GIRLS OF SUMMER

A single mother and her adult children reconnect with each other and explore complicated romantic situations during one eventful summer on Nantucket.

Lisa Hawley has been living on Nantucket year-round for decades, since long before her husband left her for another woman. She raised her children on her own, opened a successful women’s clothing shop, kept a warm home, and swore off dating. Now that her kids are grown and flown, she finally has time to focus on the physical deterioration her house has suffered over the years. When the local restoration expert, Mack Whitney, walks into her home to inspect it, sparks fly. There’s only one problem: He’s 10 years younger than Lisa. Even so, Mack convinces her to go to dinner with him, and their chemistry can’t be denied. It can, however, be interrupted: first by the arrival of Lisa’s daughter, Juliet, who’s come home to nurse a broken heart, and then by Lisa’s son, Theo, who’s returned home to recuperate after a surfing accident in California. As Lisa's children consider their mother’s budding relationship, they too discover love interests on the island. First Juliet is enticed by a newcomer and then Theo learns his high school crush is back home. Crazier still, the young woman is Mack’s daughter. Can Lisa’s relationship with Mack move forward without destroying her son’s chance at happiness? As the chapters alternate among Lisa's, Juliet's, and Theo’s perspectives, the author deftly builds each of the characters’ complex personalities by showing them through the eyes of others. A central concern of the story is the preservation of Nantucket as a sanctuary for both people and wildlife, and it's full of information about the island's weather, topography, and landmarks. Although the romantic relationships develop at a fast, and perhaps unrealistic, clip, the sentiments described are so sweet that readers might forgive the characters their hasty emotions. Told in straightforward prose, the story is both wholesome and hopelessly romantic.

A formulaic but engaging story about how one family handles summer love.