As promised, this was a sweet romance. I read the book but mostly listened to the audiobook on a train ride from Washington D.C. to NYC and it fit the bill perfectly. I am not usually one for romance novels but the characters were well developed and appealing and the plot was sufficiently interesting to keep me engaged the whole way through. There was a moment where I wondered if the novel was going to veer into the supernatural, which would have not worked as well from my perspective, but it didn't. At the beginning, I was afraid it was going to be sad because, well, it was about a young woman whose husband had died, leaving her with a child to raise. But, as often is the case with these kinds of books, it was uplifting.
The narrator was good, though I think her delivery of the child's lines bordered on annoying.
I would give this 4.25 stars. There were moments when the novel veered into the "trite" category, particularly in dialogue when I cringed at the predictability of a few lines and the actions of a few characters. However, it was a good read and I do want to check out the writers other work.
Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson and Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Audio for providing me with copies of the book and audiobook in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

The Summer of You and Me is emotional, romantic, and laced with just the right amount of mystery. So pretty much everything I'm looking for in a wholesome sweet romance novel.

I like a story featuring a single parent, and I live in North Carolina, so I was drawn to the beachy setting. Complicated family dynamics, the slow-burn romance, and Josh’s unrequited love for Maggie definitely kept the pages turning as well.

The mysterious lookalike to Maggie's deceased husband is quite the clever subplot. I couldn't figure out who he was exactly, so the resolution really threw me for a loop (but in the best way)! If you love second chances, unresolved feelings, and a touch of suspense woven into a clean, deeply romantic story, this one’s for you.

Absolutely adored The Summer of You and Me!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the complimentary copy. All opinions shared here are my own.

I like my contemporary novels to be realistic, and The Summer of You and Me had more coincidence and unexpected moments than I could handle.

My favorite part (that some readers hated) was the romance. Though how long the MMC had liked (loved?) the FMC was unrealistic to me.

What I really disliked (no spoilers here!) was the mystery, which is a huge part of the plot. I kept reading and considering all the options, and it was uncomfortable and stressful. Some of the options were sinful or controversial for Christians. I couldn't enjoy the book. I am also concerned for younger readers because I don't think they will understand what's going on. I asked my 19yo daughter to please come to me with questions and not to Google anything!

I'm sorry to say, but I do not recommend this book to Christian fiction readers.

Romance with a side of mystery! I loved Before We Were Us, so I came into this one with high expectations. It was a cute romance and I instantly connected to the characters. She really explored the complexities of family dynamics in this heartwarming story. However, some of the mystery fell a little flat to me. But overall, an enjoyable summer beach read!

Thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

"It couldn't be Ethan. It absolutely couldn't be her high school sweetheart, the only man she'd ever loved, the man she'd married and conceived a child with. Because he was killed five years ago at his military post in Pakistan" (location 117). When Maggie thinks she sees her dead husband at a carnival, she turns to her brother-in-law Josh for help. This starts them on a quest to figure out just who this person could be.

I really liked this book. It was interesting and different. It caught me off guard a few times with its twists and turns. I enjoyed the hunt of trying to figure out who the mystery man was. I liked both Josh and Maggie and Josh's family, imperfect as it is. They were a great picture of how family comes together for you in your trials. Maggie's mom....not so much.

This was a fast read with a great pace. I'd recommend it. Thank you to Thomas Nelson for providing me with a free e-copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I did a combination of e-book and
audiobook for this one and enjoyed both.
The narrator was excellent.

This family drama had just enough romance thrown in. I really liked the two main characters and the way their characters were written.

I did not care for the main character’s mother, but I know her character was written that way to deepen the plot and shape the way the main character related to events in her life.


I found the “twist “ and ending of book satisfying.

The Summer of You and Me is a story that will stay with me for a long time.

What’s the protocol for seeing your dead husband in the crowd at a carnival? That’s the question facing Maggie Reynolds, not long after she arrives in his hometown for the summer. She’s returned to mark five years since his death, and hopefully, find the strength to start moving on with their daughter. After the shock sighting, Maggie turns to her former brother in law Josh for help, not realizing Josh has loved her since they first met.

The two begin a journey of investigation, discovery and shock, while navigating grief and romance. But there are many sets of baggage when you fall for your dead husband’s brother and the pair must unpack all of them or run the risk of broken hearts all over again.

While I did struggle with the idea of romance between former in laws, this story is sensitively handled and contains and excellent plot twist that made me gasp and smile. Overall, I throughly enjoyed this book.

I received a copy of The Summer of You and Me from the publisher, via NetGalley. The opinions are my own.

Maggie Reynolds lost her husband five years ago in a military related accident and she is finally ready to move on and find love again. She is thrown for a loop when she sees a look-alike of her deceased husband while at a carnival with her young daughter. She enlists her husband's brother Josh to help her track down the man she saw. What Maggie doesn't know is that Josh is in love with her and has been in love with her since the moment they met years before.
The Summer of You and Me is a sweet and clean romance. The mystery aspect of who the man is and why he looks like Maggie's deceased husband is exciting and the results of that were interesting. I had to suspend belief for a few minutes on the conclusion to that arc of the book but since it's a fiction it was fine. The budding romance between Maggie and Josh was lovely but I did find some issue with the fact that Josh married and divorced another woman while being in love with Maggie. Maggie was also married during this time but it still didn't seem quite fair to the other woman. Maggie's daughter was cute and the interactions between her and Josh were nice. Overall I enjoyed this book but did find some morality issues with the divorce especially considering this is supposed to be Christian Fiction.

Denise Hunter's books are those I can rely on for sweet, light reads between heavier ones and The Summer of You and Me is no exception. This story is a little mystery and alot of clean, only kissing romance. I prefer more mystery than romance but the mystery kept me reading.
I would assume that previously married people would be a bit more mature the second time around and this was not the case with these characters, it read more like YA.
If you are looking for a story like one Karen Kingsbury would write but want less faith content or enjoy a Hallmark movie or two, you will enjoy this story.

Such an amazing second chance story and with twists I wasn't expecting! This book was so well written, entertaining, emotional and heartfelt. A wonderful and clever storyline that's interesting, suspenseful and yet was sweet as well. The characters journey through grief then hope is inspiring and real. Definitely a page turner with enough depth and drama to keep you on the edge of your seat and turning pages. A wonderful story from start to finish.

Thank you Thomas Nelson Fiction & netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wooow! I was not expecting this book to be such a page turner but it had me locked in!! The summery setting & the plot got me hooked from the very beginning. I enjoyed the mystery too. The family dynamics, personal growth and the emotion written throughout this novel really is something special. This book is such a feel good romance. I will definitely be reading more Denise Hunter in the future!!

The Summer of You and Me: ★★★★☆ (4)

Pub date: available now!!

Maggie has been a widow and single mother to a sweet little girl after her husband was killed in Pakistan five years ago. Now, she and her young daughter are back in Seabrook for the summer where it all began as children with her and Ethan. She is still very close to his family. Unbeknownst to her, Ethan's younger brother, Josh, has been in love with her since the first time he saw her at the family table with his sister. It was most difficult for Josh to watch as she fell for his brother instead and married him. Although, Josh dated many women, and even married one, none of the relationships worked for he only loved one woman.
Maggie is back in Seabrook to release Ethan's ashes with the family. She wants to move forward, but Ethan was her one and only true love. Josh is secretly hoping she truly is ready to move on and just maybe he will have a chance with her.
While spending an evening at the local amusement park, Maggie sees a man up ahead in the crowd that looks just like her deceased husband, Ethan. She takes chase, but loses him in the crowd. Ethan thinks it is her imagination, until she shows him a picture on her phone that she took of her daughter on the carousel. The mystery man was in the background of the picture. Now, Josh doesn't know what to think.
This sends them on a trail of trying to locate the man. In the process, they make several very wrong assumptions. I found it a bit unbelievable how Maggie would cling to and hug on Josh and spend so much time with him. They behaved more like a couple than a sister and brother-in-law. Thus, my four star review. However, it was an enjoyable read.
I was given an advanced ecopy by the publisher, Thomas Nelson through Netgalley. I was under no obligation to leave a positive review.

I really enjoyed reading this sweet, emotional story. I loved how supportive Maggie’s in-laws were of her. Most of the time, they completely rallied around her. Maggie was finally ready to move on after her husband’s unexpected death, when she thinks she sees him in the distance. Josh has had feelings for Maggie since they were in high school and had kept it to himself the entire time because she was his brother’s girlfriend and then wife. They team up to try to find out who she had seen and it leads to drama at every turn. Josh was the perfect match for Maggie, as a friend and in love. This story was such a fun, easy read. It had me hooked from page one and there were a lot of fun surprises. It was my first Denise Hunter book and it will definitely not be my last!

The Summer of You and Me by Denise Hunter is a heartfelt, and sometimes bittersweet story. Maggie Reynolds is spending the summer at Seabrook where she and her late husband were first sweethearts. They say everyone has someone somewhere who could pass as a twin or doppelganger. While there Maggie sees her late husband’s. The chase is on to find him when he is lost in a crowd. Josh Reynolds, her brother-in-law, joins her in the search.

What a wild believable story with so many possibilities and speculations. Along the way Maggie confronts her doubts about herself, finds she can love again and makes changes in her life. There are surprises in the twists and turns, but God is in control of all. The characters are alive, warm, real with the kind of doubts that can plague us all.

I can highly recommend The Summer of You and Me to all who enjoy women’s fiction with a dose of romance. The fact that it is written from a Christian perspective just serves to make it more awesome.

Falling in love after years of longing. Kisses with lots of swoon factor. A really cute kid. A mystery to solve. Family complications. Surprises. All of these things combined to take me on a riveting and entertaining rollercoaster ride with highs and lows and twists and turns that ended in a happily ever after. Just like in real life there were hurtful people, messy feelings, mistakes made, forgiveness given, and moments of wonderful connection and unexpected joy. This book had it all and I read it in one sitting, just couldn’t put it down. Highly recommend! I received a complimentary copy thanks to Thomas Nelson Fiction and NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

It has been five years since schoolteacher Maggie Reynolds lost her husband, Ethan. It seems to be time to move forward with her daughter, four-year-old Zoey. It's time to live life again. A trip to Seabrook, facing memories of their love and time with her in-laws will help. When she sees a man in the crowd at a carnival, a man identical to Ethan, her world turns upside down once again.
Captain Josh Reynolds has loved Maggie since before her heart was won by his brother Ethan. He has not been able to get her out of his mind or heart. After five years he is ready to share the truth with her. When she sees a person who she is convinced is Ethan he supports and helps her search for this individual.
I received this novel from Thomas Nelson via NetGalley. I love the work of Denise Hunter, and this is one of her best stories in my opinion. There is so much going on here. Grief, loss, hope and a serious mystery with incredible results. The author makes it work with very interesting twists.
This is so good I happily give it five stars! The characters are believable. The feelings intense. I don't want to ruin a thing and say more.
If you love a good mystery and a sweet love story this should satisfy you.
There is a bit of negative toward a man being in love with his brother's widow and the two moving forward in a relationship. To me this is not against God's word at all. The interest in each other was fine and natural with me.
A great summertime read.

Wow! I just finished THE SUMMER OF YOU AND ME by Denise Hunter. It’s the best romance I’ve read in some time! She does a fantastic job of writing a believable, sweet romance with deep characters, and a plot twist I didn’t see coming.
Maggie brings her daughter Zoey to the beach town where she met her husband to spend the summer near his family. He was killed in the military five years earlier, and the extended family plans to scatter his ashes over the ocean in the late summer. Maggie's brother-in-law Josh hopes this summer is the right time to finally express his love for her. It gets more complicated when they see a man at the beachside carnival who looks like her deceased husband/his brother. Who is he? Is he somehow related?
Romance with a touch of mystery in a beachside town—What more could I ask for? Definitely put this book on your summer reading list! Thanks to Thomas Nelson Fiction and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions are my own.

The Summer of You and Me
Denise Hunter
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Maggie Reynolds tragically lost her husband five years ago. She returns to the town of Seabrook for the summer hoping that time with Ethan's family will allow her to finally let him go.

Ethan's brother, Josh Reynolds, has been in love with Maggie since she first came home with his sister when they were kids. His older brother quickly won Maggie's attention, and Josh kept quiet about his own broken heart. He's hopeful that if Maggie is ready to move on, that he can finally tell her about his true feelings.

While visiting the local amusement park, Maggie runs into a man who looks exactly like Ethan. The man disappears into the crowd before she can get to him, so she enlists Josh to help her discover the man's identity.

This story drew us in with intrigue and just when we thought we had uncovered the plot twist, Hunter delivered another surprise. She crafted complex relationships filled with sacrifice and real-world struggles. We enjoyed this new novel and the way Hunter illustrated God is always at work even when it is unknown to us.

We received an advance copy from NetGalley. This is our honest review.

This story gripped me but made me sad, because it dealt so much with the death of Ethan and his brother Josh's unrequited feelings for Ethan's wife, Maggie. It was a lot of sadness for a romance, and more than I'm used to from Denise Hunter.

It kind of brought me down at first, but the mystery of the man Maggie sees who looks exactly like her dead husband made me want to keep reading and not stop. I finished the book in two days, which is not normal for me right now because of some really busy circumstances.

In the end, I really enjoyed the book and was able to put a lot of the sadness to rest, just as the characters had been trying to do. There were some great plot twists that elevated it beyond many of the romances I have read.

I liked the positive characterization of therapy in the book and how it helped Maggie sort through some complicated past traumas and find healthier ways to approach her life.

Denise Hunter is always a good read, and this one was no exception. It is a great summer read to get you dreaming of idyllic locales and fun in the sun, too.

Thank you to NetGalley & Thomas Nelson Ficton for this ARC. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I would give The Summer of You and Me a 3.5 star rating. I was looking forward to this book, because I loved Denise Hunter's Before We Were Us. This one fell a little flat for me. I enjoy Christian novels but this one felt a little forced. I did not like the way Josh called Maggie honey. Something just felt off about it to me. The romance between the main characters had good development & tension. It did not bother me that the brother in law was in love with Maggie. I thought that was probably more common than people acknowledge. I also liked the mystery aspect. There was definitely a plot twist I did not see coming. Overall I enjoyed the read but I did not like it as much as her previous novel. This was a clean romance, suitable for younger readers.