I love books that follow a whole family. In this one we get to meet the Aschers - Carol and Bonnie are two sisters who could not be any more different.
When Carol returns home for the summer, forced to make a homecoming, after her life outside of the idyllic Maine town doesn't go quite as planned, the past surfaces.
Loved the juxtaposition of small town Maine to big city NYC; and the two sisters to match their very different lives.

Forty-five years ago, Carol Ascher left her small Maine town for the bright lights of New York. She made a name for herself as an interior designer. When her daughter was a teenager, she sent her to Yorktide to live with her Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Ken. No one knows the real reason for her doing that. Now her parents are gone, Bonnie's husband has passed and her daughter is thinking of signing up for the Peace Corps. Carol has returned with the wish to buy her sister out of the family home, known as Ferndean House. Bonnie has plans to sell her house and retire to Ferndean House. With all the issues from the past, the secrets and hurt feelings with this family be able to reconcile and become a real family once again?

So, I was looking for an uplifting story about family, summer and reconciliation. Yes, all those things were here, but it was full of whiny, self-centered characters who were unlikable for most of the book. Bonnie and Carol were sisters who could not have been more different. They each saw the past and their relationship differently and if it hadn't been for cousin Judith, they might never have reached their reconciliation at the end. Bonnie's daughter, Julie has a lot of her own issues. She has recently found out her husband has been cheating on her, and is depressed but trying to hide her feelings from her daughter. I feel bad for Julie, but she doesn't do much to help herself until the end of the book. Carol's daughter, Nicole, is angry at her mother for "dumping" her and won't speak to her. Just a big dysfunctional family that didn't do much for me. As I said earlier, Judith is the only one I really liked. She was a plain, tell it like it is woman who really doesn't care what anyone things. Yes, they have their epiphanies, yes they reconcile and yes, the family begins to mend, but it was an uncomfortable, journey and I didn't really care by the time I reached the end.

Holly Chamberlin created an interesting storyline in All Our Summers, but it was bogged down by unlikeable characters. I wanted to feel for them and did at first but the more the story went on it felt like the same scene rehashed over and over again. A shorter story might have helped this one not feel like a slow plodding character-driven book.

Great book. Highly recommend and will most defiantly read more by this author and suggest to others!

A good family saga with the lovely setting of the Maine beaches. The two sisters are both strong characters and there are plenty of twists and secrets to keep your interest. Good beach read

I received a complimentary copy of this book "All Our Summers" and all opinions expressed are my own. This book seemed a bit long to me, either that or I was hoping it would end soon. It wasn't a bad book but for me it just seemed to go on and on. Probably a good summer book if you have the time to read all those chapters.

A sweet beach read written in short chapters of multiple points of view. Set in Maine, a simple, light read.

This family saga is told from multiple points of view from the woman of the Ascher Family.
Each of the members is telling a nicely layered story that all of them are dealing with.
This story was easy to follow along, as you read and learn more about the secrets and the problems of each of them.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

Set in a pretty Maine backdrop, this is a provoking tale of new beginnings, uncovered secrets, kinship bonds, and fierce friendships. I was thoroughly entertained and think I might have found a new author to stalk.

Found all these characters irritating and whiney and thus couldn't get behind any of them to root and support. While the story does make and attempt to develop them further on, it however failed to catch me from the start itself as I just wanted to tell each one of them to 'get a grip!' The very omniscient POV also lost me - it read a lot like an old 80s-90s epic saga a la Barbara Taylor Bradford, which to me was good for its time, but with the rapid pace of today's writing and prose, this just felt dragging and also didn't endear me to the book, sadly. Just not my cup of tea, I suppose.

Thank you netgalley for allowing me to read this early. I have never read anything by this author so i was excited when I was granted access. I loved the beach feel of this book, but sadly the book felt choppy to me. Still a good story line.

Thanks to Kensington Books for an advanced copy of All Our Summers.

This book has everything that sounds like a fun one -- a great setting and a little bit of family drama but I was underwhelemed. I DNFd the book about 30% in as I wasn't finding the characters likable, the short choppy chapters made it hard to follow along and I just couldn't get into the story.

I've read and loved other Holly Chamberlin books, so this was just a miss unfortunately.

Sweet summertime beach read. Perfect with an umbrella drink in hand!

I loved the character dynamic and banter.

First and foremost, I do not like books with short, choppy chapters. This book had something like 140 chapters, and for a book that is not very long, this was WAY too many chapters. I think cutting `100 chapters out of this book would have made for a much smoother read.

Anyway, to the storyline: I liked the dynamic of the two sisters. They had strong personalities and, as sisters are wont to do, they did not get along as adults should. I think the fact that none of the characters wanted to behave and speak to each other like they were adults touched on real life in a way; many people shy away from confrontation and leave the situation, much like the sisters did.


I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

Yes fun easy book. Good story. Easy to follow good characters. Will recommend to book clubs. Will look for others by same author

The characters are well written, and the plot is excellent. I enjoyed the varying ages of the women in this novel. It is also a quick read despite having many chapters. Because the chapters are just short, so that makes up with the number of sections it has. The story was told on a few people's perspectives, and narration was alright. It’s an easy read.

What a heartfelt read this was! This takes you away to the beaches of Maine and into the lives of the Ascher family. This book has many heartbreaks, secrets, tears, smiles and family loyalty. Holly Chamberlin has the best sentimental books! Especially during this time, reading this warmed my heart and reminds you what really is important...FAMILY!

All Our Summers
By Holly Chamberlin

All Our Summers is a family saga about the Ascher family centered on sisters Carol who left for New York and Bonnie who stayed behind. Carol lived the life of luxury while Bonnie took care of the home and family. Chamberlin wrote the characters well who are going through a lot of pain, hardships, regret and anger. A real saga of a book that I enjoyed reading about - domestic drama at its best.

I enjoyed the easy writing and a nice summer read.

I want to start off by saying that I really liked the cover of this book. It definitely gave fun summer vibes which was what I was looking for. While I enjoyed the first 100 pages, the rest of the book wasn't very interesting for me. I had a feeling what was going to happen just by reading the first few chapters. I do really like stories that set place in small towns and the description of Maine was wonderful. I just couldn't connect to the characters. I found some of them to be very dramatic. I was hoping for more of an interesting storyline. I do appreciate the chance to read this book.

I really enjoyed Holly Chamberlin's new book. I felt a connection to her characters. This book is definitely a Summer Must Read!