Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of Summer after Summer by Lauren Bailey, published by Alcove Press

I loved this novel, Lauren Bailey please write another book. I fell in love with the characters and the plot! So well written.
Written in the past and the present we follow Olivia through her personal life and her tennis career, she makes decisions along the way that help her to stay focused on the court and also allow her find love.
This novel kept me reading, I was on the edge of my seat. I thought I knew how it would end and then it didn't! I loved the ending!
Great novel and I will be watching for more books by Lauren Bailey

I love this book! My first read for this author. Very well written. I love the characters, storyline, interactions. This book has it all romance, friendship, loves gone wrong, devious people, heartwarming people, righting of wrongs. All around great book. I recommend this book highly. I was given an advanced reader copy by NetGalley and I am freely sharing my review.

Summer After Summer is the debut novel of Lauren Bailey, and it is a modern day retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. I am always intrigued by retelling of Jane Austen’s works, and I was excited to pick this one up.

At first, I was sure this would be a 4 star read. The beginning was compelling and I liked the shifts back and forward in time. However, I think the story got a little bogged down in the tennis elements and the second half of the book dragged a bit.

The writing was excellent. I would definitely keep an eye out for another book by this author based on the quality of the writing alone. The book also captured the wistfulness of the original work. The setting was very vibrant and really came to life (and made me wish it was still summer!). Overall it was a solid debut.

Summer After Summer is a lovely atmospheric second-chance (or maybe more?) romance. It gave me a taste of Beach Read by Emily Henry, with some Every Summer After by Carly Fortune thrown in. Fun, heartfelt, and lovely.

Olivia Taylor is heading back home to help pack up her dad's home which is being sold, and comes at a time when Olivia and her husband are having issues.. While being back at home she runs into Fred, and this where the story takes off, you get a full picture of Olivia and Fred from their first kiss on the beach when they were teenagers to now when they are adults and even in the in between. The timeline goes from past to present and how they seem to run into each other every 5 years. It's a cute romance story with family dynamics that seems to fit.

Thank you to Netgalley and Alcove Press for this ARC

Thank you Alcove and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this book because it was beautifully written with the dual timeline and because second chance is one of my favourite romance tropes. Even though I've never been to the Hamptons, I could imagine the setting vividly and I enjoyed all the tennis content. I also liked that it was inspired by Jane Austen's Persuasion with little references here and there and that it gave a modern twist to it.
The only reason I won't rate it 5 stars is that there was too little insight into the main characters' relationship. They weren't together long enough for me to truly root for them, so I guess there's some suspension of disbelief needed to be happy with the story. However, I liked that the ending wasn't predictable but that there was a surprising turn.
Overall, I think it'll be a great summer book and I can recommend it to everyone who's looking for a "right person-wrong time" story.

I enjoyed this book. Some of the characters irritated me but that’s what the author was trying to do. The characters were all well rounded and I found myself wanting to read more of the characters story.

Wow- I loved this book. I read it in one day, ignoring almost everything I needed to get done 🙃. It reminds me of Every Summer After! Aside from the similar names, they’re both perfect second chance love stories, with really strong characters. I could not put it down, and I didn’t want it to end.

With her marriage on the rocks, Olivia returns to the Hamptons to pack up her childhood home. After years of a dwindling fortune, her dad finally made the difficult to decision to sell the family home. Her distant and tense relationship with her family is made even worse when she discovers it’s her first love, Fred, who is purchasing their home. They haven’t spoken in years, didn’t end on good terms, and he arrives with a beautiful mutual acquaintance on his arm.

As if that isn’t difficult enough, Olivia is also tasked with packing up her dead mother’s belongings, unpacking her uncomfortable feelings for her ex within their new forced proximity, and the reemergence of her cheating husband.

Lending context to all the drama, the story flashes back to the summer Olivia turned 16 when she fell in love with Fred, then five years later to summer of her first major tennis injury, and over the ups and downs of her subsequent professional tennis career. I honestly thought the story was perfect. It wasn’t predictable. It wasn’t dramatic for the sake of being dramatic. My only complaint is that you have to wait until May 7, 2024 to read it.

I couldn't stop turning the pages of this story! I was captivated by the premise from the beginning and loved seeing where the plot went. I was rooting for the main character throughout and was dying to know how the love story would end. I highly recommend!

Summer After Summer
Lauren Bailey
May 7, 2024
Alcove Press
*romance
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
This book had a great cover, coastal beach house, past love returning and intriguing family.
While it had all this, it just didn’t work for me. The first part of the book was like a Hallmark movie, nice.
However, there were several plot misses. How are her father and older sister doing so well when they ran out of mi way “years ago,”.? The amount of pettiness in Olivia is astounding. Just be adults.
I would recommend this book to a romance reader who just wants a light read.
2 star

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an Negalley in exchange for an honest review!

REVIEW TO COME

I really enjoyed reading this debut novel by Lauren Bailey. First thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for chance to read e edition before publication.
The story of the main character from teenage girl to adult woman was intriguing and entertaining. The twist and turns through the novel kept me wondering how things would work out for her, her friends and family.
I look forward to another book by this author !

Olivia Taylor is having a crisis or two in her life right now. She is getting ready to go through a divorce with her husband Wes in New York City, but has also been called home to the Hamptons. A place she doesn’t want to return to at all but must, as she is considered to be the “head” of the family and her father is finally selling the pithole, oops I mean family estate. Something so now they must go through everything. Someone has offered them a substantial amount for the beachfront property which can save everyone in the family. What Olivia wasn’t expecting was that the buyer was her one time love, Fred. Now the question will be can they pick up where they have left off years ago or will this romance be gone forever?

This is a book you are either going to love or you will hate, there is almost no in between. Some will find it great and love it as it resembles Jane Austen’s Persuasion. While others will have a hard time with it as it keeps going from present to the past to the present. Plus in some ways it is hard to understand why a 35 year old woman is acting like she is 16 again. I am one of the those, I just couldn’t get into it. I tried numerous times but it didn’t grab my attention the way I hoped it would at all. I mean who doesn’t love to read a book about a woman, a beachhouse, a guy, family and love? But it all depends on how you take it. Like I said, some will love it.

I thank NetGalley for giving me the chance to read an advanced copy of this book.

My patrons will absolutely love this book, I can see it being very popular! I really did enjoy reading it and I wish I could read it again for the first time because wow, it was a great read!

Thank you Netgalley for this opportunity!
I want to stress: I LOVE Persuasion. I've read it at least four or five times. So this concept, a modern retelling, was an easy "yes please" to me.
This is told in alternating timelines, going through all of Olivia and Fred's most prominent 'love' moments from childhood to current day. The current day timeline focuses on Olivia and her family's need to sell their luxurious estate. This works well due to the amazing chemistry between Olivia and Fred: they just sizzle and pop off the page, whether 16 or 21 or 30. I loved the connection to the charm bracelet, and the steamy scenes are just the perfect pinch of steam (not too heavy). In the current day scenes, Olivia's inability to choose between Fred and her estranged spouse, and ultimately Fred and herself, plays out really well. It's a tension thats believable.

I do wish there was slightly less tennis. It feels a little bit like an attempt to match the hyper realism of Carrie Soto...but I'm just not invested in Olivia's tennis journey. She could have had any career and it wouldn't have changed the story line for me. So I wish that B line had faded just a bit more. But overall: so well done.

Summer After Summer - Lauren Bailey
Olivia finally relents and agrees to return to the Hamptons, only because of her need to escape her failing marriage and to help pack up the home that holds all the memories of her mother. Besides her mother, it holds the memories of the summers her and Ash spent enjoying the sun, the memories of intense tennis training, trying to climb her way to the top, and hardest of all, memories of Fred.
Fred and Olivia managed to cross paths every 5 years after that summer, still never managing to get the timing right, something always standing in their way. But now, after the last treacherous attempt, Fred is also here, in the Hamptons, purchasing her home. Their paths continue to cross over the summer, fighting to leave the past behind them, leaving all the things unsaid.
Can Fred and Olivia resist their pull to each other? Or will their cycle continue?
I thoroughly enjoyed Summer After Summer. It was a light read which I flew through, enjoyed the attempts of Olivia and Fred as they tried to make every time the right time. But I also enjoyed the banter with her sisters, the closure after the loss of her mother, and her journey through her tennis career. If you're looking for a light read that will give you a smile or two, this is the one!
Unfortunately it doesn't come out until May 2024, but I'm sure you'll see lots of posts coming to give you a constant reminder! ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5!

A fast read and a good story. Well written and a great escape for a lazy weekend curled up on the couch.

While I think the comparisons to Persuasion are a bit of a stretch, SUMMER AFTER SUMMER is an enjoyable read. Olivia and Fred are engaging characters and their near-misses over the years seem relatable and understandable. I was definitely rooting for them to figure things out and finally get together. The pacing could use a little work as the narrative was slightly tedious at times. I do look forward to more from this author.

I received a complimentary e-galley from the publisher; all opinions are my own.

2.5 stars

My toxic trait is constantly picking up modern adaptations of Jane Austen novels despite being disappointed (and occasionally sent into fits of rage) by every single one.

This one did not send me into a fit of rage, but I also didn't love it. It's based on Persuasion, which is my second favorite Austen novel, and I do respect the author for writing a non-Pride and Prejudice retelling. And the setting was nice. It made me want to be bougie and summer in the Hamptons. But I didn't care for any of the characters and the dialogue had no spark.

this is Lauren Bailey's debut novel. It is really good. the characters get a second chance at love and the beach setting is beautiful. Looking forward to more books from this author.