This is an interesting novel that explores the choices and opportunities facing women as they enter the latter stages of life. It holds great promise, but the writing style limited my enjoyment of the book. Specifically, sections of dialogue addressing meaningful issues often felt pedantic and lacked any emotional depth. What could have been inspiring is simply a rather sterile intellectual exercise.

Sandra Pennington has lived on the coast of Maine her entire life. Now a widow at age 74, she is facing the prospect of selling her charming, spacious home to acquire something more manageable and less reflecting her aloneness. Instead, she decides to open her home as a hybrid B & B to three mature women for the summer as an experiment in communal living. Each woman comes from a different background with a different agenda, but each is seeking clarity about their respective futures. Mary is a talented lawyer who retired after a series of events left her disillusioned and burned out. Amanda, an educator at a private school, feels she has lost her enthusiasm for teaching as well as for her 8-year romance with her housemate. Lastly, there is Patty who is the female equivalent of Peter Pan. She has had a string of unfortunate romantic liaisons and has never gained self-sufficiency, finding herself without financial resources, a car or a home. Over the summer, these women forge a bond of friendship and rediscover what is truly important to create meaning in their lives.

The pace of the story is extremely slow, due to preponderance of the above-mentioned dialogues coupled with a multitude of details in the characters backstories. There is very little action to build any real momentum. Overall, there are some interesting points made about the age-related issues of work, loss, loneliness and health concerns. However, I didn’t find this an enjoyable read.

My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This review is being posted immediately to my GoodReads account and will be posted on Amazon upon publication.

Received a copy of this book through netgalley, although I read the whole book found it a bit hard going,it described all the characters individually but somehow I found that a spark was missing in relating with the characters. It did focus on modern issues such as loneness, communer living,same sex marriage early retirement but it didn't quite hold it together.A rough diamond that needs polishing up.

This book had some brilliant characters but I felt that some of the story felt a bit distracting and ruined what could've been a brilliant book.
It did slow down the pace making it a littlebless enjoyable

I have a rule that if I am not enjoying a book after getting 25% of the way through, that I will stop reading. I tried my best with Summer Roommates, giving it my best effort as other reviewers seem to really like this author, but after reading 30%, I cannot find a good reason to continue reading. The book takes place primarily in each of the four characters heads, and seeing that I didn't find the characters very likable, I found it extremely difficult to continue reading. It also felt like the author was constantly inserting research about intentional communities and that what she really wanted to be writing was a research paper on the subject. So sadly, I won't be finishing this one. Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher Kensington Books, and the author for allowing me to check out this ARC of Summer Roommates in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this novel! It was referenced for Elin Hilderbrand fans and I agree. It was a sweet summer story and had lovable characters. Women's fiction isn't my typical genre, but I enjoyed it.

I liked this book but didn’t love it. I thought there was a lot of fluff that didn’t need to be there. I did like the characters in the book though.

Thank you to Netgalley, Kensington books, and the author for an ARC of Summer Roommates in exchange for my honest review.
I usually really enjoy Holly Chamberlain’s books but this one was a little too slow paced for me. The characters were great, really like able and fun, but I felt like there were some unnecessary side stories that distracted me.

Summer Roommates is a sweet story, with lovable characters and a beautiful setting. The storytelling was too slow for my taste, and the storylines didn’t hold much interest for me. Overall I think this is a perfect women’s fiction book for someone looking for a beach read about friendship later in life, but it wasn’t exactly right for me. Summer Roommates will be out June 27th, just in time for summer!

Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington books for an ARC of Summer Roommates in exchange for my honest review!

This book was sent to me by Netgalley electronically for review. Thanks also to the publisher and the author, one of my favorites. Women share a home for the summer. The owner of the home is in her seventies, a widow, with two grown children. She wants to fill the house with people. She does this by renting rooms to three ladies she has never met. The dynamics of the four fill the pages with intriguing events in this novel. Although fiction, this story reads like nonfiction, with the escapades of the women. The problem with this book was that there were too many side stories with way too many details. It could have been cut down if those details, not needed, were left out. That being said, this is a fun book to read about senior citizens.