Book report: Same Time Next Summer

Title: Same Time Next Summer
Author: Annabel Monaghan
Narrated by: Dan Bittner, Brittney Presley

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is the perfect beach read! It was also a pretty amazing rainy day read, which is when I read it, wrapped in a fuzzy blanket surrounded by cats with a mug of herbal tea because I live in the Pacific Northwest and not at the beach.

Sam and her perfectly perfect doctor fiancé, Jack, are planning their beach wedding with Sam’s family. Jack is rigid and strict and largely without any sense of wonder or whimsy. Sam comes from a family that seems to thrive on whimsy – both parents are artists and their beach house is everything one would imagine: art projects strewn about, a basket of driftwood that has been collected from the shore and waiting to be turned into something fanciful and fun.

Sam’s family has spent their summers at the beach her whole life and all her best and worst memories can be found there. Visiting the beach house with her fiancé while her old flame is next door breaks open a flood of agony and yearning Sam thought was behind her; now she must navigate complicated feelings while on the cusp of life between then and now.

This was one of those books that so perfectly captured the angst that I long for in a good romance. Annabel Monaghan is superb at wrenching big feelings out me, while steering clear of the tropes that make this reader impatient and frustrated with the characters. I loved the beach town setting and the interplay of old life vs new. Monaghan touched on some sensitive topics including infidelity, mental health concerns, divorce, and LGTBQ characters with a sensitivity that I appreciate.

If you like a romance with an exploration of heavier topics, don’t miss SAME TIME NEXT SUMMER.