Girls of Summer

Good book. It started a little bit slow for me, as the book follows Lisa from her twenties to her forties rather quickly. She married young to an ambitious man who saw her more as an accessory to his plans rather than a partner. I was irritated at the way she let Erich and his mother push her into what they thought she should be. The only time she stood up for what she wanted was when she wanted children. That was the beginning of the end of her marriage, as Erich wasn’t interested in being a father. He spent all of his time traveling, leaving her to raise Juliet and Theo on her own. She finally moved herself and the kids back to Nantucket to be near her parents and where she could be happy. Eventually, Erich asked for a divorce, because his mistress was more what he needed than Lisa was.

Lisa took her talent for fashion and got a job at a local boutique, where she soon made a name for herself. When the owner wanted to sell, Lisa bought the store, renamed it, and made it her own. Over the next years, she devoted her time to her children and the store. She had no time or inclination to date. Juliet and Theo grew up and moved out, making their own lives. Juliet was in Boston, where she could visit Lisa now and then, but Theo moved to the west coast and rarely came home. Then a piece of her dining room ceiling fell on Lisa’s head and began a chain of events that changed her life.

This is where the book began to pick up the pace and my interest. Lisa realized that she had let the house go and that it needed some major work done. Her friend recommends local contractor Mack Whitney, so she calls him. She remembers Mack from when his daughter Beth was one of Theo’s friends. Lisa is surprised by the attraction she feels for Mack and stunned to discover the interest is reciprocated. But Mack is ten years younger than she is, and Lisa is reluctant to believe that he is genuinely interested in her. Her ex did a number on her confidence in her appeal. I loved Mack. He was a single dad with a successful business. He is honest and upfront about his attraction to Lisa. The difference in their ages makes no difference to the way he feels. I liked how he made his interest known, overcame Lisa’s objections, and had the patience to wait out her fears. There were some sweet scenes of their early interactions. Things were heating up between them when family issues threw up some stumbling blocks.

Lisa’s daughter Juliet, a web designer in Boston, fled to Nantucket after a bad breakup. She wants to spend some time with her mom and get her life back on an even keel. The timing of her arrival was a bit awkward, as she nearly caught Lisa and Mack making out like a couple of teenagers. Juliet is suspicious of Mack and worries that he’ll either break her mom’s heart or rob her blind. She’s a little distracted by the man she met on the ferry to the island. Ryder is on Nantucket to open a branch of his environmental group. The sparks between Juliet and Ryder are immediate and strong.

Meanwhile, Theo barely finished college in California. His time now is spent bartending and surfing, and playing the field with the girls. When he is injured while surfing, it serves as a wake-up call for him. Theo realizes that he’s drifting through life, and that isn’t what he wants. He packs his bags and heads home to Nantucket, hoping to find some answers. He also wonders if he’ll see the girl he crushed on in high school. I liked the way he got involved in the repairs to Lisa’s house and the change it made in his life and his attitude.

At the same time, Mack’s daughter Beth returns to Nantucket. After earning her master’s degree, she is looking for a job. A chance encounter ends up with Beth offered a job with the new environmental group that is run by Ryder. She is young and enthusiastic and seems to be tailor-made for the job. Beth is surprised to find her dad at the beginning of a relationship since it was just the two of them for so long, and she isn’t sure she likes it.

With everyone converging on Nantucket for the summer, lives get a bit complicated. With their kids underfoot, finding alone time becomes a challenge for Mack and Lisa. I liked Mack’s patience as he gave Lisa the time she needed to get used to the idea of being with him. He is always kind and supportive, as well as determined. I liked seeing Lisa rediscover her inner strength and gain the confidence to go after what she wanted. I enjoyed seeing Juliet and Beth become friends thanks to their work together at Oceans Matter. The time on the island gave Juliet a new direction for her life, and I liked the way that she grabbed it. I appreciated her caution in her relationship with Ryder. I loved seeing Theo and Beth reconnect. I ached for them and what had kept them apart in high school, but the wait was good for both of them. I wanted to shake Beth a few times over her fears about being with Theo at the same time their parents are seeing each other. She made it more complicated than it needed to be.

I liked the ending as a big storm hit the island and created some intense situations for each of the couples. Each pair had something different to face, and I enjoyed seeing how they met their challenges and overcame them. Seeing them all together after the storm was over gave a good picture of the changes each experienced over the summer, as did the epilogue.

Summer on Nantucket
This story is a women’s fiction piece about 3 different women determining their lifes’ next step. Work, career, love, finding trust, it all comes together slowly and sometimes painfully. The author does a fine job of bringing her readers to fully experience the island. Between the ocean smells and blooming flowers and seafood to a final horrifying storm, it is all like the reader is personally experiencing it. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.