Rating: 5 ⭐️
Pub Date: July 8, 2025
How I Read It:📱

Synopsis
A story of a wealthy family and the secrets they keep. Alice’s father has just died in a hang-gliding accident, and she’s been banished from the family for the last five years, but regardless she needs to go home to attend his “celebration.” Nothing was ever easy with her father, and even after his death, he still has a strong hold on his family. What Storms will rage as Alice visits her family to say goodbye to her father?

My Thoughts
This billionaire family has a lot of drama, and you see that from the very first chapter, but things are a lot more complicated than they seem. I loved all of the characters, each in their own messed up way. Some of them I wanted to hate, particularly Elisabeth and Sam, but they were just too entertaining, so I found myself looking forward to their pieces in the book and cracking up at them. The book also had some suspense to it, which I loved because it kept me craving more of the story to see just how twisted the end was going to be! I loved Alice and Jack and couldn’t wait for the parts where Jack would show up, always the fixer, always the savior. As the story develops, so do the siblings relationships, which had previously been destroyed by their father and his money. The siblings’ story is the most heartwarming part of this book. Even though they were distant for so long, you could still feel their closeness and bonds through their interactions. The bigger question was whether they would come together in the end or or have a larger wedge between them due to their father’s last wishes. If you’re looking for a beach read this year, pick this book up, it’s the perfect summer read!

Themes
- Family Drama
- Enemies to lovers
- Picturesque setting

Ratings
Characters: 5 ⭐️
Pace: 5 ⭐️
Enjoyability: 5 ⭐️

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!

This will be one of my TOP reads of 2025!

Alice Storm hasn't talked to her family since the day she was told to never come back. Her mega-rich family just goes about the lives forgetting her, and now she's home as her father has passed. Her tech mogul Dad just couldn't simply be buried, he's created an inheritance challenge over the course of the week for her, the siblings and her mom.

Her Dad's right hand man, Jack, is overseeing the challenge. Jack is a brooding, brilliant man who happens to be Alice's sexy stranger hook-up at the local hotel before stepping foot on her family estate. Jack and Alice's chemistry throughout the story is pulsating.

This messy family is full of scandal, secrets and back-stabbing. The drama sucks the reader into their lush estate in Rhode Island. Are these types of books my secret vice, ABSOLUTELY!

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books

This book has such an atmospheric feeling to it. I love that the complicated family relationships were such aThis book has such an atmospheric feeling to it. I love that the complicated family relationships were such a big part of the book. I also really enjoyed how you saw that wealth did not make this any less messy of a family than any other that really is around us. It was interesting to see how she still felt like the outsider in her family when she return because of her father‘s death, and yet she found herself falling for somebody who is probably more similar to her father than she would’ve ever imagined for herself in a relationship. This book is just entertaining from start to finish.

Sarah went from writing about the aristocracy to their modern day equivalent billionaires. I loved the chemistry between Jack and Alice. Great book for anyone who loved the messed up family dynamics from HBO succession.

LOVED, LOVED, LOVED!!! I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve never read Sarah MacLean before, but I loved These Summer Storms with all of my heart! Jack is basically my dream man, and the beautiful way Sarah developed each of the characters, and navigated through their grief was so moving! This story is beautifully written, sexy, and the perfect summer read!

This one hurts a bit. I am a huge Sarah MacLean fan and was so excited for her contemporary this summer. Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me. First, let's focus on what is great. The setting of Rhode Island is perfect. Sarah knows the area well and it shows. I loved the private island aspect with a unique house. I also loved the MMC. He read like the MacLean hero that I have come to love over the years. Jack was a great character. I liked the messy family aspect and the "locked room" feel to this one. Unfortunately, the writing just didn't work for me. I don't remember MacLean ever using so many parentheses. They were constant and took me out of the story every single time. It made the story difficult for me to get into. I kind of wonder if the audio would have helped with that = especially in the hands of Julia Whalen, who narrates this one. Some of the more romance-based scenes between Jack and Alice also did not work for me. They read like her historical romance scenes and did not translate well to the modern-day setting of this book, for me. I am not the biggest fan of insta-love or billionaire romances, but this does work for a lot of people, so this would be a great one for them to pick up. If you are looking for a truly insane, wealthy family being naughty and nasty, definitely grab this one. I will always be a fan of this author and hope to see more from her in the future.

These Summer Storms - Sarah MacLean

⭐️⭐️⭐️

“It was a bad idea. But history was littered with women making bad decisions about men.”

Alice Storm has been estranged from her fabulously wealthy, emotionally dysfunctional family for years, but the death of her powerful tech‑tycoon father drags her back to their private Rhode Island island to participate in a bizarre inheritance game he rigged before his passing. Over one tumultuous week locked in the Storm family manor—surrounded by secrets, sibling rivalries, and the enigmatic Jack Dean—she must confront grief, uncover buried truths, and unexpectedly find romance amid the chaos.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the advanced copy of this book. This book seemed like it was made for me with a beach setting and a twisty storyline but it took me forever to get through. This family was messed up in so many ways, yet I oddly saw many of these twists coming. I didn’t connect with any characters and even the love story seemed rushed and forced. Rich people are truly their own species!

This book was dramatic and stressful. The entire family was toxic and unlikable, including Alice and Jack. But Sarah Maclean can make even the most unlikable people part of a compelling and well-written story so the starts are for her writing alone.

Thanks to the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my review.

A totally engaging and compelling story about a wealthy tech billionaire’s family, their private island and their private anguish. Franklin Storm, founder of an innovative and hugely successful tech company, raises his four children on a private island off the coast of Rhode Island. Far from being a sanctuary, all Franklin’s kids and wife all have lived under their father’s relentless iron will in which he wanted to call all the shots in their lives. Franklin has just died from an extreme sports accident, and the family gathers on the island.

Alice, the most independent of Franklin’s children, has not visited the island for five years after being banished from the family by her father for not bending to his will. Contrary to Franklin’s dictates, Alice has pursued a career teaching art, living in a modest apartment in Brooklyn and refusing all of her father’s money. Alice has deeply mixed feelings about returning home, as none of her siblings or her Mom have reached out to her since her estrangement and she has her own private grief at Franklin’s death to deal with. En route home, she runs into a man who seems to be a handsome stranger, but who turns out to be Jack Dean, Franklin’s right hand at the office.

Alices arrives on the island to reluctantly confront her siblings. Her older sister Greta has always tried to placate their mom, staying by her side and trying to meet all many opiniated directions, without every prioritizing herself or her goals. Her older brother Sam has been working at their father’s company without earning any respect, and who is embittered, mean-spirited and inattentive to his two tween kids and hostile wife who have joined him on the island. Emily, the baby,has come with her wife, with whom she owns a spiritual crystal shop and tries to live in a state of grateful mindfulness. Elizabeth, the distant, unemotional, icy Mom, refuses to grieve Franklin and has instead invited all his colleagues and distinguished acquaintances for a celebration of life in a week’s time.

But all the family gets upended when Jack immediately announces that a game that Franklin has created is afoot, and all must participate and fulfill their challenges or else everyone will be disinherited. Alice could care less about the money, but she must last it out on the island for a week or everyone will lose. Now the drama begins: with challenges afoot, deep secrets revealed, dramatic fights taking place and reveals leaving you breathless.

What a great read!!

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

What first seems like a petty bunch of people turned into a really engaging read about family and the ties that bind us to each other. I really enjoyed this and found it to be quick and kept me interested.

A great summer beach read! Alice Storm returns to her family's Rhode Island beach estate after the death of her father. Franklin Storm was one of the worlds most famous and wealthy men, and was an extremely successful tech entrepreneur. Alice and Franklin were estranged, and she hadn't seen him for five years when he suddenly died in a hang gliding accident. Now Alice, her sisters and brother, and their mother, must plan his celebration of life and sort out his estate. Controlling and micromanaging even in death, Franklin has left each of his heirs a tricky, difficult task they must accomplish in the week they are together. The siblings and mom all have a lot of emotional baggage and their lives have hit some rough spots, which makes doing these crazy tasks even more difficult. Overseeing all this is Jack, Franklin's right hand man and company "fixer," What no one plans is that Alice and Jack will fall in love. This is a wonderful, romantic story with a picture perfect coastal setting. I look forward to recommending it.

Sarah.s book was a well written summer beach read! The way the family was portrayed and the characters were well defined. The family theme was well thought out.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading These Summer Storms. Succession meets Elin Hilderbrand in this unputdownable family saga. Really well done! Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC. This is the perfect beach // pool // staycation read!

4 siblings reunite on Storm Island after their fabulously wealthy father dies. To say that this is a disfunctional family would be an understatement. Their father has left them each instructions to stay on the island for a week together and complete tasks he has outlined for them in letters. Of course chaos ensues. It’s emotional, exhausting. There’s a lot to unpack here. Kudos to the siblings for trying.

I want to start by thanking the author and publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced release copy of this book. I COULD NOT PUT THE BOOK DOWN. I absolutely loved this book! It is going to be a BIG hit!

This was a remarkably fun and entertaining book! I knew there was going to be family drama but I was surprised by the romance/love story aspect! This was a little more “insta-love/lust” than I typically like but I still enjoyed that storyline! This book needs to become a movie or tv series!!

This is a compelling & addictive story about the four children of a billionaire fighting for their inheritance no matter what it takes. If you loved Succession, you would also love this book.

A great read for summer, with the perfect New England setting! As a Rhode Island native, I can say that Sarah MacLean nailed the New England summer vibe! I couldn't get enough of this book and completed it I one sitting.

Thank you to NetGalley & Random House Publishing Group for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was amazing! I’ve recommended it on all of my social platforms. For the authors first time delving into the contemporary genre- she nailed it! The balance between romance and family drama was done perfectly. I ate it up in one sitting.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 stars
These Summer Storms is definitely outside of the genres I usually reach for, but when I saw that Sarah MacLean was writing her first contemporary fiction, I was immediately intrigued.

We’re in an age where reading about billionaires and how they control the masses isn’t exactly what I’d call comforting, but Alice was an interesting protagonist and I was curious to see how the mysteries around her would unfold.

I had a good time reading this. The characters were compelling and kept me turning the pages, but it felt like it was missing a stronger plot to tie everything together. And that ending… I liked it, but at the same time it left me a bit infuriated too!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC.

Initially thought I wasn’t going to like it, but boy was I wrong! Loads of twists and turns that kept the game afoot! Great read!