Oh how I look forward to a new Nancy Thayer book every year, and I am never disappointed. Nantucket is the place I want to be. Ms. Thayer's characters are believable and likable. Their challenges are real. Now I'm going to do what I always do when I finish reading her latest book. Read it again.

Main Thoughts:
I love a good Nancy Thayer - she is one of my favorite beach/summer/feel-like-I-live-on-an-island author and this book did not disappoint. I enjoyed the arc of the book, I felt engaged for most of the text, and the plot felt new (and not like your stereotypical beach read).

That being said - throughout the whole novel it felt like something was missing. I love Thayer because she always does such a good job of developing the plot and her characters - and parts of the book definitely felt glazed over.

While it won't be on my list of Favorite Beach Reads or Nancy Thayer books - I would certainly read it again!

Things I Loved:
This novel had a great arc - I loved that it took place over a number of years and allowed for us to see the characters progress through multiple major life moments.

I also enjoyed the multiple settings - as much as I love reading about Nantucket it was nice to see the book take place in a few different locations.

The supporting characters - I always feel like Thayer does a good job of creating supporting and not secondary characters. In other words, the characters surrounding the main characters always feel developed and just as important as the main characters. She delivered on this - as usual!

Things I Didn't Love:
As usual, many of the things which I loved were also things I struggled with. While I liked that the story took place over multiple years, it sometimes felt like some of the bigger life events were glazed over. There were certain moments in the story where I wish Thayer had dug a little deeper - and developed them out a little more.

One of my favorite things about Thayer's novels is her ability to create incredibly nuanced characters (beyond the stereotypical) who have striking relationships. I felt like two of the main characters, Lara and Isabelle, had a rather flat relationship. While I enjoyed understanding each character on her own, the storyline of their relationship felt a little stereotypical and repetitive. There were moments in the novel when it felt developed and other moments when it felt disjointed and rather surface level.

Nancy Thayer characters are so believable, you’re immediately drawn into their world, and invested in their life. Set in Nantucket and NY, Surfside Sisters follows the life of two best friends who grow up together and want the same dream of becoming a published author. From childhood to their late twenties this novel tells the story of their friendship and their dreams. The ending is a little pat but overall a great read.

5 stars. Like all Nancy Thayer books, Surfside Sisters was an indulgence. It’s not often that a book touches your mind and your soul. I read the book in one sitting. The book is based on a friendship between a rich girl and a poor girl over 20+ years in Nantucket. The characters were well developed and will stick with you beyond the end of the story. The story flowed well and the ending tied up the story perfectly . A must read.

I have always wanted to read a book by Nancy Thayer and I am so excited that I took a chance on this one. Now I want to grab all her back list copies and devour them like I did this one! This book dives into the intricacies of friendships and it's fallout's. The author writes with knowledge and care and makes readers feel as if they are a part of the story. I think this is the perfect summer read and everyone going to the beach this summer should pack it in their beach bag!

I always enjoy a Nancy Thayer book set in Nantucket and this is a nice summer read. Keely and Isabelle grew up together on Nantucket and were the closest of friends. As they matured through the ages, their friendship hit typical road bumps including young love, career aspirations, and adult relationships. This is the story of their friendship and growth and challenges.
To me, the prologue of the book was awkward and threw me off from the beginning. After I got done with the book, I even went back and looked at the prologue again, because I think it initially set my mind in a different direction than where the book started. I would just start with Chapter 1!

A story of friendship and betrayal and following your dreams. Keely and Isabelle dream of being writers growing up together on Nantucket but family and men get in the way. Is it possible to be friends and envy what the other has?

This lovely novel is a realistic saga of friendship between two best friends who dream as children of becoming published authors. From childhood into teen years, their lives are parallel yet opposite due to the wall wealth can build between people. As adults, the two allow envy to cause estrangement with touches of revenge when one achieves inclusion in a prestigious writer’s group while the other becomes a published author. The setting of the Nantucket beach mirrors the eternal churning turmoil between true friends whose lives remain intertwined with a piece of their hearts yearning to repair the friendship. Family ties, death, illness, career, marriage, birth—all occur causing each a range of choices and reactions. In the end, With both truly bound to the island by family and the men they love, the friends are able to reestablish their friendship with the very thing that drove a wedge between them—a local writer’s critique group. Through their love of words, they overcome the evils of jealousy and regain the strong gift of friendship between two writers that only others who share the same dream of becoming published authors truly understand.