Same Time Next Summer
by Annabel Monaghan
read by Brittany Pressley and Dan Bittner
Books on Tape, 2023. 6 hours, 57 minutes.
Review written September 3, 2024, from a library eaudiobook
When you’re listening to a romance novel, you shouldn’t complain if you know right away what’s going to happen, right? Especially since it was the author’s other book that made you notice the formula.
This book begins with Samantha going back to the beach where her family has spent summers for decades, along with Jack, her doctor fiance. Sam has resisted spending more than a few days there ever since she was seventeen, when Wyatt, her childhood friend and teen boyfriend (whose summer place was next door) left her and broke her heart. But now she’s over all that, engaged to be married, and her parents want her to consider getting married at the beach. Much to her surprise, Sam learns that Wyatt is back in the house next door, for the first time in years.
Okay, do you, like me, know what’s going to happen from that description? I did indulge in some fond hopes that this would be about Sam realizing what a great choice she made dating Jack, but I knew that wouldn’t happen as soon as they started in on a flashback from Wyatt’s perspective.
Like I said, the author’s earlier book, Nora Goes Off Script about a romance channel writer, made me extra aware of the formula, but I did groan a little when Sam (whose straitlaced job was in jeopardy) decided she wanted to be an art teacher for kids.
And there was one little detail that annoyed me. A high school student is not going to get a job at a library “teaching” kids, nor probably doing story times. Shelving books, maybe. Just saying.
But beyond all that? Yes, it’s a fun story. The characters are people you enjoy spending time with. Wyatt has some nice depth to him. And I have to say I did end up being surprised by what it was that broke up Sam and Wyatt when she was seventeen. It was not a letter one of them sent that never got received!
Though some day, I do want to read a romance novel about a heroine realizing she’s found someone much better for her than her first love. This isn’t that, but it’s a sweet romance that leaves you happy for the characters. It’s a feel-good story about finding the person who really gets you – and who can find fault with that?
Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/same_time_next_summer.html
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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.
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