The Summer of You and Me is my new favorite book by Denise Hunter! I loved the characters and the storyline. This book had a mystery to it that kept me riveted! There are twists that blew my mind! I absolutely loved the ending! I listened to this book and the narrator was perfect for the performance. I highly recommend this romance!
*I was given a copy of this book by Thomas Nelson Publishers, and this is my honest opinion.

I have read and enjoyed many of Denise Hunter’s books but this one did’nt quite do it for me. The storyline is fine and the romance is even quite sweet, but I just did not feel immersed in the book. Lately I have found myself quite impatient with female narrators reading the male parts of speech. The narrator did an excellent job otherwise.

If you are looking for a clean read, this one had some sensuality between the main characters though not overly so.

I'm thankful and lucky to have received both the eBook and audiobook of "The Summer of You and Me". Both were fantastic and the narrator was great.

Thank you NetGalley, Thomas Nelson Fiction and Denise Hunter for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The FMC, Maggie, is still grieving her high school sweetheart and husband who passed away 5 years ago. She and her 4yr old daughter are staying at her in-laws beach house for the summer and is still very close with her SIL and BIL.

The first night back she catches a glimpse of someone who looks like a teenage version of her late husband. She immediately reaches out to her BIL to track him down.

Maggie has always been close with and relied on Josh, her BIL. Josh has always been in love with Maggie.

I don’t know how to process this book. I listened to the audio (which is always a little harder for me to connect with a book) and it took a long time for me to get hooked, but then I wanted to see what was happening next.

I don’t know if it was the storyline itself or characters/lack of chemistry (extremely closed door) that really bothered me. Maggie seemed so reliant on Josh but not really that into him.

There were a few things thrown in to make the storyline work that felt like they were just dropped in but felt underdeveloped- Josh’s illness, a rather serious error and Maggie only being truly herself with Josh.

Overall, it was a fine book but not something I’ll remember for long or talk about to all my friends.

I also didn’t notice the Christian genre when I requested so the random religious parts felt like a lot but now make sense knowing it is promoted that way.

Maggie became a war widow five years ago. She was blessed with a beautiful little girl who never got to meet her Daddy. She is also lucky to have wonderful in-laws and a brother-in-law, Josh, who has been pining for her since the day they met. One day, Maggie takes her daughter to a fair and spots a young man who is the mirror image of her late husband. She then tells Josh, and the two team up to solve the mystery while falling in love.

This story excels in building suspense through a tightly crafted mystery. The plot revolves around secrets from the protagonist’s late ex-husband, and as the truth slowly comes to light, the tension never lets up. Each revelation raises the stakes, keeping the reader on edge as characters dig deeper into the past.

The pacing is deliberate, with each twist adding complexity to the mystery and revealing new layers of betrayal. The characters are well-developed, and their reactions to the secrets they uncover feel grounded and authentic. The emotional weight of the story is carefully balanced with the growing suspense, making the discoveries all the more impactful.

The mystery is what drives the story forward, and the way it unfolds keeps you engaged, with enough surprises to keep you guessing until the very end.

BOOK REVIEW of The Summer of You and Me by Denise Hunter

Five years have passed since the death of her army medic husband and Maggie Reynolds has finally returned to Seabrook for the summer. Maggie is ready to move forward with her life, but all that comes to a screeching halt when she sees a young man at the local amusement park that looks exactly like her dead husband. That is when she enlists the help of her deceased husband’s brother, Josh, to help unravel the questions.

I think I expected more of a mystery element to this book based on the synopsis I read, but this books is light mystery and very heavy romance. I appreciate the male main character and his unwavering commitment to Maggie. He is a great character that has flaws, but is ultimately a wonderful guy that has experienced a lot as a young man. The female main character is hard for me to connect with.
I find the physical attraction and the physical interaction to be lustful. There were too many mentions of “wanting more” that are not clarified but allude to much more, and I felt uncomfortable - Not triggered or tempted- just not comfortable with the language used and the focus on the body.
The faith elements are light, and are used specifically in moments of a quick prayer for help in an uncomfortable situation and not as a daily walk.

Overall, the story was well written and the character building was excellent as a whole. I did like the concept of the romance, but the excessive lustful behavior was not what I expected for a Christian book. However, I can easily see this being a book that many readers would enjoy.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson, Zondervan Fiction Audio and Netgalley for an audio advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own. Publication Release Date: April 22, 2025

Joshua and Maggie "s love story was powerful and amazing . As I traveled through their lives I saw the love they had each other. Even though Maggie 's grief show her that she can love and trust again in a relationship with someone. I also glad that Joshua got what he wished for a long time because the other women did not measure up to Maggie. Finally, the twist was surprising to me ,I shred some tears and my heart fill with joy . Love is life changing. I received a complimentary copy of this book . Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I thank you Thomas Nelson Fiction and Zondervan. #The Summer of You and Me #NetGalley

I really enjoyed this book especially the further it got along. It was funny to me that Josh kept calling Maggie honey over and over again, even before she realized he liked her. Just something random that distracted me from what was actually going on. The theme of them trying to find Maggie's late husband's doppelgänger was a little stalkerish to me for a while but improved further in the book. There was so much to love in this book though. There were deep issues of grief, abandonment issues, childhood illness, parental narcissism, along with a mystery that didn't get solved til the end of the book. I loved that what happened wasn't at all what I expected. All in all, I enjoyed this book and am glad I read it. The audio was very well done. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

I just want to say, I absolutely loved this story. I had no idea where it was going but I adored the adventure it took me on.

There were spots where i was sitting on the edge of my sit not sure which way the mystery of the book was going to turn.

Cute love story with a side of mystery. Read it!

I was initially intrigued by the idea that the main character had seen the spitting image of her dead husband and that she would be seeking to solve the mystery of who that young man was. And while I found that part of the story interesting, the twist at the end was not entirely shocking to me. I found the characters frustrating through most of the story. Their flaws were front and center and incredibly repetitive. Instead of working through struggles, they ran from them and let them come between each other. The characters I enjoyed the most were the side characters - the young man who looked like the main characters dead husband and his girlfriend.

This story is a raw story of walking through grief and love and loss and abandonment. I think it was a heavier story than I had been mentally prepared to walk through and perhaps that is why I struggled to connect with the story in a meaningful way.

The Summer of You and Me is a heartfelt and layered story that took me by surprise in the best way. While it delivers all the emotional depth and romantic connection you’d hope for in a summer read, it never crosses into overly cheesy or one-dimensional territory. Denise Hunter strikes a perfect balance between warmth and weight, making this book stand out in the contemporary romance genre.

Maggie and Josh's shared grief over losing Ethan adds a profound emotional core to the story. Their journey felt authentic, and their pain was portrayed with such care that it gave the book a rich, resonant undercurrent. This grief made the characters feel real and gave the romance more depth—it wasn't just about sparks, but about healing, growth, and second chances.

One of my favorite elements was the mystery surrounding Will and his uncanny resemblance to Ethan. It added an unexpected and gripping twist that kept me flipping pages. The plot twists—especially toward the end—completely caught me off guard in the best way. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, another curveball was thrown. I genuinely stayed on my toes the whole time.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It has that perfect summer beach vibe, making it an ideal companion for a day of relaxing in the sun. With its heartfelt storytelling, surprising twists, and emotional depth, The Summer of You and Me is more than just a beach read—it's a story that stays with you long after the final page.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

This book starts off with Maggie and her four year old daughter Zoey returning to Seabrook, NC for the summer. While at a carnival she sees a stranger who looks exactly like her late husband, her world stopped. How could and what ifs ran through her mind. She had to know how was there a stranger walking around the same town she once fell in love with her late husband in.

This book takes you through the heartbreak of a widowed military spouse, finding healing and new love.

This book starts off a little slow in my opinion, the “action” or “drama” doesn’t start till almost 75%. I felt a little bored at times while reading but I did enjoy that the author wrote it in a way that it’s narrated than having just two POVs. We get to have the knowledge of more than Maggie and Josh’s thoughts/feelings. Being able to have insight on most of the characters made me feel a little more connected to them.

Bottomline:
It’s a good book about processing grief and becoming a new mom without your husband. Finding new love after all the time that’s past. I would’ve gave it a higher rating if the twist and everything that happened a little earlier in the book rather than the ending with everything speeding up to towards the end of the book.

Five years after her husband's death, Maggie is finally ready to let go of him and the dreams she had for their future. A summer at Seabrook, where she and Ethan first became childhood sweethearts, seems the perfect time and place to find closure. Plus, she gets to spend time with his family, the Reynoldses, whom she loves like her own.

Unbeknownst to Maggie, her brother-in-law, Josh Reynolds, has been in love with her since they first met all those years ago. But his brother ultimately won Maggie's heart, and Josh's unrequited love has ruined all of his relationships. If Maggie is ready to move on, then Josh is ready to lay it all on the line and come clean about his true feelings for her.

But his plans soon get put on hold when, shortly after Maggie returns to Seabrook, she runs into a man who could pass for Ethan's twin. But he disappears into the amusement-park crowd before she can confront him. The twist and turns that this triggers work their way through the rest of the story, as both Maggie and Josh must reflect on their relationships and the past before they can face their future head-on.

I really enjoyed this book and liked the warmth and relatability of the relationships between the characters. There were times that I found myself frustrated with Magige because of her thinking, but at the same time, given all that she had been through, it was probably very realistic. In the end, it was a wonderful story and I was very happy with how it turned out.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this Advanced Reader Copy. All opinions are my own.

I am not a huge romance reader, but this book did it. for me! A great story on love, family and connection.
We start in the story of Maggies summer, and get the details of the past years through different characters tellings. There is a character every one can relate to in this story, best friends, lovers, narcissists, toxic family members. I think a great moral of the story is the deep love parents have for their children, and what that does or doesn't do for them. I'll add Denise Hunter to my favorite authors!

3.5 ⭐️
This was such a sweet story. Loved all the characters and their many layers and dimensions.
Maggie lost the love of her life, Ethan almost 5 years ago. When she is convinced she sees him at the local carnival her summer gets turned upside down in the most wonderfully unexpected way.
If you need a sweet romance for the summer, this is it. Spicy level is low and the story really just focuses on the emotional romance. Loved it.

Five years after her husband's death, Maggie is finally ready to let go. Unbeknownst to Maggie, her brother-in-law, Josh Reynolds, has been in love with her for years and wants to confess. But his plans soon get put on hold when, shortly after Maggie returns to Seabrook, she runs into a man who could pass for Ethan's twin.

What carried the story for me was the mystery of the man's identity. Maggie and Josh explored all the possibilities and ended up with more questions than answers. It brought quite the plot twist.

Aside from that, I didn't buy into their own romance. The pacing felt off and had a quick resolution. Listening on audio made it easier for me to complete the book. The narrator, while a bit sharp, did a good job.

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

Rating: 3⭐
Steam level: 1🌶️ Kissing only

The Summer of You and Me by Denise Hunter is an emotional, beautifully written story about love, loss, and the complicated path to healing. Maggie’s journey of letting go while reconnecting with the past tugs at the heart, and Josh’s long-held feelings add layers of longing and hope. The seaside setting of Seabrook is the perfect backdrop for this tender and slightly suspenseful love story. With just the right mix of romance and intrigue, this book kept me turning the pages and rooting for Maggie to find the happiness she deserves. Perfect for fans of small-town stories with big emotional payoffs.

An incredible summer read!!
I LOVED the mystery and the twists in this one and it’s still all fiction and a fun romance at the same time. The characters are all really enjoyable and I couldn’t put it down. I really enjoyed this one and highly recommend it.

I have really been enjoying reading Denise Hunter's books as of late and this new contemporary romance was so sweet. I love the way Hunter tackles hard things in relationships and then really highlights the joy by the end of the story. This story had ups and downs, grief and joy, and a bit of mystery that kept me listening, needing to know how the ending would unfold.
This book had a sort of love triangle without having a love triangle. Josh has been in love with Maggie since they were teens, but his older brother Ethan won the girl and Josh tried all he could to move past his unrequited love. After Ethan is killed while serving in the military, Josh steps in as a support for Maggie and her daughter, secretly hoping to finally have his chance to be something more. The dynamic was really good between Josh and Maggie. I wasn't sure at first how I'd feel about the whole her being married to his brother previously thing, but it actually shook out really good for me in the story and by the end, I was on board with it.
This book had some twists and I enjoyed the turn of fate, a turn that I actually was surprised by and surprised by how much I loved it. It was really unique and tied up a lot of things for the main characters.
I listened to the audiobook version of this novel. I liked the way Kim Churchill did both POVs. I found it easy to listen to and follow along. I ended up being so invested in the story, I listened to the entire audiobook in one day.
I received an advance listening copy of this novel from Netgalley, Thomas Nelson, and Zondervan fiction. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I recommend this audiobook.