Summer Light on Nantucket is like a summer breeze on a beautiful day. It takes you to another place and makes you wish you could be there. Blythe Benedict is divorced, content, and raising 4 children with her ex-husband Bob. Blythe and the kids are looking forward to their traditional summer spent on Nantucket. Blythe has a house there and Bob's mother, Celeste, lives there and adores them all. Bob will be coming with his girlfriend about a month into the summer. The kids will move in with Celeste at that time to spend time with Bob. Blythe has been a substitute teacher at a middle school near home and the principal has offered her a full-time job. Decisions must be made this summer, but she's got time to think them through.

When they arrive on Nantucket, the 4 kids unpack and go their separate ways. They all have friends to catch up with and plans to make. 3 of the kids are teenagers and the youngest is 10. The oldest daughter will have her boyfriend staying with them for one month. Blythe is making him sleep in the family room so that he's on a different level than the other kids. No sneaking into bed with her daughter on Blythe's watch! They go to the club with Celeste for dinner the first night. Celeste has a new man in her life since her husband passed a couple of years ago. Blythe doesn't think she'll ever meet anyone she wants to be with longterm until her high school sweetheart shows up. He lives in Ireland so she is shocked to see Aaden. They reconnect and it feels like old times until Blythe meets Nick. Decisions have to be made this summer, but she's got time to think them through.

Blythe is the glue holding everything together for so many. It gets harder when Celeste has a health crisis, her kids struggle with first loves and heartbreaks, and Bob is hiding a secret that only she knows about. She also has to make a decision between Aaden and Nick. Will Blythe find relaxation and peace while on vacation? Will she find love? Will Blythe find a way to help Celeste and Bob? Summer Light on Nantucket is a wonderful book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. I loved being on Nantucket even if it was only through this book. I rate Summer Light on Nantucket 4 stars with a high recommendation. The book is available now and is a perfect beach read. I'd like to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine Books for an advanced copy of Summer Light on Nantucket in exchange for a fair review. #SummerLightOnNantucket

Summer Light on Nantucket was a lighthearted, easy to read summer book. The characters are likable, the Nantucket setting gives a happy vibe and the descriptions of summer food were perfect. In the middle of the book, the plot was very slow, and somewhat boring. But the ending was brought it to a sweet, carefree close.

I loved this book! Nancy Thayer always writes such good stories. Of course I'm a big beach fan so her books always keep me entertained. Its a great story. You won't be disappointed!

Thank you to the author, Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity. My review opinions are my own.
I always enjoy returning to Nantucket with the author. The setting is coastal atmosphere and you can almost hear the waves. Her writing is a wonderful escape.
This next release is about a divorced woman with 4 children vacationing on the island at her families home. She is coping with the stress of a divorce and her unruly children. She also questions if she can move forward and begin to date again. It's a moving story of starting over and of courage. A great summer beach read escape.

Summer Light On Nantucket is a light-hearted
family novel that is perfect for a summer read.
I've never been to Nantucket, but every time I read one of Nancy Thayer's Nantucket books, I feel like I have been to every single place that she describes. This book is not exception to that.
Thank you @NetGalley for the ARC

I love Nancy Thayer's writing, and I'm always excited about her summer releases. However, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I have others by her.
This is a story of Blythe. A single mother vacationing on Nantucket with her 4 children. She's torn between her high school love and a friend of a friend she has just met. I found the romance boring. It will take you to Nantucket like all of Nancy Thayer's books, but I didn't enjoy this read as much. It wasn't bad. It just didn't hit it for me.

This book falls right into the category of beach read. It is about divorce, dating, remembering your first love, romance and, of course, the beach. Women's fiction at its best. Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the complimentary digital ARC. This review is my own opinion.

Thanks to Ballantine Books for an advanced copy of Summer Lights on Nantucket by Nancy Thayer.

Her books are always a perfect beach read and makes me want to be on Nantucket. This was your classic women's fiction and exact;y what I expect with a Nancy Thayer book!

A great beach read can be found in Summer Light on Nantucket by Nancy Thayer. The family as a whole goes through many events while the focus is on how the mom handles past love and new love. It will tug at your heart.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've been a fan of Thayer's for quite some time. I love reading her books on the beach each summer. But, I needed a dose of the beach before my annual trip so I was excited to start this book.

First, it was so hard for me to get into this book when the main character, while working part-time as a substitute teacher, had grew up spending summers on Nantucket and then inherited a house there. Her lawyer ex-husband must have done a great job helping her out because her and her four children had a membership to the local yacht club where they could charge all the food, drinks, and lessons they wanted and she'd just miraculously pay for them. The privilege they all had was just hard to swallow, especially in this current economy.

The story itself just didn't pull me in. Blythe is divorced with four children, spending her summer on Nantucket. On her first night back, she happens to run into her first love from high school, Aaden, who had left senior year to live in Ireland. She chose not to follow him, and never got over him. He was the one that got away and part of her heart always belonged to him, and definitely not to her ex-husband. As a romance starts to rekindle, Blythe also meets another man that is the first to make her feel anything since her divorce. She navigates seeing them both and trying to determine what her heart wants, all while mothering her four children.

Was this a good beach read? Sure. Did the story have any substance or characters I really liked or connected with? Not really. If I compare this to other Thayer stories, like Surfside Sisters, it just didn't have the depth I was looking for. Good story, but I hope that subsequent books are a little more like her older books.

Light, beachy, no major drama fluffy beach read. Would you expect anything less from Nancy Thayer? Simply the best way to kick off the summer each and every year!!!

A touching novel about parenthood, first love, family bonds, and rekindled relationships. A woman summers on Nantucket with her teenage kids.

Like some of her books, this is about rich people problems...the story was ok but the characters felt like repeats from other books.

Summer Light on Nantucket is a contemporary women's fiction story by Nancy Thayer. Having read some of this author's work previously, I was eager to read this book and wasn't disappointed. It is a captivating beach-town story that kept my attention throughout. Second chance romance, teenage angst, family dynamics, and the story moves quickly to a satisfying end. I was given a complimentary copy of the book through NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions are my own.

This was a sweet summer novel, perfect for the beach. It was a nice break from my usual World War II historical fiction.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was a very enjoyable book. It was a fun vacation , beach read. It follows a middle aged divorcee with kids that are just hitting the age where they go off with their friends for the day in Nantucket and she finds her house quiet. So she makes a summer for herself and her kids where they can all flourish, do new things and meet new people. I enjoyed the wisdom used to talk to and give the children space. Their summer really reminded me of growing up in the 80's and 90's and how our summers were. Not worrying about danger and what might befall the children who are without their parents but all the fun and freedom we had. That might be why I enjoyed it so much.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

This was a perfect read for the beginning of summer and get me in beach mode! Beautiful, romance, and the POV from Blythe was written perfectly. This was a favorite of mine! I will definitely be on my favorite shelf!

A novel about summer. About defining oneself in a new season. About family. About island communities. About love that is born, love that evolves, and love that is left behind. About people who care for each other. About romance and personal consequences.

Beautifully written, crafted to bring empathy and joy to a summer break. Thayer writes with kindness, compassion, and understanding in a novel I'd recommend to a girlfriend.

Nancy Thayer is one of my favorite "beach read" authors. Nantucket is my favorite place on Massachusetts's coast for a book to be set. While Summer Light on Nantucket isn't my favorite novel, it was an enjoyable read.

I felt this book was a little more on the romance side rather than women's fiction. I wasn't really expecting that, given the description. I thought it would be about Blythe and her kids growing up. The first several chapters were Blythe bemoaning her lost high school love. He is the one who got away. It dragged on a bit too much, and I don't really care about living in the past. The story picked up for me when Blythe started living in the present, more than thinking about the past.

I loved Blythe with her children and wished there had been more with them. I also didn't feel like we saw as much of the island as we have in other books. We do get a sense of island life for the summer regulars. I thought it was kind of funny that she expected her older kids to get a job and that they volunteered with community groups. Since we barely took vacations that lasted more than a few days when I was growing up, I can't really understand what going to a summer house for several months would be like.

If you are headed to the beach or just wish you were heading to the beach, pick up this book.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Tuesday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2025/05/summer-light-on-nantucket-by-nancy.html

Blythe Benedict has traveled to Nantucket for the summer with her 4 children. Although divorced, Blythe is still friends with her ex-mother-in-law, Celeste (whom I really got to like), and more or less with her ex.

Her high school boyfriend has returned from Ireland but another man is also in the picture. With this and the grand drama of raising teenagers, there's plenty of action in the book! The story never lags.

What I really liked about the book is that it's all about Blythe. No major side plots, no chapters written from another character's point of view...the reader can focus on Blythe and her story.