Unpopular opinion ahead. I did not like this book. I enjoy a good beach read, and I don't expect them to be great literature, but this one fell short for me. Elin Hildebrand has made a name for herself writing books set on Nantucket, typically with a romance, and her latest novel follows this same pattern. I've enjoyed her books in the past, so I was excited to get an ARC for her latest.

She does a great job, as always, of describing summer days and nights, including descriptions of summer meals, flowers, beach scenes, and ocean breezes. The problem is with the plot and characters. The situation between the two star crossed lovers, Jake and Mallory, doesn't make a whole lot of sense - there is never a concrete, truly believable reason as to why they cannot just be together all the time and must only be "Same Time Next Year" lovers. Since the whole book is based on this premise, it has a shaky foundation. Further, Mallory is depicted as a commitment-phobic flake and Jake is portrayed as a man completely without a backbone. On top of this, their romance happens while Jake is married. There is little to no examination of any guilt either party might feel about this.

The writing style felt uneven also. At the start of the book the story has a narrator who refers to Jake as "our boy" and Mallory as "our girl" and gives little side comments about them. This narrative device disappears after the first quarter of the book, never to be seen again. Likewise, the story goes back and forth between Mallory's POV and Jake's from year to year...then suddenly, far into the book, is from Jake's wife's POV. The whole cadence of the narrative style was uneven.

The story itself had potential. The concept of a romance that exists in a pure state in the minds of the lovers due to the fact that they never share real life with each other is an intriguing concept. Do they really love each other, when they don't really know each other? Do they only love the idea of each other? Are they unable to fully give love to others in their lives because they are holding back due to their fantasy relationship? These are all great questions. Instead of really exploring them, Hildebrand gives us recaps of what was happening in the news every year for 28 years (that got old fast for me), descriptions of life on Nantucket, and the perplexing inclusion of political statements that have no bearing or purpose in the story other than to tell the reader that the author is a liberal democrat.

This was a disappointing read, which started out as mildly intriguing but got more and more annoying as the book progressed. Thank you NetGalley.

An emotional beach read, although I’m not sure how well sand and tears go together. Hilderbrand takes us back to Nantucket to tell the story of Molly and Jake who fell in love In the summer of 1993 but, because of other obligations, can only spend one weekend a year together. The story is about family connections, deception among friends, and even some political issues of the day. Although I’ve never been to Nantucket, thru the author’s writing, I feel as though I have been there many times. A must read!

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I liked this. It was a good summer read. Fast paced. A good love story that spans decades and might even make you cry at times.

The book covers the span of 28 years. I really liked how each year started off with a “we were talking about...” type section. Makes you realize just how much has happened.

Definitely would recommend this to others.

I loved this book as much as I loved all of Elin Hilderbrand's other books! I was drawn in immediately and haven't stopped thinking about the characters since I finished!!!

LOVE! Elin Hilderbrand never disappoints and this time she exceeded all expectations. An emotional love story that had me feeling all the emotions. Inspired by the movie Same Time, Next Year it chronicles an affair for 28 Labor Day weekends. Each year starts off with a list of memories from the that year. Amazing to be reminded of 8 minute abs and Y2K! Loved every minute of reading this book...if only it could have gone on for 56 summers!

The premise of this book is two people who can't actually be together agree to meet the same weekend each year, but just that one time per year. No calls, texts, or anything the rest of the year. It was a bit heartbreaking to read how their lives progressed throughout the year and imagine how being apart could possibly be the best thing. But the story follows them over the course of 28 years.

I really enjoyed the book and the story. I also enjoyed how the book was written with a little recap of the year at the beginning of each chapter. And the voice that started each chapter was much like a story being told to the reader.

I would definitely recommend this book!

4.5 stars!
This story follows Mallory and Jake’s unconventional romance over the span of 20+ years. They meet one summer for her brother’s bachelor party and fall in love instantly. They vow to always spend Labour Day weekend together on Nantucket at Mallory’s cottage, regardless of the other things going on in their lives. So begins the history of their 28 summers together.

Elin Hilderbrand is one of my favourite summer authors. She always chooses the perfect setting and develops these amazing characters that you fall in love with. I want to be Mallory’s best friend, and I just couldn’t get enough of her and Jake. Their affair starts in 1994, and each chapter covers what happens each year. At the start, she prefaces Jake and Mallory’s story with current events/pop culture trends from that year which I thought was so interesting. Each year is unique and enthralling as you never really know what you’re going to read, as Hilderbrand also brings the stories of minor characters such as Jake’s wife, Ursula and Mallory’s brother, Cooper. The ending left me yearning for more info but I thought it was entirely satisfying. I would highly recommend 28 Summers as a perfect sunshine read!

In my opinion, 28 Summers is one of best books written by Elin Hilderbrand. I loved every page, all the way until the last moment. This book incorporates different life circumstances, political games and a battle with cancer wrapped up in one story. This is the perfect summer, beach read.

Hilderbrand's best book yet! Her books just scream summer! I enjoyed this book from the very first page. The characters are well developed, and the descriptions make you feel like you are in Nantucket. If you are looking for a story that deals with friendships, family, and deception, look no further!

Mallory Blessing cannot believe that her aunt has left her a cottage in Nantucket after she died, but it comes at a time when she is ready to start fresh and leave NYC for something more meaningful. During her first summer, her brother decided a bachelor party at the Nantucket cottage is just what he needs before getting married, and with him comes his best friend Frey and Jake. After an argument and a scary incident, Mallory is left at the cottage with Jake. So begins a tradition that brings Jake back to Nantucket every Labor Day weekend, no questions asked. Filled with nostalgia for the 90s and 2000s, Mallory and Jakes lives unfold and experience ups and downs, but they always find themselves yearning for Labor Day weekend. A lot can happen in 362 days of the year, for 28 years, but will it always comes back to Nantucket?

Elin Hilderbrand is beach reading and 28 Summers did not disappoint. I loved being back on Nantucket with her. I loved the way she tells a story, with so much detail and emotion that a real attachment is created and I felt like I was there. I loved the opening of every chapter highlighting what was trending at that time. And I absolutely loved the references to Winter Street and the Quinn Family like I was hearing about old friends. The only issue is the underlying theme of the 28 year affair that I had to push out of my mind and ignore and how Mallory and Jake were willing to risk it all, at the expense of their families, friends and children for the 1 weekend a year.

WOW, okay I loved this book. In classic Elin Hilderbrand fashion, it caused me to feel all the feelings while also allowing me to escape to beautiful Nantucket.

Mallory and Jake meet in the summer of 1993 when he comes to stay in her Nantucket cottage for her brother's bachelor party. The two have a strong connection and decide that in the spirit of the movie, Same Time, Next Year, Jake will spend every Labor Day weekend with her, no matter what. The book follows the pair for the next 28 summers, as they continue to meet up despite a plethora of changes in their lives and the world around them.

Hilderbrand is a wonderful storyteller and I felt so attached to these characters. I've enjoyed many of her books, but I believe this one is my favorite. I highly highly recommend 28 Summers as a near-perfect summer read.

Elin opens her book with what seem like “spoilers” leering at us while we scratch our heads saying, “whoa, how the hell did we get here?!” Exactly! For the next 28 chapters or summers, we try to figure that out as read.
Open Scene: Link (Lincoln), Mallory Blessing’s son, calls a phone number his mother had hidden away for such a time as this, an emergency, her deathbed. Link does not know who he’s calling until the phone is answered: “Jake McCloud,” he says. Link recognizes the names and hangs up. Flustered, he thinks, ‘why would his mother have him call some famous Charity Spokesperson, who’s married to a more famous State Senator, that may be running for President in the next election?’

The phone rings, it’s him, calling back! “Is Mallory all right, has something happened?” Link tries to explain Mallory’s grave condition to Jake. “Please, tell her I’m coming. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

From this opening scene, we the reader have to start from the beginning and roll back to 1993 when Mallory Blessing, her brother Cooper, and their friends were all twenty-somethings. Mallory was living in New York City sharing a tiny apartment with her childhood friend from Baltimore, Leland Gladstone. This situation was testing every last fiber of that friendship, as roommates do. Fortunately, or say conveniently, Mallory’s old Aunt Greta dies and leaves Mallory one hundred thousand dollars, and her cottage on the island of Nantucket. Bye-bye tiny NYC apartment. Mallory loves the pace of Nantucket and the cottage.

Meanwhile, her brother Cooper has been working and living in Washington, DC, and announces he’s getting married for the first time. (yes, there will be more.) to Krystal (save it), who he’s met in DC. He’s asked Mallory if he, and his two, close friends, Fray (Frazier Dooley) and Jake (Jake McCloud) could come up to Nantucket for Labor Day weekend for a small bachelor party of sorts. Mallory has known Cooper’s friends since college, so she thinks, why not, and says, “sure.”

The small group had fun to start but as the friends partied and drank more, stuff happens. Leland shows up with her ‘City friends’ and toys with Fray’s emotions, (they used to have a thing); Fray gets drunker and disappears for a while. Cooper has multiple drunken phone fights with Krystal and agrees to fly back to DC in the morning. That leaves Mallory and Jake alone, with two days to go. And we are only in Chapter One!
Jake and Mallory have a delightful time together so that something has changed in them both. Jake did admit he was happy the way things worked out with just the two of them left. “And I’m coming back next year; ‘same time, next year.’” Mallory says, “No matter what?” “No matter what!” Jake said.

So begins the first of 28 summers that Mallory and Jake continue to meet every Labor Day weekend, once a year, from 1993 to 2020. And they live their own lives, different lives, the rest of the time. At that first weekend, when Jake fell in love with Mallory, he was technically a single man, since he and his girlfriend, Ursula, an intelligent ambitious lawyer, were on a break; a trial separation. When he gets back to DC Ursula sets things in motion towards marriage and Jake does not know how to stop it.

Mallory loves Jake, but accepts her fate and remains on Nantucket, and occasionally dates other guys. Over the course of several years, Cooper gets divorced and remarried, Ursula gets pregnant and has a daughter, Mallory gets pregnant and has a son. No spoilers here; just a lot of life going on amongst friends while the Labor Day weekends continue.

The story and writing are top-notch, as only Elin could deliver this type of novel without us screaming at the characters and/or throwing the book across the room. Of course, we will judge every one of them, it’s what we do. Or, we think about if we were in their place. Could I last 28 summers like Mallory did? Right now, knowing what I know at my mature, experienced age, I say probably not. But what would my twenty-two-year-old self, have said? What would you say or have said?

Book clubs will have fun with this discussion! Make sure you schedule at least two hours and have plenty of wine on hand, and other drivers on call. Remember, only judge the characters, not each other; and have fun!
And of course, meet again to watch the film, “Same Time, Next Year,” the original with Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn, 1978. Enjoy. Cheers!

Thank you Netgalley, Little Brown and Co. and Elin Hilderbrand

This may have been my favorite... but aren’t all Elin’s books??
Jake is Mallory’s older brother Cooper’s fraternity brother. They have chatted on the phone, but not in person until a Labor Day weekend when Coop comes up with the guys to Mallorys Nantucket beach house for the weekend. When Jake and Mallory lay eyes on one another, there is instant attraction.
They know they can’t become a couple with Cooper in the middle, Jake has a powerful girlfriend, so they are one another’s...Same Time, Next Year each Labor Day weekend.
Through kids, marriage, political aspirations- they don’t talk all year until JUST their special weekend for over twenty years....

is helpful if you know the 1978 movie starring Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn, Same Time Next Year, because it is often mentioned in this story. Malory and Cooper are brother and sister in the Baltimore area, brought up in a loving but strict home. Cooper and Jake are good friends from college.

Jake is dating Ursula, a strong driven woman who has been a part of his life since they were kids. Malory inherited a cottage on Nantucket from an Aunt. Jake and Malory connect after Cooper’s bachelor party in 1993. They plan to meet on Labor Day weekend in Nantucket. The story follows the lives of Jake and Malory in between their annual Labor Day Weekend together. The story describes what is happening to them throughout the year in their personal lives.

Each year starts with a recap of the popular news/current events highlights from the year. The lives of Jake and Malory move on each year with jobs, babies, weddings, and birthdays. But when Labor Day weekend arrives, Jake and Malory spend their annual holiday weekend together in Nantucket.

Told mostly from Malory’s point of view, I understood why she continued her relationship with Jake.

Elin Hildebrand makes Nantucket come alive with her rich description of the landscape. I could almost smell the ocean air and feel the sand between my toes.

One of the best books of the year and summer. Elin Hilderbrand knows how write characters that you fall in love with.

As always Elin Hilderbrand has written an entertaining story that delves deeply into family relationships and love relationships. Her main female character remains strong throughout the book with a will of iron to meet life head on. Sometimes I found her main character a little bit too forgiving, certainly more forgiving than most. I particularly liked the start of each chapter which lists things happening in that current year. It brought back tons of memories for me and added another dimension to the book. Ms. Hilderbrand's writing is so captivating and she handles family, love and friendship relationships in such an honest upfront manner. This book is a great summer read, that will whisk you away to Nantucket, the beaches, the food and the atmosphere. Another great book from Ms. Hilderbrand!!!!!

Mallory inherits her aunt’s cottage on Nantucket. She is looking forward to making the change. Her brother Cooper brings his friends for a bachelor weekend, but nothing goes as planned. Mallory definitely didn’t plan to fall into a “same time next year” relationship with Cooper’s friend Jake. Over 28 summers, life changes for every one, but nothing can change their relationship.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters and their relationships to each other were well developed. They grew and changed with the passing of time. Everything was perfect and imperfect at the same time.

Thank you to Little, Brown, and Company and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

May I give this 10 stars? Holy mackerel, it was good! I am always a sucker for a good Elin Hilderbrand book, but this one was the perfect story to get lost in. I loved the characters, and honestly, the premise was brilliant. Elin has done it again. My only regret is that I don't have it to look forward to anymore. Elin, thank you for allowing us to enter a different world for a little while, and escape our reality right now. And the way that it was written, allows us to reminisce about what has happened in the world over the last 28 summers, which was a pretty fun thing to do. AMAZING!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley.com. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was a beatutiful story of love and relationships. The characters were easy to relate to.Mallory has an idyllic life but survived without a partner. The ending was sad as there is always hope that the love will fill you up. Family life was explored beautifully . Very enjoyable read!