As featured in The Boston Globe The New York Post Bustle Woman’s World South Shore Home, Life & Style “Engaging…Add this to beach reads along with those by Elin Hilderbrand, Nancy Thayer, and Dorothea Benton Frank.” –Booklist THE SEAFARER IS THE PLACE TO SEE AND BE SEEN IN THE SUMMER… With its rich history and famous guests, the glamorous Boston hotel is no stranger to … With its rich history and famous guests, the glamorous Boston hotel is no stranger to drama. But the bustle at the iconic property reaches new heights one weekend in mid-June when someone falls tragically to her death, the event rippling through the lives of four very different people.
Bride-to-be Riley is at the hotel to plan her wedding. She would have preferred a smaller, more intimate celebration, but her bossy mother-in-law has taken charge and her fiancé hasn’t seemed to notice. Jean-Paul, the hotel’s manager, is struggling to keep his marriage and new family afloat, but now he must devote all his energy to this latest scandal at work. Claire, recently widowed, comes to town to connect with a long-lost love, but has too much changed in the last thirty years? And then there’s Jason, whose romantic getaway with his girlfriend has not exactly gone the way he’d hoped and instead has him facing questions he can’t bring himself to answer.
Over three sun-drenched days, as the truth about the woman who died–and the secret she was hiding–is uncovered, these four strangers become linked in the most unexpected of ways. Together, they just might find the strength they need to turn their own lives around.
“Compelling, surprising, and a wonderful summertime read.”
–Nancy Thayer, New York Times bestselling author of Family Reunion
“Riveting…A smart read with plenty of meat for book clubs.”
–Barbara O’Neal, Washington Post bestselling author of When We Believed in Mermaids
“In prose as glittering as the hotel in which the novel is set, Francis shines as a master storyteller. A must-read for anyone who could use an escape.”
–Kristy Woodson Harvey, USA TODAY bestselling author of Feels Like Falling
“The best kind of page-turner… This seductive novel will draw you into the fascinating backstories of characters sipping cocktails poolside, and you won’t stop reading until you know what really happened.”
–Brooke Lea Foster, author of Summer Darlings
“At a glamorous hotel by the ocean, four people face up to truths that can no longer be hidden. Summertime Guests is compelling, surprising, and a wonderful summertime read.”
–Nancy Thayer, New York Times bestselling author of Family Reunion
“Wendy Francis delivers a smart, probing drama that skillfully unravels the complex emotional lives of an ensemble cast in Summertime Guests…a reflective, deeply engaging and suspenseful story with many threads sure to ensnare the attention of rapt readers.”
–Shelf Awareness
“Idyllic coastal settings, drama, dynamic characters…this story has it all!”
–Woman’s World
more
Part commentary on relationships part mystery, this book had quite a bit going for it. It did keep me interested, even as some of the aspects fell a bit short for me. One of the things I did like about the way the author created the plot was how each of the partnerships (Riley and Tom, Marie and Jean Paul, Gwen and Jason, Claire and ???) were at a different stage. The author introduced each of these in the first four chapters and then the action jumped back and forth between the different couples as well as in time. I thought that each of the couples were interesting in their own way. I did feel like the author held back pertinent parts of information for a bit too long in a couple of cases. For example, I thought Jason’s background and the subsequent twists that it provided kind of came out of nowhere. As I mentioned, there were a couple of twists that I didn’t see coming and one plot point involving Claire was especially effective. I think if you go into it expecting the different perspectives on relationships with the touch of mystery, you’ll like it too. For a detailed review, please visit Fireflies and Free Kicks. Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin (Graydon House) for a digital ARC of the book.
I am voluntarily posting an honest review after reading an advance reader copy of this story.
Summertime Guests, by Wendy Francis, is available at booksellers on 4-6-2021. Ms. Francis is a new author to me & I enjoyed her style and story. I actually cried. I’ve been every woman in this story and have now reached Clair. Wondering where the time went, was it worth it, what if. The long lost boyfriend who might have been the one. From engagement and wedding plans, to marriage and babies, to looking 60 in the eye. I found it to be a wonderful telling of how life flows, especially for women.
#WendyFrancis #SummertimeGuest #Romance #Netgalley #HarlequinBooks #GraydonHouse
I don’t know what it was about this book but the storylines and characters really sucked me in. It was a book that I found myself wanting to get back to during the day. Lost a star for me because I hated seeing two things that grabbed my attention. One is a bandwagon jumping with inserting political opinions which is fine IF the storyline is political or takes place in DC or maybe even if a conversation is taking place. None of these apply so seemed to be crucial to the author to insert a political dig when it wasn’t even applicable to the story. Second thing was: TWO times I saw someone in the book who “COULD care less” about something. The phrase is COULDN’T care less. If you COULD care LESS, that means you care at least a little. I just feel in this day and age these proofreaders should catch these things. Otherwise, I enjoyed this story. It took me along and didn’t have a lot of filler.
This book was a wonderful read. I was looking for a book to read one rainy afternoon to escape and this did the trick. From the moment I opened up the first chapter, I was all in.
The story center around several characters that seem unconnected. You have Riley and Tom are at the hotel planning their future wedding when tragedy strikes. Claire is a widow in town hoping to reconnect with an old boyfriend, Jean-Paul is the hotel manager, and Gwen and Jason are on a romantic getaway for his birthday. Each of these people has issues and messy life.
As the story goes on we know someone has died but we are not sure who or why. This book takes on a winding road and flowed easily throughout each chapter.
In the end, I was surprised at how it all came together. A great afternoon read.
4/5 stars. Pub Dat 4/6/21.
Enjoyable escape novel that sucks you in from the start. What starts as a promising beautiful day at a newly reopened upscale Boston hotel, The Seafarer, into a tragic and horrifying scene for hotel guests trying to enjoy lunch. We meet Riley and her fiancée meeting trying to plan their wedding with his overbearing mother. Jean-Paul, the newly made manager of the hotel, newly transplanted from Paris with his wife and infant daughter, and trying to find a balance of family life and work. Claire, recently widowed Mom trying to figure out her new life while dealing with many issues. Jason, at a crossroads in his professional life, and dealing with an issue he really doesn’t want to admit too.
Ms. Francis weaves the story of each patron from chapter to chapter. The flow is easy to follow, with just enough story line to get invested in each and set up a mystery perfectly, but not get bored! You think you have it figured out, but Francis throws a little wrench in it and makes your heart start to pound. Ending is brought together nicely with all questions being answered.
Thanks to Ms. Francis, Harlequin and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.
Summertime Guests by Wendy Francis is a mixture of summery romance and mystery. It is a story that links four different couples, at different stages in their relationships, in unexpected ways. There’s the promising first blush of new love; the more settled love of a couple trying to find their way back to each other after the arrival of a baby; the troubled rollercoaster love between two academics; and the stirrings/desire to relight the romantic flame from a thirty-year old romance by a widowed woman. They are all brought together at a famous hotel that has just been renovated and reopened. The story begins with a tragedy that affects these four couples. We explore days prior to the tragedy, their activities, their outings, their feelings, and their hurts. We discover their innermost secrets and desires, as together they find the strength they need to turn their own lives around.
Ms Francis wrote a wonderful, emotional, and intriguing story that is definitely not to be missed. She provided a rich tale rich of looking into the lives of four couples over a week’s time, leading up to the tragedy and which guest died. She kept me on my toes, guessing who it was. I highly recommend Ways to Ruin a Royal Reputation to other readers.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “Summertime Guests” by Wendy Francis, Graydon House, April 6, 2021
Wendy Francis, the author of “Summertime Guests” writes a riveting and intriguing novel. The genres for this novel are Fiction, Mystery and Suspense, and Romance. The Seafarer, an elegant hotel is a perfect time for Summertime guests to relax, rewind and find entertainment. The background for this weekend will be a wedding at the hotel. The author has invited us to also be guests and watch 4 sets of characters and their relationships as they also visit this amazing hotel. The author describes her characters as complex and complicated.
Unfortunately, one of the four characters falls from the tenth floor of the hotel to her death. Who is it? Was it an accident? The author does toy with us, and for a short while, we are not actually sure who the victim is that falls.
There are secrets, and surprises that await the reader. I highly recommend this suspenseful and captivating novel. I appreciate that the author discusses important topics such as physical and emotional abuse, Alzheimer’s and dementia, and living one’s life the way they want, not pleasing everyone. The importance of love and hope are mentioned as well. Happy Reading!