Summer Longing

Author: Jamie Brenner
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Little, Brown, & Company, 2021
Pages: 384
Rating: Recommend 

Synopsis: Ruth Cooperman arrives in beautiful Provincetown for her retirement, renting the perfect waterfront cottage while she searches for her forever home. After years of hard work and making peace with life's compromises, Ruth is looking forward to a carefree summer of solitude. But when she finds a baby girl abandoned on her doorstep, Ruth turns to her new neighbors for help and is drawn into the drama of the close-knit community.

The appearance of the mystery baby has an emotional ripple effect through the women in town, including Amelia Cabral, the matriarch who lost her own child decades earlier; Elise Douglas, owner of the tea shop who gave up her dream of becoming a mother; and teenage local Jaci Barros who feels trapped by her parents' expectations. Ruth, caring for a baby for the first time in thirty yaers, even reaches out to her own estranged daughter, Olivia, summoning her to Provincetown in hopes of a reconciliation.

As summer unfolds and friends and family care for the infant, alliances are made, relationships are tested, and secrets are uncovered. But the unconditional love for a child in need just might bring Ruth and the women of Provincetown exactly what they have been longing for themselves.

Review: Not my favorite Jamie Brenner novel as the premise seemed farfetched, but still a fun book in a great setting.

Other Jamie Brenner Novels:
Blush
Drawing Home
Gilt
The Forever Summer
The Husband Hour

Pineapple Street

Author: Jenny Jackson
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2023
Pages: 320
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Darley, the eldest daughter in the well-connected old money Stockton family, followed her heart, trading her job and her inheritance for motherhood but giving up far too much in the process; Sasha, a middle-class New England girl, has married into the Brooklyn Heights family, and finds herself cast as the arriviste outsider; and Georgiana, the baby of the family, has fallen in love with someone she can't have, and must decide what kind of person she wants to be.

Rife with the indulgent pleasures of life among New York's one-percenters, Pineapple Street is a smart, escapist novel that sparkles with wit. Full of recognizable, loveable, if fallible, characters, it's about the peculiar knowability of someone else's family, the miles between the haves and have-nots, and the insanity of first love - all wrapped in a story that is a sheer delight.

Review: Prior to selecting this book, I noticed that reviews were split between those that loved this book and those that didn't. There really wasn't a middle ground. Curious, I requested it from my library, and even told the librarian I was going to give it a shot and if it didn't appeal to me in the first 30 pages, I would set it aside.

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed it and read long into the night on Saturday, finishing it Sunday morning before heading to my parents' for Father's Day.

I found it to be a fun summertime escapist type novel, as the synopsis suggests. If I have one complaint, it's that the ending was odd, but that doesn't negate how entertaining the rest of the book was. Perhaps, I can see the humor in the ending as well. 

It may help knowing that it's satire before jumping in feet first.

The Soulmate

Author: Sally Hepworth
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing, 2023
Pages: 336
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Picture a lovely cottage on a cliff, with sloping lawns, walking paths, and beautiful flowers. It's Gabe and Pippa Girard's dream home in a sleep coastal town. But their perfect house hides something sinister. The tall cliffs have become a popular spot for people to end their lives. Over the past several months, Gabes comes to their rescue, literally talking them off the ledge.

Until one day, he doesn't. When Pippa discovers Gabe knew the victim, the questions spiral. . .Did the victim jump? Was she pushed? And would Gabe, the love of Pippa's life, her soulmate. . .lie? As the perfect facade of their marriage begins to crack, the deepest and darkest secrets begin to unravel. Because sometimes, the most convincing lies are the ones we tell ourselves.

Review: I can always count on this author to write a good book. I've enjoyed each one I've read. The Soulmate hooked me in the first chapter. 

Maybe more Domestic Drama than Thriller, this book has family secrets, twists and turns, flashbacks, and perspective from the dead woman herself. I would put The Soulmate in the same genre as The Dilemma by B. A. Paris. 

I couldn't put this book down.

Other Sally Hepworth Books found in this blog
The Mother-in-Law
The Good Sister

Drawing Home

Author: Jamie Brenner
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Little, Brown, and Company, 2020
Pages: 384
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Summer has started in idyllic Sag Harbor, and for Emma Mapson that means greeting guests at the front desk of The American Hotel. But when one of the town's most famous residents, artist Henry Wyatt, dies suddenly, Emma learns he has mysteriously left his waterfront home - a self-designed masterpiece filled with his work - to her teenage daughter, Penny.

Back in Manhattan, legendary art patron Bea Winstead's grief at her lifelong friend and former business partner Henry's passing turns to outrage at the news of his shocking bequest. How did these unknown locals get their hands on the estate? Bea, with her devoted assistant Kyle in tow, descends on Sag Harbor determined to reclaim the house and preserve Henry's legacy.

While Emma fights to defend her daughter's inheritance, Bea discovers that Henry left a treasure trove of sketches scattered around town. With Penny's reluctant help, Bea pieces them together to find a story hidden in plain sight: an illustration of their shared history with an unexpected twist that will change all of their lives. Drawn together in a battle for the house, Emma and Bea are forced to confront the past while facing a future that challenges everything they believe about love, fate, and family.

Review: I love this author. Drawing Home wasn't my favorite of hers, but it's still a fun summertime story. It fell short for me in the subplot concerning the returning dead-beat dad. Some of us have to deal with the actual difficulties of this situation and don't have someone with money flying in to make the problems (and people) disappear. 

Other Jamie Brenner Novels:
Blush
Gilt
Summer Longing
The Forever Summer
The Husband Hour