Surfside Sisters follows Keely throughout the first third of her life - beginning with childhood and her relationship with her best friend, following to young adult years and the fallout of a friendship, and finally to finding herself when she finally comes home. The only negative I have about this book is that it ended too soon - I wanted so much more!! I want to know how Keely's life continues!! This is another perfect summer read from one of the summer queens of reading, Nancy Thayer!

Yes, I did receive this book as an ARC and with that said I am going to be brutally honest about what I thought of this book. I also find (looking over the other reviews) that I may be alone in my opinions. The low rating may be because of my age or maybe my taste in books. But this is how I genuinely feel about this book.

I must say that I was very disappointed. I expected an adult novel and what I got was a young adult (at best) novel. I might even go as far as saying that this was a novel for teenagers.

This was a novel that deals with jealousy, envy, crushes that lasted forever, among other trivial things. They were just the most childish people I have ever met. The most honestly written parts dealt with death and illness. I could not connect (as an adult) with any of the characters. Some were annoying others pretentious and, others unrealistically portrayed. The author took more time describing the surroundings and everyone's love for the island than she did in having the characters grow. I also saw a lot of problems with the storyline/timeline, and that kept taking me out of the zone.

Had the characters grew in any manner, I would have been thrilled, but they did not. I would have loved this book as a teenager, but as a mature adult, I did not.

*ARC supplied by the publisher.

I know this was an uncorrected proof, but A LOT of editing needs to happen before this story is shelf ready. Towards the end of the story, a sentence states that Tommy/Isabelle is changing the baby while the next sentence states that Tommy has the baby at a play date. In this same scene, Keely walks into the room with the whole family there, and in the next paragraph, the family has somehow dispersed to other areas of the house. The dialogue is extremely choppy and robotic. The whole story felt like a rush job to meet a deadline.

A perfect beach read! Surfside Sisters follows the life of Keely Green who grew up on Nantucket with her best friend Isabelle Maxwell. Both girls had always dreamed of being writers and now Keely is living that dream in NYC, but she misses Isabelle. Due to a falling out, the girls are no longer speaking and it's left a hole in Keely's life and kept her from finding true happiness.When Keely returns to the island to help her mother she has to face Isabelle, the choices that they both made and Isabelle's brother Sebastian who Keely has always harbored feelings for. I breezed through this one in one weekend. The perfect summer beach read. Light and entertaining.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Random House Publishing for allowing me to read an advance copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

Unputdownable-ness: High
Ugly Cry Potential: Medium-Low
LOL: Low
Steaminess: Medium-Low
Character Development: OK
Originality: Low
Quality of Writing: Good
Intellectual Depth: Low
Emotionally Trying/Hard to Read: Easy Read

This is a very enjoyable summer read. I te3ad this in two days!!!!!! Have always loved Nancy Thayer's writing style. Keely and Isabelle are two best friends who both aspire to be successful writers from childhood. Keely ends up making it and Isabelle gets jealous estranging them from each other after a lifelong friendship. Keely moves to New York and after a few yrs has to move back home to Nantucket to be with her mother who retired and becomes depressed. In turn Keely has to deal with trying to get her best friend back and finally deal with her feelings for Isabelle's older brother whom she's been in love with her whole life. Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for my honest review.

This is a story about a lifelong friendship between Keely and Isabelle. The friendship is riddled with envy, jealousy, revenge, guilt and forgiveness. Every time Keely is happy something bad happens. For me, there were too many emotional ups and downs in this story. The ending seemed a bit far-fetched. I did not like this book as much as her other books. I received an ARC for my honest review.

Giving this book three stars based solely on the fact that I’ve enjoyed previous works by this author. This book, these characters, just didn’t work for me. The first 50% was great and I flew through it. After that, I didn’t like any of them. Keely is a push over, her mother is selfish, Isabelle is a brat, her mother is pretentious, and the back and forth, the “I like you, but I’m not going to talk to you much” over several years was annoying. I’ll read more by this author for sure, as her past writing is very strong. This one just wasn’t for me.

It's been quite a while since I have read Nancy Thayer. I really enjoyed this coming of age story set on the island of Nantucket. Having grown up in Chatham, the statement about how they loved abd hated Nantucket for the same reasons: it was a small island where everybody knows you resonates with me.

You find yourself cheering for the characters to resolve their issues, especially Isabelle, who I found hard to like. I found her selfish, condescending, and rude but I guess that's what makes the friendship work. It would be a 5 star rating if her character was a bit more likeable.

I received a free ARC eBook from Net Galley and the publisher for my honest review.

Nancy Thayer never disappoints! I love reading about these two sisters and their lives. This is a perfect summer beach read. I will be recommending it to anyone looking for a summer read!

Tuck this one into your beach bag. I loved this read!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Surfside Sisters by Nancy Thayer
Starts with listing of author's other works which I've read many.
Dedication table of contents and acknowledgements are listed.
Starts with Keely and Isabelle and we hear all about the antics she and others when they were younger did on the island: Nantucket.
All the girls want to be Isabelle's frined because they are in love with her brother.
As the years go by the girls have gone their different ways but still talking to one another-through fights and getting back together.
Keely's father dies and they go to Isabelle's dad for the will reading. This is a sad time for me and I had to stop reading for a bit as my father died also-same circumstances and I almost lost my own spouse...
Keely is there for her mother...the finances left behind are dismal..... She wants to move back to the island and get a job, quit school and refinance to get a lower payment....
Really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more.
Twists and turns and unpredictable. About the author and her other works are included at the end. Amazing how it all comes out in the end.
Received this review copy from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.
#SurfsideSisters #NetGalley

Surfside sisters was the perfect vacation read. It had the drama of two best friends, almost sisters, that included a betrayal, shaky dreams, and the overpowering commitment for love and family. I couldn't put it down because Nancy Thayer never disappoints!

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of this novel.

Keely Green is a published author living in New York. New York couldn't be more different from the Nantucket Shores she has grown up on.
Growing up, Keely and her best friend Isabelle, dreamed of becoming writers. They were fascinated with words and how to arrange them into something beautiful. Keely and Isabelle were as close as sisters. Keely has always had a childhood crush on Isabelle's older brother Sebastian. She swore she would never confess her love for him to Isabelle. While Isabelle's family took vacations all over the world, Keely was at home writing and working. Her family was not as privileged as the Maxwell's and Keely always felt envious of the life Isabelle lived. Soon, after the two went off to college they began to drift apart from each other. After a terrible even, Keely returns home to help her mother but she also finds Tommy, the man that her best friend has been in love with and obsessed with since high school, has also returned. Isabelle has moved on to another man and Keely finds herself getting closer to Tommy. After a bitter betrayal, Keely flee's to New York to escape Isabelle and Tommy to write her second novel. Finally moving on and dating a handsome doctor, Keely finds herself attending glamorous parties and benefits. Struggling to write her third novel, she gets a call from back home about her mother's downward spiral. She knows that she must return to help her mother. Returning to her roots may be the answer to her writing problems. Returning to Nantucket, she runs into Sebastian, her childhood love and Isabelle's older brother. A long time ago he showed interest in her and then went off to college and lost connection. Could things actually work out now that they are both in the same place for once?
Surfside Sisters explores friendship, love, and what it means to forgive.
I honestly could not put this book down! Nancy takes you through the childhood of Keely to her adult life. I felt all the emotions of Keely's frustrations, sadness, loss, and love. I was rooting for her the whole time and Thayer painted such a beautiful picture of what it's like having a childhood on the Nantucket shores! This is a perfect summer beach read!! I seriously loved every moment of this book! Thank you so much NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for giving me an advanced copy to complete devour!

I really enjoyed The Surfside Sisters by Nancy Thayer. It was a pleasant, easy-to-read, cozy story with a richly vibrant, descriptive setting that truly came to life on the page. I also really liked the main character, Keeley Green, a Nantucket native and aspiring author. I admired her positive outlook, her can-do attitude, her determination and also compassion and generosity for others. I also loved that she was a book lover and author and we got a sneak peak into a writer’s life.

However, as much as I enjoyed this novel, I also had some major issues with it. The main theme of this story seemed to be envy. It was repeated throughout and not as a cautionary tale, along with a hearty dose of whining and proclamations of winning. A few of the key characters were absolutely reprehensible, selfish, and self-serving people, who were not portrayed in an adverse manner. The friendship between the two girls, Keeley and Isabelle, was fraught with trouble and tension. It wasn’t a healthy relationship, by any means, but again, this issue was glossed over. The romances were a bit abrupt and could have benefited from more development to make them credible. In so many of the relationships and interactions, I couldn’t help thinking that people in real life just don’t behave that way or treat others like that.
While the conclusion was nice, it also wrapped up a little too tidily. I love a good happy ending as much as the next reader, but sometimes a story can can come across a bit too perfect, especially when so many issues have been laid bare up until that point and not altogether resolved.

So, I did have some significant issues with this story, but despite that, I still really enjoyed the setting of Nantucket Island and NYC, the authorship aspects, the family and friendship focus and the tempo and general feel of the story. It was an entertaining story and pleasurable read, despite my reservations.

3.75 stars

Lara and Isabelle are best friends living in different worlds but both dream of being famous authors. Lara achieves her goal of living in New York as a successful author but then returns to Nantucket where she is forced to confront the broken relationship with her once best friend.
This is a good summer read, well-written.

Friendships change as children grow up. For Keely and Isabelle, they are determined that they will always remain friends. In Nancy Thayer’s newest summer novel, friendship is put to the test. Two friends, determined to leave Nantucket and become writers, face the challenges of growing up, college, and adulthood. What will happen when they share the same dream? Will it bring them closer together or send them further apart? Will love get in the way of friendship? And is it truly possible to keep childhood friends when grown up?

I love Nancy Thayer’s books for years and eagerly look forward to her new titles each summer. While this novel started out slow, it grew on me and ultimately, I enjoyed it thoroughly. The characters were interesting, distinct, and well developed. Beach reading at it’s finest! 4.5/5 stars!

I've always enjoyed Nancy Thayer's novels and Surfside Sisters hasn't disappointed me. Likable characters, A plot driven storyline, great dialogue. A sur win in the beach reads list.

A great beach read filled with friendship and romance. It portrays how life's hardships can detain our dreams but by staying the course we can attain what we dream. My only disappointment was I felt the last chapter was abrupt. Wished there more story to share the outcomes of all.

I've read plenty of Nancy Thayer books, and I've enjoyed them. I thought this one would be another enjoyable summer read, but this one was a tough one for me.

I liked the premise or rich girl/poor girl finding their way through early adulthood. The problem was that one of the girls is completely unlikable, so I was never hoping for their friendship to survive. In fact, I felt like the main character Keely took so many hits and was treated so poorly by Isabelle that I was embarrassed by her lack of dignity. I think the book ends so quickly because if we actually followed them fore than a week after they become friends again I'm sure that Isabelle would treat Keely horribly again.

Same with her romantic interest. Do we want her to get together with her childhood crush, Sebastian? Um, no. Now when he's strung her along and moved to another country with someone else. He was just as selfish and cruel to her that I wanted her to save herself the heartache and just run away.

So now we know I wasn't a fan of the characters. Still, it was an easy read, kept me engaged, but then the throw away ending made this a bad read for me. It was such a drawn out story of Keely's roller coaster life, so many years of loving the unattainable guy and being lonely without her best friend, then in the last 20 pages everything is fixed and works out. Not a good read.

I really enjoyed reading Surfside Sisters by Nancy Thayer. The setting for this novel is Nantucket and New York City. The characters are well developed and the plot revolves around sisterhood, betray, loss of identity by one of the main character’s mother, sickness and becoming an author . Yikes! Who would not want to read that type of a novel ! It is a great summer read . I now want to go to Nantucket again .I received this novel for free in exchange for a fair and honest review .