Another excellent read from Ethan Joella! He is a fantastic writer and his books always hit me right in the feels. This story isa perfect example of you never really know what someone is going through behind the scenes until you get to know them. I loved the small town coastal setting, and really loved the characters. They were real and authentic and relatable, facing real life situations that made me feel understood. Ethan Joella is an auto-buy author for me, and I absolutely recommend all his books!

"He stands there and feels too young to be old and too old to be young, years and years of living ahead of him, if he's lucky, nothing really certain."

"As lon as we're under the same stars, my dad used to say, there's still a chance."

In a touristy beach community, Jack Schmidt runs the popular restaurant that has been in his family for three generations. His life has become routine and dull but he has been given an opportunity to sell the restaurant to a management company. Jack is torn between accepting the huge sum of money to sell and looking out for the welfare of his devoted employees.
I found this book to be a “nice” story, pleasant to read though a little slow at times. The character development is very good and I liked the drama and the way Jack was so caring towards the people in his life. I especially enjoyed the quirky character of the woman who works for the management company. Overall, a very nice story.

Ethan Joella has done it again, book friends. Three five star reads in a row! How the heck does he do it? What a talent, my gosh. His storytelling just gets better and better with each new release.

Before I talk about the book, let’s chat about the cover. I can’t even begin to tell you how perfect it is. Not only does it scream SUMMER, but it also plays a huge part in the story. There’s a hint of mystery surrounding the chairs, and that’s all I will say about that. Once you read it, you’ll get it, and truly appreciate it. Extra points for this brilliant cover design!

I proudly admit that the women’s fiction genre is very much my jam. I love to read about the lives of women. Give me ALL of the stories about female friendship, sisterhood, motherhood, and marriage. I am definitely the target audience for all of that. So when you give me a story from a man’s perspective, I tend to hesitate. Will I connect to a story told from the male gaze? Well, if Ethan Joella writes it, I sure as heck will. Ethan can layer and develop characters like no other. The characters in TSBS just might be some of my very favorites from Ethan. I LOVED Jack. Wow! What a character. Not only did I root for this sweet and caring man, I also wanted to be friends with him, and dine at his restaurant. Heck, if I were single, I’d probably even hit on him! 🤣

If you ever worked in the food and restaurant industry, you will truly appreciate this story. It reminded me of my late teens and early twenties, and the eclectic group of co-workers and customers I met along the way.

READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY:

- Delaware beach town setting
- Character-driven novels
- Family-owned restaurants
- Mature male characters
- Quiet, slow-paced reads
- Reflections on loss, grief, and healing
- Found family storylines
- Friendship fiction
- Stories on letting go and new beginnings

I highly recommend every single one of Ethan’s novels, but this one is true perfection. With the beach town setting, it makes for a superb summer read. 5/5 stars for The Same Bright Stars! Grab your copy on release day, July 2nd!

Having spent many days at Rehoboth Beach, this book caught my attention and I was thrilled to be able to read and review it. Jack, the main character, is in his fifties and has been running the three generation family restaurant. When an opportunity rises to sell, he takes a long look at his life plus the people around him. I can visualize the pictures that the author describes; also the smell and taste of the beach food! I am ready to go back to Rehoboth. I particularly like the travel descriptions at the beginning of each chapter. This is a great beach read that i will be highly recommending.

After two five-star reads in a row from Joella, I'm going to have to go back and read his first novel while I eagerly await his fourth. Unlike "A Quiet Life," Joella sticks to one main character, Jack, in this novel, and he was so well-written, as was the supporting cast. Jack runs his family's restaurant in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, like his father and grandmother before him. Now in his fifties, he's considering selling to an aggressive developer. The story and characters felt so real to me, and I love Joella's way of drawing out emotions without it feeling manipulative. Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for a digital review copy.

Thank you @scribnerbooks and Ethan Joella for a #gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ethan Joella’s writing has a way of making you feel what seems like subtle everyday emotions at first but those emotions build into such a crescendo of complex, beautiful feelings. He writes about real-life people going through mundane everyday life and makes it pack a punch. He has such a way of writing human emotion that makes me cry each time and makes you feel connected with the people and town you come in contact with as if you actually do live everyday life with them.

The scenery made me want to live in a beachy town like Rehoboth Beach, especially for the community aspect of this story. Everyone knew everyone and rallied together when support was needed.

I loved the complex relationships. The story was almost entirely driven by relationships and their proximity to Jack. Some gave insight into his past and who he was when he was young while others allowed for growth in current times. Each person he came in contact with shaped a little bit of who he is and I loved the beauty of that concept. Good or bad, everything you do can affect the people you meet (and sometimes even the people you don’t meet).

This book specifically hit hard for me because I started it shortly after my favorite place in the world, a family-owned vacation spot, announced they were selling. Reading the other side of it, the perspective of the owner of a family-run business, hit a little deep for me. It forced me to look past my grief about the situation and at how running the vacation spot may have taken a toll on the owners year after year.

Thank you Ethan Joella for another beautiful book.

Ethan Joella is back with his signature style and this is one you’ll want to put on your radar for the summer!

Jack Schmidt and his family restaurant are at a crossroads. Jack is feeling ready to sell, but also has heart strings keeping him put. When he receives shocking news from his past, Jack begins to reshape his plans and forge new relationships in his small beach town.

To know Joella, is to love Joella. As a person and as an author. His stories have a special way of transporting you straight into the lives of these ordinary, but extraordinary, people. They are gentle and emotional. He is also one of the kindest and most genuine people in our bookish world.

⭐️ 5/5

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I was told he was an incredible read by many people. While I don’t doubt his writing skills, I didn’t fall in love with this particular story, rather just kept reading to see what, if anything, would happen.

Definitely would say this is more character driven which I normally do love and prefer, even. This story follows a middle aged business owner who is realizing he is tied down to his family owned restaurant and never has the opportunity to actually live life. Lots of internal dialogue and flash backs to his earlier life, he has a best friend who tells him how it is, no matter how brutal.

I did like parts of the story, but overall it was just so-so. I didn’t DNF which I guess says something. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I enjoyed the location the most- a touristy beach town in the summer and sleepy small town in the winter. I did like the very ending/outcome.

I really would not recommend this book, overall.

Content: lots of language (F word & God’s name in vain, S word, etc.) premarital sex, talk about scheduling abortion. Suicide, death of parents, mental illness/depression, Alzheimer’s disease.

Thank you to @netgalley for the ARC.

In this story, Joella takes us to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware where Jack owns a generational restaurant - but he's considering selling it to a regional corporation that is gobbling up the rest of the restaurants in town. Right now, all Jack does is work at the restaurant and he doesn't have much of a life outside of that - this would be a chance to rest and retire. Along the way, we meet a cast of characters including staff at the restaurant, family and local friends and people from his past. Throughout the book, we see Jack deal with loss, secrets from his past and some tough decisions. I enjoyed the range of characters and the overall story! Another great piece of fiction from Joella.

Jack has been running the family restaurant, Schmidt’s, since his father died. It has been Jacks life, consuming all of his time, and he is finally considering a change. It’s on the boardwalk in the beach town of Rhehoboth, Delaware where giant corporation DelDine is buying up properties and have made a generous offer to Jack. Jack isn’t sure who he would be without the restaurant but is he ready for time to just sit on the beach or even have a family?

I don’t think Ethan Joella gets talked about enough on IG. I adore his books. His writing is great and he creates fantastic characters with depth and that feel like real people. This book was a beautiful, character driven story with lovely friendships and support throughout all the things life threw at them. Relationships, family, loss and forgiveness. Now I just want to take a trip to Rhehoboth and walk the boardwalk!

The Same Bright Stars by Ethan Joella
Genre: contemporary fiction
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Format: eARC

⛱️Small beach town setting
⛱️Feeling lost in life
⛱️Big cast of characters
⛱️Small business owner
⛱️Unexpected news from the past
⛱️Cozy book

This author’s books make me feel warm and fuzzy inside, so I was excited to curl up on the couch with his new one! The Same Bright Stars takes place in a small beach town in Delaware and follows restaurant owner Jack. Already feeling a bit lost in life, Jack receives some unexpected news that leaves him even more confused. I loved the restaurant setting and all of the employees - it felt like a big chaotic family. However, with such a large cast of characters, I did find it a little difficult at times to remember some of the smaller characters and their roles in Jack’s life. Even so, I really enjoyed the plot with its unexpected turn of events and the layered characters who felt very real. Overall, this book was an enjoyable summer read, and I’d recommend!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for my eARC in exchange for my honest thoughts! The Same Bright Stars is out July 2!

Jack Schmidt has spent almost all of his 52 years at the family restaurant on the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk. The employees are his family, the neighboring store owners his friends. Each day is the same, following the pattern of business in a resort town. Jack is worn out by the smallness of his life. When DelDine, a restaurant conglomerate, offers to buy the business, Jack is tempted and wonders what his future could be.

That summary is too literal to describe The Same Bright Stars. Ethan Joella has a gift for seeing behind the superficial happenings of everyday life and showing you the inner worlds of everyday people. This magnificent novel glows with sensitivity, love, loyalty and community. This is a must read. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Scribner and Ethan Joella for this ARC.

4.5 stars. This is a beautifully written, character-driven novel that is truly heartwarming. Jack Schmidt, a third-generation Rehoboth Beach restaurant owner, is having serious thoughts about retiring and selling out (at a handsome price) to a corporate conglomerate that is buying up restaurants in the area. His dilemma, as well as his relationship with his friends, his former girlfriend, and especially his employees, forms the basis for this feel-good story, a story seemingly about real people with real problems, concerns and feelings. I really enjoyed it and look forward to reading many more by Ethan Joella.

Jack, who is 52, owns a restaurant named Schmidt’s on Rehoboth Beach. The restaurant has been in his family for three generations, starting with his grandmother, Hazel. Jack aspires to run the restaurant like his father, Johnny. However, the day-to-day operations of the restaurant have worn him down over the years. Jack realizes that one of his employees is stealing from him, and he fears that it is Genevieve, his dedicated manager who has worked for Schmidt’s ever since Jack was a boy. With all of the stress piling up, Jack longs to see what life has to offer when he is not tied down to his workplace.
Jack has spent years watching the simple joys of family life with his best friend, Deacon, and his wife, Andie. When he looks at their cute daughter, Evie, he wonders what might have been with Kitty, a long-time girlfriend whom he never married, or Alexis, a summer fling that he met when he was young. His love for Alexis was strong and passionate, but their relationship died off. Kitty comes back to Rehoboth Beach to spend some time with her mother, Janet, before she dies. She asks Jack to stay with her after Janet passes, and Jack helps her get through the moment of grief out of respect for Janet.

Shortly after Janet’s death, one life-changing incident between Jack and Genevieve’s good-for-nothing son, Ziggy, convinces him to sell Schmidt’s to the soulless corporate developer group, DelDine. As part of the deal, Jack agrees to a six-month gradual takeover. The news about the takeover does not go over well with Jack’s dedicated staff. Everything feels wrong, but Jack cannot shake the feeling that it is time to move on from the restaurant. Will his feelings change during the course of this slow takeover?

I love how deep emotions weave themselves through each one of Ethan Joella’s books. He is an expert at making you feel the heart and soul of each character as they navigate through their life circumstances. You feel the love, the loss, and the hope of each character as you connect to them through the story. The Same Bright Stars feels like a lighter read than Joella’s last two books, but it still addresses loss in it’s own way. What do we do when we feel stuck in a rut? Should we make the best of the life in front of us, or should we forge a new path? I absolutely loved this book, and it once again affirms that Joella should be a must-buy author on your list.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“For a second, the air feels different and better, as if all this time, he’s been in the wrong altitude, and now his lungs finally work.”

As one of my most anticipated reads of 2024, this absolutely did not disappoint.

Now one writes like Ethan Joella. My god. I’m always so amazed by how well he captures the uncertainty and the overall journeys of the characters he creates. And he just does not miss.

Jack’s arc through this story is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. Weighing the options of keeping his family’s restaurant or selling to a development company is really difficult for him. There’s this underlying current of guilt he feels in selling, all while trying to navigate his friendships and unsettling news that upends his world. He feels almost unfulfilled as he's dedicated his life to his family's restaurant. He hasn't really made time to build a family of his own, though he is close with the staff. This entire book feels like we've stepped into someone's life at a pivotal moment, seeing the hardships and triumphs alike.

What’s so incredible about Joella’s books is how he creates this world that feels realistic and how attached you feel to the characters as a reader. The supporting cast shines so much and gives so much insight into Jack and his decisions throughout the book. As with his other books, I felt this weight on my chest while reading because I wanted good things for these characters. This book definitely touches on difficult subject matter, but Joella manages to find the light in the darkness, moving his characters through meaningful arcs.

“Nothing matters, as long as you have love.”

This is one of those stories that has so much to say in not so many pages. The depth of emotion is so visceral and it’s a rollercoaster of emotion. It feels like this incredible insight into someone’s life, seeing how react and cope. It’s just perfect from start to finish.

This novel is told from the perspective of Jack, the third generation in his family to run the restaurant bearing the family’s name on the beachfront in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. He’s in his 50s and has quite literally devoted his entire life to the restaurant, so with a restaurant conglomerate making repeated offers to buy the restaurant, he’s tempted to take the offer. The book takes place over the course of a little more than 6 months, though also with many flashbacks to Jack’s past, reflecting on both biological and found family, friendships, relationships, and more.

Don’t let the cover fool you, this is not a light beach read! Much of the book takes place in the fall and winter, and it’s also largely a deeply melancholy book. If you’ve read Ethan Joella’s books before, you know that’s what he does best - writes sad books that end on a hopeful note. His writing is just beautiful, he really brings his characters to life, and in this one he so vividly brings the setting to life as well - I’ve never been to Rehoboth but so felt I could picture the beach, the boardwalk, the restaurant. And yes, of course I cried at this book.

A Little Hope is still my most favorite of Ethan’s books, but I loved this one too and highly recommend as long as you know going in not to be fooled by the cover! (Which actually is quite meaningful if you have read the book, just not in the way you might think if you haven’t read it.) Ethan also happens to be one of the nicest authors out there, so I’m very proud to be one of his super-fans.

4.25 stars

Tender hearted and real. This book will evoke emotions of cheer, pain and goodness. I would have loved to work in jacks restaurant with his mix of waitstaff. What a joyous summer read!

Ethan is an author that is new to me. I am definitely going to read his other books. What a great read! Perfect for summer!

It was interesting and different to read a book from the first person of the main character especially it being a male. I liked the story. It was a bit slow at times. But a good read nonetheless.

This is my second Ethan Joella book, and his writing style is one of my favorites. At first, I wasn't sure what the direction of the book was going to go...but about 25% in I was hooked and wanted to follow along with Jack's journey. I felt connected to many characters in The Same Bright Stars and was taken on quite the ride with some of them. However, the stead 'family' that Jack has surrounding him remind me of what it's like to create a community and closeness with those who may not be blood related, but you would do anything for. Chosen family, if you will.