a bit too predictable. I especially liked Sam’s family. The author makes them a very interesting compliment to Sam’s story. Wyatt is not only an appealing character, but as an educator I was pleased by the depiction of his issues.

I think reading groups will enjoy this. It certainly leads to a lot of thought about who we are and how choices might have to be rethought.

Thank you Netgalley! Looking forward to to more books by Monaghan.

This book is a tough one to rate. Although I really loved the trope and the characters, the execution sort of felt lacking. It's hard to get the flip between past and present right, and although this book did a good job for the most part, I sort of felt myself losing interest because of it.

Also, the ending felt very rushed and that's something I had really been looking forward to. Overall, this was good but could have been better.

Thank you to the publisher for kindly providing me with an ARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

A cute novel that had me wnting to watch more hallmark movies with my mom and catch all of those summer sun rays.

This book was good, I love the tropes, but I don't think it was executed well. I read it in one sitting and was invested in the story and characters. I love a book that flashes back and forth between past and present but I felt like it wasn't structured well and the ending felt rushed. Sam felt pretty one dimensional to me and I wanted to understand her more. This book also felt pretty similar to a few other famous books I've read so it wasn't super unique. I really did love Wyatt and his story and who he became and how he handled his relationship with Sam in the present. It just overall fell a little flat for me but if you love the tropes (childhood best friends to lovers, second chance romance, singer/musician) like I do I think it is still worth the quick read.

I could not put this book down! I read it in less than a day and whenever I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. I enjoyed the progression of the story and finding out how the relationship between Wyatt and Sam began and abruptly came to an end when they were teenagers. I feel like Sam's heartbreak was very real and I could understand how that eventually led her to start dating Jack years later. It pained me that there was so much wasted time between Wyatt and Sam but I am glad they were able to make amends. I felt like the ending was slightly abrupt--I turned the last page expecting there to be more. Alas, I still really loved this book and feel like this will be such a good beach read next summer! It is definitely a book I will recommend to my friends.