Book #3 of the Fire Island series is my favorite. Loved the characters, chemistry, banter and the music.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC read.

Songs of Summer by Jane Rosen, the third in her Fire Island trilogy, is a warm, character-driven story that makes you want to visit Fire Island and meet everyone yourself. At its heart is Maggie’s search for her birth mother, layered with an unlikely love story, a dysfunctional family, a wedding, and memories of summers past. It’s the perfect read for fans of women’s fiction and multi-generational characters. I couldn’t put it down and look forward to Jane Rosen's next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley books for the free physical finished copy sent to me to read. All opinions and thoughts of this book are my own!

I have read all 3 books in this trilogy, the first 2 were ones I bought, and then this one. I am super grateful to have been able to finish this series as I don't believe that any of the books can be read alone.

This one also wasn't my favorite - Maggie was 30 but spent the entire book acting as though she had just turned 16. She was wreckless to a point of annoyance, and all of the shenanigans that were caused just felt overly juvenile. What I truly enjoyed about this book was revisiting the island setting - Fire Island is stunning and then getting to revisit my favorite characters from Seven Summer Weekends was really enjoyable.

*Songs of Summer* is a heartfelt story full of family drama, romance, and self-discovery. It follows Maggie, a 30-year-old woman searching for her birth mother on Fire Island during a wedding. Told from multiple points of view, the book explores adoption, forgiveness, and friendship, all set to a music-themed backdrop. Even without reading the first two books in the series, this one stands strong on its own and makes for a great summer read.

This is based on an island of family like history and the branches that have escaped the island and how it calls them all home -- but with all the absurdity of a hilarious reality TV show.
Two friends whose birthdays are the same day and a promise.
Two estranged sisters with some big history to overcome.
One meddlesome dad and stepdad.
One writer who sees all the chaos with clarity and creates a bit more.
One wedding that brings them all together.
And an island that hosts it all.

It was a hilarious read.

This book is a perfect book for summer, with a beautiful setting, a romance at the heart, a wedding, and major family drama? It has all the elements of an incredible beach read! I loved the sense of found family with this one, and I really loved the romance between the Maggie and Matt. And I was so glad that Maggie and Jason didn't end up together just out of convenience. Matt and her definitely had a spark and the way family dynamics were explored in this novel was amazing.

Blurb: “A young woman crashes the wedding of the summer on Fire Island in search of her birth mother-and gets a whole lot more than she bargained for-in this warm, heart-stopping getaway from Jane L. Rosen Maggie Mae Wheeler is content with her life. At 30, she has grand plans for her vintage record shop in the charming Midwestern town where she grew up, and is soon to be engaged to her childhood best friend. But when she discovers a letter she wrote to herself at thirteen, being content doesn't feel like enough anymore-Maggie needs answers to figure out who she is and where she belongs. Since losing her parents, the only family she has ever known, Maggie decides that finding her birth mother is the best place to start. Her search leads her to Fire Island, an idyllic summer getaway where her birth mother is attending a wedding. As Maggie observes her biological family from a distance, she sees that they come with a lot of... drama. Torn between diving deeper into their world or returning to her peaceful life and cozy relationship, her decision gets more complicated when a handsome local offers to take her to the wedding.

I enjoyed all the characters in this book. I loved Maggie & Matt, I just knew they would have chemistry! The drama in this novel was perfection! Family drama is the most interesting drama! Cute little summer read, I’ll definitely read the other books in the series. Thank you Netgalley and Berkley Romance

I love revisiting Fire Island with Jane Rosen's new releases each year. While Songs of Summer had a little too much going on, it was still an enjoyable read for me and I enjoyed the Jewish representation.

3.5 stars

3.5 ⭐️

On her 30th birthday, Maggie May Wheeler decides it’s time for her to find her birth mother. After doing a DNA test and finding out who she is, Maggie makes a spontaneous decision to follow her to a wedding on Fire Island. Her plan is simple, observe her birth mother from a safe distance and then reveal herself if the time feels right, simple plans don’t always pan out as expected.

This was a really sweet read with a focus on self discovery and stepping out of your comfort zone. Maggie’s world has always been small and she’s been absolutely fine with that, but once she decides to broaden her horizons, she finds so much of what she never knew she was missing. I loved that music played such a huge role in this story, from Maggie owning a record shop to the song names as chapter titles and all of the references along the way. This one will leave you with a smile on your face and a playlist to go along with it!

Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for the gifted copy of this book!!

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted e-copy.

I absolutely love the Fire Island books by this author, and I was so excited to read the third (and final?) book in this series. I think you could read it as a standalone, but there are definitely things mentioned that are in the previous two books that wouldn't make a lot of sense without the background from reading them.

I didn't love this one quite as much as the first two, but I still enjoyed the story of Maggie, Matt, Bea, Veronica, and the rest of the characters we've come to know. I'm not sure how realistic it was with Maggie just showing up and inserting herself onto the island and everything kind of falling into place, but then again, fiction isn't always realistic, is it? There are a few sub plots that go along with Maggie's story, and several POVs that tell the story.

Fire Island itself is still my favorite character in this series. The author does such a great job of describing it and making it somewhere I wish I could spend my summers.

I'm very much looking forward to whatever Jane Rosen comes up with next!

I’m an adoptive Mama and generally love themes of adoption or found family. For some reason this book just did not pull me in. I found it interesting at first and then it seemed to switch gears while relating to the birth mom. This book just wasn’t for me.

This was my first Jane L. Rosen novel. I hoped she would become one of my new favorite contemporary authors. Unfortunately, that is not the case. While this novel was a cozy beach read, the story fell flat for me. My lack of enthusiasm for the novel was due to the writing style, and partially to the fact that I didn’t realize this was the third book in a trilogy when I requested the ARC!

When I think of adult contemporary novels, whether full chick-lit or literary fiction, I envision stories with invocative writing, whether that be setting descriptions or character internal monologue. I also envision stories which have a good balance of introspection/summary, planning, and action moments. This novel did not have any of that. The writing style veered toward telling instead of showing, which made for a clunky reading experience. This feeling was due to the heavy use of introspection/summary, the point-of-view slips, and the overall lack of depth to the writing. The writing style kept me at arm’s length from the characters and didn’t provide an engaging style to read.

The descriptions, whether for the setting or characters, were weak as well. I had a difficult time keeping track of character descriptions and imagining the setting. I wished the setting (Fire Island) felt more like a character to this story. Setting is so important to drawing out the emotions of the characters and giving the reader a backdrop. With Rosen living part-time on Fire Island, I wished I could feel more of her love for that place shining through.

I was not expecting this to be a multiple points-of-view novel. With the way the synopsis is set up, I fully thought we were going to be with Maggie the entire time. Instead, we had approximately eight to ten perspectives to read. First, that was many characters to keep track of (on average, a reader can only keep track of six). Second, the multi-points-of-view made it difficult to invest in a single character. For example, I would have loved to spend more time with Maggie and Matt to see their romance unfold. Instead, since we were jumping around perspectives, their romance ended up feeling more insta-lovey. Other plot resolutions felt quick, too. The end of the feud between Veronica and Bea, for example, resolved over two chapters around the mid-point. The resolution didn’t feel earned at that point. Ultimately, it was too much packed into too few pages.

Overall, this novel wasn’t my cup of tea. I found myself craving the storytelling pieces that make a novel addicting and fun to read. (I also didn’t love the awkward uses of slang, or the reference of a psychologist/therapist being a “shrink.”) In many ways, this novel felt a little outdated. In others, it felt cozy. I truly believe I wasn’t the correct audience for this novel, and that’s okay.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I have loved following this series, and seeing the world within Fire Island. This is the perfect summer novel about “finding yourself”, and your family along the way.

A very sweet summer read about interconnected family drama and found family. I would have loved a little bit more exploration of the mother-daughter relationship.

This is my first read of Fire Island books.
Maggie Mae and her best friend Jason write themselves letters at age 13 to be opened at age 30. She was adopted and wants to find her birth mother. She runs and lives above the bookstore where she grew up. When she gets to Fire island she finds more than just her birth mother she finds home in Matt and the island.

This was good! Heartfelt, sweet, captivating. First book by Jane L. Rosen, and third of this series but def did not need to read the others to enjoy this one! I loved Matty & Maggie’s relationship 😍 My only nitpicks are why does every daughter in this book from aged 6-50 years old call their fathers ‘daddy’? A bit weird imho… oh well.

Rosen takes us back to some of her original characters introduced in On Fire Island, the first book in her loose Fire Island trilogy. (Loose in the sense that they are all standalone that have characters in common.). Songs of Summer introduces us to Maggie May Wheeler, 30, who lives in Ohio, but ends up receiving a letter that takes her to Fire Island to try to find her birth mother. A great summer book with characters that suck you in.

Songs of Summer is a cute beach read, perfect for summer. I love the Fire Island setting, and I love how each chapter is a song title. I enjoyed reading about Maggie's journey to meet her biological mom and all the chaos that came along with it, but I'm not sure I was a fan of the multiple POVs. I feel like it took away from the book a little, limiting the time spent developing each character. Overall, it is a sweet, fun summer read.
Thank you NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group, and Jane L. Rosen for this read.

𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗥 is a must-add to your summer reading list!

Jane L. Rosen revisits Fire Island, the site of her last two books 𝗢𝗻 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗜𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 and 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀, as she tells the story of Maggie, who was adopted as a baby and after turning 30, heads to Long Island to find her birth mother. I couldn’t stop listening as secrets get revealed, family dramas play out and romance blooms. The narration was wonderful and while this one can easily be read as a stand alone, I loved learning the updates on what happened to characters from the previous books. And the music references were terrific - be sure to give the playlist the author put together on Spotify a listen.

Thanks to Berkley and PRH Audio for the copies to review.

This was very cute! Very much in the Elin Hilderbrand vein of a summer read. I love a fake dating trope and any story that manages to work in a good soundtrack!