Thank you @berkleypub and @netgalley for the ARC of Songs of Summer! Jane Rosen's books speak to me. Having grown up on Long Island and visited Fire Island every time I read one of her Fire Island series books it brings back great memories. As for Songs of Summer- I greatly enjoyed the song titles that accompany each chapter- the perfect soundtrack to summer. The story is a highly enjoyable and quick read filled with family drama, lifelong friendships, love and learning when to let go! Maggie's adventure to find her birth mother includes it all in a fun setting with some BEC SPK to go along with it. (IYKYK!). Rosen's writing style brings the characters and story to life. Highly recommend Songs of Summer to kick off your summer reading!

Thanks so much to @berkleypub for the free book!

After Maggie thinks she has her whole life figured out, she decides to find out who her birth mother is on her 30th birthday. When she finds out that her whole biological family will be on Fire Island for the wedding of the year, she decides to crash it. Luckily a handsome stranger proposes that she can be his wedding date so she can get to know them from afar and decide her fate.

What a lovely way to wrap up The Fire Island series! I love the world that Jane L. Rosen has created and I’ll miss exploring it more! I love fake dating and this book does it perfectly. It could be a standalone but I find that the whole series does a wonderful job intertwining together!

Maggie Mae Wheeler lives in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, above her family's record shop, which she runs following the deaths of her adoptive parents. At thirty, she enjoys her life and her lifelong friendship with Jason. The two decide to take things to the next level and quickly go from secret lovers to being engaged-to-be-engaged. However, before Maggie can make it official, she needs to fill the void in her heart by finding her birth mother. Upon discovering her identity, Maggie travels to New York's Fire Island, where her biological mother is set to attend a wedding. She chooses not to reveal herself immediately, opting to observe her first. When Maggie meets Matt, the charismatic son of the bride, he agrees to take her to the wedding as his date.

Songs of Summer is the third installment in Jane L. Rosen's The Fire Island Trilogy. The characters are endearing, the storyline is moving but never gets too heavy, and Fire Island is a great setting. Rosen adds a delightful musical element to the book. In addition to Maggie's music store, Matt works as a writer for Rolling Stone. Each chapter is a song title, which is perfectly picked for what will take place. I couldn't help but smile each time I read the song choices, especially ones by some of my favorite artists: The Beatles, Jackson Browne, Carole King/James Taylor, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Squeeze, Cat Stevens. While part of a trilogy, this enjoyable book can be read as a standalone. With its heart, humor, and playlist, pack this book in your beach bag.

4.25 stars.

4.25 stars.

3.5 stars rounded up - thank you Netgalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I have enjoyed other books by Jane L Rosen and I actually read On Fire Island when it came out. I was not aware these stories were somewhat connected and that was a nice surprise. It is not a requirement to read On Fire Island or Seven Summer Weekends before reading this one, but it may make story more enjoyable. This was a very sweet, heartfelt story with good characters that were easy to root for. It also had different songs as the chapter titles which adds a cute element to the story.

Songs of Summer by Jane L. Rosen is the third installment in The Fire Island Trilogy. This captivating story expertly intertwines romance with a thoughtful examination of family relationships and personal growth.

Songs Of Summer by Jane L. Rosen

When Maggie goes to Fire Island in search of her birth mother, she ends up discovering far more than she could have hoped for.

I adored this book. If you have not read On Fire Island, do yourself a favor and pick it up and read this trilogy as a whole. I do not know if this was meant to be a trilogy from when the original book was written, but it just works so well. I love how the stories are spanned out over decades, and we got to learn so much more about the original characters and their futures then we originally thought. While I loved this story and the story of Maggie and Matt and those surrounding them, I really loved seeing more of Ben's story. Having said all that, this book can be read as a standalone, but you would be doing yourself a disservice. Jane L. Rosen is probably the author whose new release I look forward to the most each year. Fire Island is magical, the characters are magical, and I hope to read more about them in the future.

This was a great book for readers who also love music. Each chapter title is a song & there is a playlist on spotify for readers to listen to. It was a fun concept of telling a story through music. Maggie was a likeable character & I was rooting for her to find love as well as discover her family origin. The story is told through a variety of the characters, so the reader gets a deeper understanding. Great vacation or beach read. It was a quick fun read with a creative concept! I did not read books 1 or 2, this works as a stand alone. I am now interested to check out the authors other books as well.

Maggie is happy with her life, and loves running the record shop. Now that she is engaged to be engaged, she starts to feel like something is missing…her family. While her adoptive parents have passed, she still has a birth mom somewhere out there. Her search brings her to Fire Island, but when she sees her birth mom and her aunt having a massive fight, she decides to get to know them from a distance before breaking her big news.

Ahhh back to fire island and the crew is better than ever! I really loved Maggie and her quest to find her birth mom. It added such a wonderful element to fire island and made for extra fun as she got to know everyone without spilling the beans! I just loved every second of this book, from the wedding, to the family drama, to found family, and finding actual family! Every time I read one of Jane’s books it just makes me want to visit Fire Island! Girl will be in for a surprise when I show up on the island and ask where she lives, just kidding but tempting!

Thank you to @berkleypub for my gifted copy of this book!

3.5

This was a story about family.

We return to Fire Island with a handful of characters from the first two books and a few new ones.

Maggie travels to Fire Island to find her birth mother. While there she sees that the family is a bit dysfunctional and she also meets someone with while she really clicks.

I enjoyed this one but also felt like there was so much going on. It all made sense but because we skip between perspectives it took me out of the story a bit.

Thx to PRH Audio for the advanced listeners copy.

precious and well-written romance with some very very fun characters and awesome themes of getting to know who you are. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

4.5⭐️

The most charming and cozy summer read! This one has sibling rivalry, family dynamics, adoption, friendship and found family themes done in a beautiful way.

My first book by Jane L. Rosen, and I couldn’t put it down. Maggie is the adopted owner of a record store who longs to meet her birth mother after the death of her adoptive parents. She crashes a wedding on Fire Island that her birth mother is attending and everything that ensues is entertaining and emotional.

I don’t remember reading a book with this many different points of view, but I have to say I really liked it. It made all the characters more relatable and I liked knowing where they were coming from.

Absolutely loved the connection between Maggie and Matt. They had so much in common, and their relationship was so cute. I also enjoyed all the other storylines…Beatrix and her reconciliation with Veronica, their dad, Paul, Jason, and Dylan.

The musical references were so good, and I loved how the chapters were all titled after different songs. Definitely want to go back and read the rest of the Fire Island series.

Thanks to Jane L. Rosen, Berkley Publishing, and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Maggie May Wheeler had a great life! She had loving parents, a steadfast best friend, and lots of music, but at 30, she finds herself at a crossroads. Maggie feels like part of her is missing, and her birth mother may be the missing piece. The search for her birth mother brings her to Fire Island where she is quickly swept up in its charms and embraced by its residents.

I will always be excited about a new Jane L. Rosen book, but I was ecstatic to have another chance to return to Fire Island. I have been a fan of this community since my first trip there, and it was such a pleasure to catch up with friends, old and new.

As with the previous books, Rosen flips perspectives, moving between the main characters and giving a chapter, here and there, to a supporting character. Maggie's search for her birth mother dominates the story, but there were some great side plots as well. As someone who has read the other two Fire Island books, I was thrilled to learn more about Shep's daughters and see Matty take center stage. I feel like I have watched him grow up!

Maggie was such a great addition to this Fire Island family. She fit right in, most noticeably with Matty. They both shared a love of music which contributed to their fantastic banter and there was such an ease between them. I was glad he was there to guide her through this BIG moment in her life.

As expected, I laughed, I cried, my heart exploded - these are things I expect when reading a Jane L. Rosen book, and she always delivers. There were a plethora of heartwarming and moving moments that had me wiping away my tears, and I could not help but be filled with joy for everyone involved.

Overall: Another memorable trip to Fire Island that left me with a warm heart and huge smile on my face.

New summer romance read alert!! With a whimsical setting of a beautiful island, the drama of a big family during a wedding, and the uncertainty that Maggie feels in her desire to discover who she truly is, all combine to create a heart-felt, romantic, summer get-away. Because you can't forget that there is also friends-to-lovers, and fake-dating thrown in too!

--I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.--

Overall I didn’t hate this book but I didn’t love it either. I do have to say if I had read this when I was a teenager or younger I would have loved this more than I do now. I didn’t relate to the character as much as I used to be able to which made me disconnect a little bit but I did enjoy the idea of the story and how it was portrayed. I would recommend this to a younger audience than myself or maybe someone who enjoys a more heartfelt whimsical story. 3.5/5 stars.

I have been really enjoying the Fire Island series. What a stunning backdrop for novels! I want to live there, be there & know all these intriguing characters (even if I have a slightly hard time remembering who is who between novels). I enjoyed this book about found family, island adventures and the love that is shared between people who respect each other. It was not always believable but that’s what books are for. It was funny and delightful and a nice easy beach read. Can’t ask for more!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.

I haven't read the first two because I didn't realize this was part of a series. This is my first read by Jane L. Rosen and I enjoyed it. I was initially unsure how I felt about the multi-POV, but for this story, it worked. I will say a few of the POVs seemed unnecessary. I liked Maggie, Matt, Beatrix, Veronica, and Chase's POVs. Maggie doesn't mention Chase in the epilogue, and I was hoping that Chase and Bea would talk and air things out for Maggie. I thought the story flowed well overall.

DNF at 8%. This was just not for me—I didn’t enjoy the writing particularly. I can see it working well for other readers!

5 stars! This was my first Jane L. Rosen book and I was so impressed by it! I really loved all of the characters and how many different perspectives we got to see. I don’t read too many books written in third person, and I actually really enjoyed experiencing the book only by what was happening, rather than by being in the characters’ minds. I loved getting a taste of Maggie’s upbringing and seeing how she got to her current situation. The relationships between Maggie and Jason and Matt and Dylan were super cool to read about, getting their background and seeing how they evolve.

I’m so glad I got to read this eARC and was able to find a new 5 star read thanks to Net Galley and Berkley Publishing Group!

4.25 rounded ⬇️
This is a story about finding things that are lost – or finding things you didn’t know you wanted.

This was a wonderful spring read, but I just know it would be a top-notch summer read – bonus points if you’re on a little island with lots of drama! This book let me indulge in my fantasy of knowing nearly every side of a story. Perspectives galore! This might not be for everyone, and I’ll admit it definitely bordered on confusing for me, but I personally think it really heightened the story. The ability to get the emotional background information from the sources as the story went along made it feel richer and more grounded. Perhaps this could’ve been done just through the perspectives of the three main women, but I appreciated the community commentary.

I always appreciate a good put-on-the-spot fake dating moment, and the way this one in particular played out was very fun. I did have some hesitations surrounding the almost-cheating aspect of this situation, but I think it was handled well overall and the tension/emotional investment was strong.

A NOTE: I just now, after reading this book, realized that this is not the first book set on the island! I must now go back and read the others to learn more about this little community. I hope that my lack of background knowledge didn’t negatively impact my experience or understanding. I guess it says something about my being able to completely follow along without knowing!

A very huge thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for sharing this e-ARC with me in exchange for my honest thoughts!

A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.