Book Review: Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan

 

Pages: 320

Genre: Adult Fiction

Pub. Date: June 6, 2023

Publisher: G.P. Putnam

Source: Publisher for review

Other Books By Author: Nora Goes Off Script

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

 

Goodreads says, "Beach Rules:  Do take long walks on the sand. Do put an umbrella in every cocktail. Do NOT run into your first love. Sam's life is on track. She has the perfect doctor fiance, Jack (his strict routines are a good thing, really), a great job in Manhattan (unless they fire her), and is about to tour a wedding venue near her family's Long Island beach house. Everything should go to plan, yet the minute she arrives, Sam senses something is off. Wyatt is here. Her Wyatt. But there's no reason for a thirty-year-old engaged woman to feel panicked around the guy who broke her heart when she was seventeen. Right?Yet being back at this beach, hearing notes from Wyatt's guitar float across the night air from next door as if no time has passed--Sam's memories come flooding back: the feel of Wyatt's skin on hers, their nights in the treehouse, and the truth behind their split. Sam remembers who she used to be, and as Wyatt reenters her life their connection is as undeniable as it always was. She will have to make a choice."

 

 

Sam has it all figured out. She is engaged to Jack, a doctor, and they live in an organized apartment in Manhattan filled with muted grays and minimalist decor. It's in major contrast to her life at her family's beach house in Long Island, which is filled with artwork, driftwood, shell collections, and bright colors. Sam plans to take her buttoned-up fiance to Long Island to look at a possible wedding venue.  Returning here is difficult for Sam as not only is it the polar opposite of her life in New York, but it's also a side of herself that she hasn't shown Jack. It's the messy, carefree, sand between her toes side. It's also the spot of most major heartbreak- her childhood sweetheart Wyatt broke her heart at 17 and she hasn't seen him since. Wyatt and Sam were very close since childhood as he lived next door to her beach house, so this was more than your average breakup. She needed some major therapy just to get over him, so the thought of being near Wyatt this weekend is testing her quite a bit. Wyatt is in town for a music festival, as he is a singer/songwriter and surprisingly, her family is still very social with him. Cue the awkwardness! The more time Sam spends at the beach, the more she starts questioning her relationship with Jack, what she wants out of life, and how she lives her life in New York. Also, could she still have feelings for Wyatt this many years later? Annabel Monaghan's Same Time Next Summer is beach read perfection. Highly recommend!

I really enjoyed Sam from the start of Same Time Next Summer and I adored her carefree life at the beach house. Monaghan nails the then/now narrative technique and shares with us what life was like as a teen at the beach house and the evolution of her relationship with Wyatt. I thought she did this brilliantly! I could see where the story was taking us, but Monaghan did the second-chance romance trope very well. She made it work seamlessly and it felt authentic. I was smitten!

Which leads me to Wyatt. I really adored him in Same Time Next Summer. He is a complex character and I appreciated his backstory. I would have liked more of him, but the chapters we do get from his point of view were well done. His struggles felt very real and his difficulty to find his niche also felt very relatable. I was rooting for him and don't even get me started with his Florida surfer boy guitar-playing vibe. Swoon!

Monaghan depicts life at a family beach house so well in Same Time Next Summer. I felt like I was there at the beach with Sam, swimming in the ocean, feeling the breeze, climbing up to the treehouse, running through the dunes, and eating dinner on the patio. I adored it! Same Time Next Summer has absolutely everything I love in a beach read and it is going down as one of my favorite books of the year. A grand slam of a summer book and one that should be in everyone's beach bag this summer! Fans of Every Summer After will want to pick up a copy of this book immediately! 

Are you a fan of Annabel Monaghan? Will you read Same Time Next Summer when it comes out next week? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.