Lucy and Vivian are half-sisters who have never met. Vivian doesn't even know Lucy exists, and Lucy has long wondered what it would be like to meet Vivian. When their father dies, they are thrust together for the first time, unraveling a lifetime of complicated feelings about their parentage and personhood.

Vivian imagined she would sell her father's cabin and use the money to start a business and Lucy imagined she would always keep her father's cabin. These two could not be more different and the book spins their many, many frustrations out.

Maine Characters is a careful study of grief and the complicated nature of family, and many readers will find a lot to dig into in the dynamic of the sisters. It is not however an easy beach read and the cover might be a bit misleading in that way. This is a heavy book full of real life complications. Altogether, I think it works, and I am glad to have read it.

1⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an advanced copy of Maine Characters.

Vivian and Lucy each spend a month during summer with their fathers in Maine. What they do not realize is that they are half sisters and share the same father. When he passes away they meet for the first time and are shocked by their father’s deception.

The cover is what made me want to read this book and I am sad to say it is the best part of the book. The plot had potential but the execution was poor. I did not like a single character in this book. I was not a fan.

When a father dies, her adult daughter goes to Maine to sell his cabin but finds a half-sister she didn't know about at the cabin. A long summer in Maine ensues with the two navigating each other and their relationships. The first 2/3rds of this book was a chore to read. It got better in the end, but it took too long to get there.

If the Parent Trap met Bravo. The two female MC's are stuck in their ways as they learn of their late fathers' infidelities which leads them to being half-sisters and in a predicament over their Maine Cabin. I was an early fan of Lucy but at times also didn't like her stubbornness. The least favorable characters were certainly Patrick and Oscar so I am glad the girls got smart in the middle of the book and became true friends/allies and moved on from toxic male partners. The ending was fast, but a nice lead into a potential second book.

Vivian would spend every August with her dad Hank at his lake house in Maine and Her half sister Lucy spent every July with him; except Hank never told Vivian about Lucy and therefore also never introduced them. Vivian grew up with her dad and mom in NYC and is now a sommelier for a hot restaurant and Lucy grew up with her single mom in the small town in Maine while dreaming of meeting her sister. When their dad dies and Vivian goes to the lake house for the summer, Lucy is there and the two must learn how to coexist, and maybe they can even learn how to be sisters.

In many ways this felt like a grown up version of the Parent Trap. I generally enjoyed this story but did have some issues with the novel; that being said, I did enjoy watching the women learn how different their lives were and how to reconcile expectations with reality. Both sisters grew through the story and I appreciated it, but I did feel that Lucy had a lot of unfair expectations and judgments that she never really compromised on any of them while Vivian made a much bigger emotional journey. I was surprised there was only one narrator for both sisters but I actually didn’t find it confusing and I ended up enjoying the audio.

3.75 stars

Thank you to Dutton Books and NetGalley for the ARC to review

Family drama in and about a lake house in Maine. Lucy has always known about Vivian but Vivian has only suspected about Lucy and now they're 31 and their father is dead. These two are vastly different as Lucy is a teacher in the small Maine town and Vivian runs the wine program at a NYC restaurant. They are alike, however, in their romantic distress and their dislike for one another. Now they're sharing the house and making decisions about their future. Know that they both seem remarkably immature at first but then the story settles down. Although she's got a huge chip on her shoulder, I found Lucy more sympathetic and likable which I suspect is intentional because you'll see the biggest change in Vivian. And then there's Celeste, Vivian's mother who is a best selling author who kept a secret until......I liked the Maine atmospherics (and the house atmospherics). I also found myself rooting for both women. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. A good read.

Maine Characters is going to be a book of the summer in 2025, perfect for book clubs and introspective summer reading. At the center of this complex family story is two sisters: Vivian, a cosmopolitan New York City native and sommelier at one of the city’s most celebrated restaurants, and Lucy, the illegitimate daughter of their financier father, who was born and raised in the small Maine town where her parents met and where she still lives today. Upon their father’s untimely death, Vivian makes for Fox Hill Lake, Maine to sell her father’s beloved lake house in order to earn the money to embark on her professional dream of opening her own wine bar. She’s shocked to discover that standing in the way of her plans is the sister she had never met, whose upbringing—and relationship with their dad—are the polar opposites of Vivian’s.

Over the course of a summer together in Maine, Vivian and Lucy both grow in many unexpected ways, breaking out of old patterns and assumptions and forging a new sisterhood to enter a new chapter in side by side. No one in this book is perfect—the characters all are grieving their shared loss while wading through the pain of all the secrets that kept them apart. Everyone is deeply flawed, but this messiness makes the story feel real, and makes the happy ending even more well earned. Ultimately, Vivian, Lucy, and both their mothers walk away from the summer with a healthier relationship and hope for a new chapter.

I recommend Maine Characters for fans of women’s fiction and anyone looking for a complex but relaxing read this summer! Thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ok, I absolutely adored this book!

This book follows Lucy and Vivian, half sisters who are thrown into meeting after the death of their father. The story unwinds in a clash of secrets, jealousy, bad choices, mistakes, forgiveness, and healing.

I really enjoyed the journey of these two sisters. I am sure some will argue Vivian was insufferable... and she was, but it wasn't really her fault. Their father failed them both. To me, this book captured the true human experience. Life is messy and complicated and we are all doing the best we can.

Why did I give this four instead of five stars? I felt like this could have been shorter. Towards the end we started going into some story arcs that just weren't needed. I also feel like Vivian had a complete flip overnight. This part was rushed and I would have liked to see more here.

Overall, I really enjoyed the family drama with a touch of romance and a lot of heartbreak and healing. Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Gorgeous cover to match the setting coupled with family drama. What a great women's fiction novel! This was a little longer than I would normal like; plot had "Parent Trap" vibes but overall, very well-written and strong emotional content. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. **I received a complimentary ARC from the author/publishing company via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts & opinions are my own.

This summer at the lake will be different

Hank Levy, a successful New York wealth manager, inherited his family's cabin on a lake in Fox Hill, Maine, when his parents died. He spent August there each year with his daughter Vivian...it wasn't the sort of place where his romance novelist wife Celeste felt comfortable. When he dies suddenly at the age of 54 the cabin passes to Celeste, who doesn't want to hang on to it. In the midst of her latest book tour, she doesn't even have the time to get it ready to sell, so she tasks Vivian with selling it. Since Vivian doesn't want to keep it either and is told she can keep the proceeds if she handles the details, she agrees. She can really use the money....her work situation in the city just became untenable, and she wants to open her own place...she heads up to Maine with her father's ashes in an urn to be scattered on the lake. The last thing she expects to find waiting for her at the cabin is...the half sister she never knew she had. Lucy is the product of a summer love affair between Hank and Dawn, a local woman he was involved with before he and Celeste were married. She know about Hank's "real" family and while jealous that Vivian gets to have her father in her life all the time, she at least has the month of July each year to spend at the cabin with him. She is in fact expecting to see him arrive when she sees his truck pull in to the driveway but it is Vivian at the wheel, and it is from Vivian that she discovers that Hank is dead. Lucy's life is also in turmoil...her husband has asked for a divorce, and she has moved back in with her mother. She wants desperately to keep the cabin, but its not her choice. The two sisters have every reason to dislike one another, and to be angry with the father that lied to one and hid the other from the world. They have very different lives and want very different things....this summer at the cabin on Fox Hill, where privacy is hard to come by but apparently secrets can be kept, will change the course of their lives.
Maine Characters is the story of two families linked together by a man who is no longer with them. Vivian and Lucy are flawed characters (and not altogether likable, to be honest) whose emotions are raw given the strain each is under. That they are fairly hostile to one another is understandable...each one represents to the other a failing of their shared father. Vivian suspected that his father was cheating on her mother but had no idea that he had a whole second family, while Lucy resented being the "secret" child who wasn't openly acknowledged in public. Lies, secrets, love, betrayal, and loss make for a toxic brew despite the beautifully evoked Maine atmosphere. As the two women struggle to forge new lives and wonder whether the biological fact of their connection could or should lead to an ongoing relationship, they will discover things about themselves, their mothers and their father. This is an engaging read, perfect for reading on a hot summer day (preferably with a lake or a beach in view and with a chilled bottle of wine at the ready). Fans of author Hannah Orenstein as well as readers of Georgia Clark, Carley Fortune and Kate Spencer will likely enjoy this tale of unanticipated family dynamics and raw emotions. The ending is fairly predictable and perhaps a bit too neat given the mess that Hank left behind for his daughters to sort through, but I would rate the book a solid 3.5 ⭐️ rounded up to 4. My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton/Dutton for allowing me access to Main Characters in exchange for my honest review,

Well described as the adult parent trap this was a messy family drama, where I didn’t really like the main characters. I did my best at enjoying the story and the setting, and in the end the resolution was satisfying.

As someone who lives in Maine, I loved reading this and recognizing so many places! Hannah did a fantastic job bringing Maine into the story. I loved the contrast between Vivian and Lucy with how different they were, very similar to The Parent Trap in how they’re raised so different.

The first half of the book felt a lot slower than the second half, though I really needed that built-up time to understand Hank and how he treated each of his girls and the backstory.

Hannah handled the grief in a heartbreaking but beautiful way with how Lucy and Vivian worked through it separately and together. I enjoyed the realistic way she wrote the romances that added to the character development. Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the review.

Hannah Orenstein's Maine Characters is a grown-up version of Parent Trap and I loved how for this book Hannah stepped outside of New York and transported her readers to the fictional town, Fox Hill, in Maine.

Vivian Levy and Lucy Webster are half-sisters who have never met before, but are brought together by their father's untimely death. Vivian and Lucy could not be more different--Vivian was raised in New York City and has a career as a sommelier; Lucy was raised in Fox Hill and is a high school English teacher. They have one thing in common though--their father kept both of them at an arm's length and never truly appreciated either of his daughters. Vivian arrives at her father's cabin to spread his ashes and sell the cabin in order to open her own business, but is shocked to discover Lucy at the cabin for her month that she would typically spend with her father. What ensues is an exploration of what makes a family and just how far one will go for family.

I love how both Vivian and Lucy had their own journeys throughout this book and felt the ending was perfect for the both of them. This book is perfect if you love messy families and small-town romances. Fair warning, you'll want to book a trip to Maine after reading it!

Thank you to Dutton for the e-ARC!

maine characters ARC 🌲🦞⛵️✨
3⭐️
Thank you to Net Galley, Dutton Books, and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book! this book is like the grown up version of the parent trap filled with drama. I LOVE the cover of this book! it is about two sisters who meet for the first time after their fathers death. this book was a little slow for me and I was bored a few times. this book would be perfect to read at the beach or the lake this summer! this book has little to no spice! I would definitely read more by this author in the future. this book comes out May 13, 2025!! Definitely check it out if you like summer reads, romance, and literary fiction!



Thank you so much to Netgalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the advanced copy for my honest review.

Unfortunately I didn’t love this one. I ended up DNFing this one around the 40% mark. It was a hit slow for me

Thank you NetGalley and Dutton Books for the ebook in exchange for an honest review.

An emotion-filled novel that pulled at my heart in the right places. I enjoyed all of the relationships explored here and I felt like they all ended in a place that was reasonable and resolute. Highly recommend!

I think this is a “it’s me not you” situation. I was sucked in by a pretty cover and confusing marketing.

Cheating in a romance is pretty much a hard no for me, but then again, I don’t think Maine Characters is a romance. Women’s Fiction? Yes. Fiction with romantic elements? Absolutely. Romance? Not in my book (heh). And is this way heavier than a Parent Trap romp.

I couldn’t get behind either of the main characters. Vivian is awful—hypocritical and angry. Lucy is awful—whiny and angry. These two 30-somethings act like spoiled teenagers, alternately arguing and pouting until I wanted to send them to their separate rooms for a time out. It wasn’t until about 75% that things began to turn around but by that point I was just reading to finish.

But wow, that cover really is gorgeous.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for an eARC. Opinions are my own.

Vivian and Lucy are half sisters, but never met. Lucy knows about Vivian, yet Vivian doesn't know about Lucy. After their dad passed away out of the blue, Vivian shows up to the lake house to sell it and spread his ashes, but she finds finds Lucy already there. They end up spending the summer together in the lake house trying to navigate their past and each other.

I really loved this book! I enjoyed how we got to read about Lucy and Vivian and their story, but also got a look into both of their relationships they had. When they were growing with each other, it had an effect on how they made decisions in their own relationships.

3.5 stars. This is a love letter to summers in Maine and making your own family.

I really liked the overall premise: Vivian and Lucy are half sisters who have never met, only coming together once their father has died and leaving them to sort out the pieces. We see a good amount of character growth as the women get to know each other and piece together their juxtaposed childhoods.

This book felt too long though. The central action was really significant, and I was invested in it, but there were so many things happening around it that it pulled away from the story. The pacing got really bogged down with the repetitive side tangents.

Overall though it felt like reminiscing about a childhood summer.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hannah Orenstein, and Dutton Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ugh. This review pains me.
I’ve really liked this author’s previous work, but this book was not for me.
First of all, I didn’t like a single character. I will say Lucy’s mom wasn’t completely insufferable, but oof…the other characters.
Vivian and Lucy were both immature. I didn’t like the story line, their choices, how they treated each other, so much did not work me for. There was not enough redeeming qualities to make up for their lack of likability.
This would have been a DNF if I wasn’t reading and reviewing for netgalley.
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I will say, the cover is gorgeous and it does give off summer vibes. I do think people will pick it up because of the cover, but not sure they will stick around for the story.
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Thank you netgalley and Dutton books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.