Book Review: When You Loved Me by Beatriz Williams

 

Pages: 464

Genre: Adult Fiction

Pub. Date: June 23, 2026

Publisher: Ballantine

Source: Publisher for review

Other Books By Author: A Hundred Summers, 

Husbands & Lovers,  The Secret Life of Violet Grant, 

The Summer Wives, The Beach at Summerly, and Under the Stars

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

 

 

Goodreads says, "Local history insists that a legendary pirate buried his treasure somewhere beneath Windward, the decayed Cooper estate on Winthrop Island, but Lucy Cooper never trusted the fable that broke her family apart. When a widowed Lucy returns with her young daughter to grieve her estranged father, she discovers the property’s buried under a mountain of debt, and Ben Ressler has just turned up on her doorstep.

Thirteen summers ago, a teenaged Lucy never meant to fall in love with Ben, a Dartmouth football star vacationing next door at the Peabody estate, and the object of an all-consuming crush by Laura Peabody, Lucy’s best friend. Those two weeks with Ben were the best and worst of Lucy’s life, dooming her friendship with Laura. Now Ben’s returned to live quietly in the Peabodys’ caretaker lodge, after a fatal accident ended his dazzling NFL career. He’s also the last person who saw Lucy’s father alive.

As Lucy reconstructs her father’s troubling final days, she uncovers his research on the frozen winter of 1717, when a desperately wounded pirate sought refuge on Winthrop Island with an enigmatic healer. To Lucy, this history points the way to a different kind of how to forgive yourself for the mistakes of the past and earn a second chance at love. But just as Lucy’s long-buried emotions sear to the surface, a shocking turn of events reveals that someone else on the island will do whatever it takes to claim the fabled plunder.

A timeless story of love and atonement, When You Loved Me maps both a centuries-old treasure hunt and the intimate territory of the human heart, weaving together past and present as only Beatriz Williams can."

 

 

Lucy Cooper returns home to Winthrop Island after her father's mysterious death. She hasn't seen him as much as she would have liked to in past years due to her relocation to Europe and her father's preoccupation with treasure hunting, which she thinks is a dead-end road. But when she returns home to her father's house along with her daughter, Elise, she starts to wonder if her father was right all along, as many clues are pointing to a possible treasure. Also on the island is her former boyfriend, Ben Ressler, whom she spent a summer dating. Once they reconnect, Lucy realizes that there still may be something there. However, Ben is dealing with his own issues as he is now divorced, and his stint in NFL football has come to an end due to some upsetting circumstances. Quickly, Lucy realizes someone is stalking her on the island, and she starts to realize that perhaps it's someone who wants the information her father had regarding the treasure. Williams also includes flashbacks to the summer Ben and Lucy first dated, as well as a flashback to 1717 on Winthrop Island. When You Loved Me by Beatriz Williams is an engaging tale that combines elements of a beach read + romance + historical fiction; her fans won't be disappointed.
 
I really enjoyed Lucy from the start of When You Loved Me. She has had a difficult time after her husband's death and now must sort out her father's death and his house on her own while raising her precocious daughter. She takes a teaching job on the island and falls into the everyday routine on Winthrop. Except things aren't going smoothly with trying to sell her dad's house; plus, there are the clues he has left behind that start her thinking about an actual treasure. Also, the slow-burn, second-chance romance between Ben and Lucy was so very well done. I really enjoyed it, and the flashbacks to their first summer together further illustrated their romance and backstory.
 
As always, Williams does a wonderful job developing Winthrop Island; it was very atmospheric, and the pirate treasure only added to that feeling. Fans of her previous novels might remember a few characters who show up in When You Loved Me, which I appreciated. 
 
My only issue with When You Loved Me was the flashback to 1717 and the story involving Hephzibah and pirate Ramsay. At first, it was really jarring as I didn't feel it meshed very well with the story in both style and pacing. I almost wanted to skim it to get back to Lucy and Ben's story, but I knew that Williams would bring it all together. And she did! So be forewarned, the 1717 subplot is a slow start, but keep with it.
 
I love a good second-chance romance, and Williams delivers with When You Loved Me. Let me know in the comments if you plan to read When You Loved Me this summer and if you are a fan of Beatriz Williams.