ONE ICONIC FAMILY. ONE SUMMER OF SECRETS. THE DAZZLING SPIRIT OF 1970S CALIFORNIA.

One of my favorite books of 2021. Music, family secrets, Northern California compound in the 70's. A perfect setting for a beautiful, intense and thrilling book. Wonderful characters and intricate plot lines. I adored this book! It would be an amazing movie!

I really enjoyed immersing myself in this book. I usually start my reviews out gushing over how quickly I sped through a book which I could have easily done with this story but something about it had me ingesting it at a much slower pace. The setting was dreamy and perfect. The characters all felt vivid and authentic. The story is told in dual timelines and I appreciated how well both sides of the story played off each other. I couldn’t help but love the steady unraveling of what happened in the summer of ’79 just a little bit more since there was an air of expectation over the whole thing. We know very early on that something devastating happened at the end of the summer which is reinforced by the present day storyline.

There are so many aspects of this story that I loved. The compound setting was a high point for me because I love the idea of people coming together and working together to build/make something. I was also a big fan with how much music plays into this story. Something about adding music to a story just makes it come alive to me and Doan did a fabulous job of integrating music into pretty much every aspect of this story. Jackie was a stunning main character and I fell in love with how flawed and broken yet strong and genuine she is. The way her character develops over each of the two storylines made my connection to her stronger as we navigate through her many ups and downs. I found Doan’s writing to be lyrical and enchanting which added to my love of this story.

I don’t know if it is because I grew up in the Bay Area and so a few of the places mentioned I was familiar with and evoked home for me but this story will undoubtedly stay with me for a long time. Two years ago Daisy Jones and the Six was my favorite book of the year and so it is no surprise how much I loved this one. If you love historical fiction stories involving music then this is one that demands you pick it up. Doan has created a slow and intimate story that is worthy of being on many best of lists.

Wonderful way to spend a summer day (or two). In the summer of 79 - my 15 yr old self was on vacation with my parents on the Northern California coast. This book transported me back to that time and all the feels..

Loved Willa, Angela and Lady - however I wanted to smack some sense into the older Lady!! I can't imagine being left that type of legacy and selling it!!

Good story - well told.

I don't know what to say about Lady Sunshine... it was so beautiful that I am basically speechless. It reminded me a lot of the feeling that comes from Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau and Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
"Sunshine" herself is such a lovely character, even though you want to slap some reality into her at the start for wanting to give up her Uncle's property and being so hard to get along with. The transitions back and forth between "present" and "past" were masterfully done, holding me hostage in this book until I found myself on the last page.
And that ending... chefs kiss!

***I received an ebook copy from the publisher at no cost***

Lady Sunshine is a beautifully constructed story about love, loss, family, and secrets. Jackie has returned to Sandcastle—her uncle’s property—following the death of her aunt. The property is left to Jackie and, though it’s filled with memories (both good and bad), she opts to empty the house out and sell the land as is. She hopes to do this quickly but discovers that her aunt promised a group of musicians they could use the space to record a tribute album with her uncle’s songs on it. And so begins a summer Jackie will never forget.

I love the way that Amy Mason Doan tells this story. The chapters alternate between present day and 1979, when Jackie was a teenager staying at Sandcastle for the summer. It’s through these flashback chapters that we’re introduced to Jackie’s cousin, Willa, a free-spirited girl who marches to her own drum, her uncle Graham, a well-known musician, and her aunt Angela. Jackie spent the summer of ’79 at Sandcastle, and had the time of her life with Willa. Back then the place was filled with all kinds of people, mostly hippies and artists who knew Graham in some way. Adventure could be found at every corner in the woods, at the waterfall, and on the beach. Even though it was the total opposite of the world Jackie was used to, she felt a connection to Sandcastle and the people there. The summer was filled with laughter, excitement, young love, and everything great … until tragedy struck and changed things forever.

There are so many great things about this book. The characters were spot on. The secondary ones played roles in the story and though they didn’t get as much page time as others, it felt like I knew them just as well. Jackie’s development was wonderful to read. Coming back to Sandcastle was the event that forced her to face things she hadn’t and deal with them head on. The book was as much about Jackie discovering herself as it was her learning things about the past and reliving the memories. I loved the setting as well. Doan writes vividly and with enough detail that I felt like I was walking the ground of Sandcastle alongside Jackie. Everything about the place felt magical to me as the reader.

The flashback chapters brought me back to my own teen years. Though I didn’t grow up in the same era as the characters, Willa and Jackie’s adventures and closeness made me reminisce about my own friendships and the fun we had during the long, hot summer days.

This story hit me straight in the feels. I laughed, I cried, I got mad, and I swooned. It moves along at a great pace and it’s easy to follow the different story lines. As soon as I finished I had a major book hangover and was already thinking about when I’d be able to read it again.

Lady Sunshine gets the Wordaholic Must Read seal of approval.

Pick this one up if you’re looking for a fun summer read.

Five stars to this novel!

Summer of '79, Pacific Coast bohemian compound, and music -- it was these three things that interested me in this novel and I can honestly say that I wasn't disappointed. Amy Mason Doan is a new-to-me author, and I will definitely be on the lookout for future stories from this author.

The book immediately pulled me in. Told in dual time lines twenty years apart, Lady Sunshine tells the story from the perspective of Jackie Pierce. Sent to stay at The Sandcastle one summer, Jackie meets up with her cousin Willa and her aunt and uncle on the compound. While it takes a bit for Jackie to get comfortable here, she does eventually bond with her cousin Willa.

Fast forward twenty years later when Jackie inherits The Sandcastle. She has some memories and secrets she is keeping from her time here, and her intent is to sell it off as soon as possible. But when she arrives, a young music producer wants to use the place to record a tribute album, and a reluctant Jackie relents and decides to stay for a while. Of course that brings back all sorts of memories and mysteries of what happened that summer.

This is a perfect summer time read. It transported me to another time and place. It's a story that pulled me in right away and kept me hooked until the very end. I found the descriptions of the earlier time period interesting and accurate, but I will say that I would have liked a bit more of the music side of things, but it was still all good. Overall, I really enjoyed Lady Sunshine.

You know that wistful feeling you get when you're reminiscing about days gone by, of long childhood summers spent running, rambling and exploring everything under the sun, when you were wild and carefree? Well this book feels exactly like that. A bittersweet remembrance tinged by the knowledge that those bright and sunny days will darken and be lost to the hands of time and memory. Sentimental and melancholy, this one has got me in my feels.
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This is a perfect slow, summer read. If you enjoyed The Great Alone or Wild Blue Wonder then Lady Sunshine should be at the top of your tbr.

‘Lady Sunshine’ by Amy Mason Doan was an absolute dream of a book, and transported me right into the hazy, blissful summer days spent at The Sandcastle, a place I won’t soon forget. I loved the dual timelines, was utterly sucked into the lives of all the characters, and experienced all the bliss, heartbreak, mystery, love, and nostalgia that Doan vividly wove into actuality with her lyrical writing. This book was stirring and epic. ‘Lady Sunshine’ is the perfect summer read.

I enjoy the prevalence of music in Lady Sunshine by Amy Mason Doan, particularly how music can put into words our stories and emotions. That is my favorite part of this book that winds back and forth between 1979 and 1999 until past and present meet. The book is part mystery, part romance, and part coming of age story.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2021/07/lady-sunshine.html

Reviewed for NetGalley and the HTP Beach Reads, Summer 2021 Blog Tours.

I really enjoyed this coming of age/mystery/family drama set in the seventies as it reminded me so much of my childhood. Even though the story had many characters, it was easy to follow and also transitioned smoothly between the two timelines. Secrets were revealed close to the end, but enough clues were given along the way to keep me invested in the story and the characters were quirky but likable. I will be seeking out more books by Amy Mason Doan and will be recommending this one.

Transport to the 70's. Hear the music, understand the "vibe" I loved this story. Took me back in time!

I found so much to love in this novel. First, the author lives in the PNW so I consider her a "local" author- gotta support your local authors! This is my first book, but not my last, by this author.
Second, there are SECRETS galore within these pages and I love a novel based on family secrets. In this case, there wasn't just one secret but many, held by multiple characters but that intertwined together so that LAYERS of secrets were revealed!
Third, setting is king here. If you have spent any time on the Northern California coast, you will appreciate the excellent job done by Amy Mason Doan. Specifically it is set in the Humboldt area where I have never lived, but I could still feel myself there given my experiences in other small coastal California towns.
I can't go without mentioning the nostalgia factor as this novel will produce powerful feelings... maybe given the music mentioned? But really, if you have ever had an idyllic summer experience as a teen you will feel it.
There are some serious topics covered but I think the only true trigger warning would be spousal abuse.

I love Amy Mason Doan and her books are always a treat in the summertime. I love the vibes in this book and I couldn't put it down. Can't wait for her next one!

This story feels like its drenched in summer, not just any summer, but those summers that exist only in memory, the summers of childhood where the season seems endless when school lets out, but speeds up inexorably as the number of carefree sunny days dwindles down at the end as school looms on the horizon.

Even though Jackie and her cousin Willa are not children in this particular summer. But at 17 when the story begins, they are not exactly adults either. This is a story of that summer where it all changes.

It’s also a story about another summer, the summer twenty years later when Jackie returns to the place she left behind, all alone with her memories of friendship and love and loss. Only to find that she isn’t quite as alone as she believed, and that those memories, as painful as they are, are not quite done with her yet – no matter how much she wants to be done with them.

It’s the summer of 1979, and Jackie has come to spend her last summer of high school at the Sandcastle, the home of her uncle Graham Kingston, a famous folk singer of the 1960s whose best performing and recording years seem to be behind him – along with the demons that lifestyle brought with them.

Jackie, escaping from the straitjacket of conformism that is life with her father and stepmother, finds herself, and finds herself a home, in the free-spirited and freewheeling circle of artists, musicians and friends that hangs around her uncle at the Sandcastle. And she finds the sister of her heart in her cousin Willa.

Twenty years later it’s all gone. Her larger-than-life uncle is long dead, as is her cousin Willa. No one is left except Jackie to inherit the house, the grounds, the studio and all the memories they left behind. She’s back for one final summer, the summer of 1999, to pack it all up and sell it all away. Forever.

But first she has to go back to the time, and the place, where it all went so very wrong. There are pieces still left to break her heart one last time – if only she’ll reach out and grab them.

Escape Rating B: This is such a summer book. The heat of both of those long-ago summers practically steams off the page, and the sound of the surf rolls in your ears as you read Jackie’s old diary over her shoulder.

But the story also moves at the pace of those long ago summers, in that it builds slowly at the beginning, like the early days of summer when it feels like the season will last forever. And occasionally it feels like that part of the book is taking its own sweet summer time to get itself off the ground.

Once it catches its own wave, once the end of both summers is on the horizon, the pace picks up as the girls of 1979 and the woman of 1999 try to wring the last drop of bittersweetness out of each and every day that is left.

In 1979, Jackie doesn’t want to leave. In 1999, it feels like she can’t until she’s done. Or until it’s done with her.

Although speaking of 1979, on the one hand I have to say that it read like I remember. I was just a few years older than Jackie and Willa at the time. On the other hand, I kept wondering why the author chose that particular time period, and I think it must have been the music.

As I said, Jackie’s 1979 felt like the one I remember. Which is part of what carried me through the early parts of the story.

Because it’s the story of that golden summer that sweeps the reader up and carries them away, just as Jackie was carried away by the larger than life figure of her uncle and the place he created around himself on the northern California coast.

Because of the dual timelines, we start the story know that something terrible happened at the end of that summer. The questions all revolve around what that something was that made the idyll crash and burn.

Waiting to discover what that “something” was hangs over the entire book, because even in the secondary timeline of 1999 Jackie refuses to get near that memory. As the story spun out, it became clear that it was a loss of innocence, but not sexual. This is not Summer of ‘42 and the girls neither lose their virginity nor get sexually abused by a trusted mentor or family member. It’s much more complicated, and therefore more interesting, than that.

It turns out that the loss is twofold, they discover that their hero has feet of clay up to the knees, and they discover that their attempts to “fix” things can have tragic consequences. But it takes a fair bit of story to get there.

While the foundation of everything is in 1979, the 1999 portions of the story were more dynamic. More things happen and they happen faster, even as Jackie continues to avoid the real issues that brought her back.

But when those issues finally come full circle, it provides a lovely ending for the whole emotional package. There were points in the middle where I wondered whether this story was ever going to get itself to its sticking point, but when it finally did it made for just the right coda to the entire journey.

I was given an advanced reader copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. An engaging read that captivated me all the way through. The characters were true to life and full of emotion.

Lady Sunshine is set in 1979 and 1999 and alternating timelines in sunny California. Full of summer vibes, music and friendship it makes a great summer read.

Jackie goes to her famous musician uncle Graham’s house one summer when she’s 17. It’s a sprawling compound where people wander in and out near the coast. The setting is beautiful. She builds a friendship with her cousin Willa as they spend the summer as free spirits as well as discovering secrets.
In 1999, Jackie has inherited the property and agrees to a tribute album for Graham. She suddenly has musicians staying on the property again and is coming to terms with her history there. Does she even know the full truth about what happened that last week there?

Thanks to @harlequinbooks and @letstalkbookspromo for the arc for my honest thoughts.

This story is awash with summer, reminding me of those summers of childhood where the season seems endless when school's out, but time suddenly speeds up as the number of carefree sunny days dwindles with the new autumn lesson term looming.

Jackie Pierce and her cousin Willa are not children this particular summer; they are 17 when the story begins and Lady Sunshine is a story of a summer where everything changes. Twenty years later Jackie returns to the place she left behind, along with her memories of friendship, love and loss.

It’s 1979, and Jackie is spending her last summer of high school at The Sandcastle, the home of her Uncle Graham, a 1960s famous folk singer. Jackie, glad to be escaping from the conformist life she usually follows with her father and stepmother, enjoys the free-spirited circle of artists, musicians and friends that knocks about her Uncle Graham's at The Sandcastle on the California coast. That's when she meets her cousin, Willa. Twenty years later, Uncle Graham is long dead, as is her cousin Willa. Jackie inherits the house, the grounds, the studio and all the memories they all left behind. She’s back for one final summer, the summer of 1999, to pack everything up and sell The Sandcastle. She decides to lengthen her stay when she finds out that her estranged aunt promised an up-and-coming producer he could record a tribute album to her Uncle Graham at The Sandcasle's studio.

This is such a fantastic summer read! I could feel the heat of the long-ago summer and hear the sound of the rolling surf so richly described by Amy Mason Doan. The story ambles along at a steady pace, building slowly at the beginning, then once the end of both summers, 1979 and 1999 are on the horizon, the pace picks up as Jackie in her identity of a young woman and then when she is twenty years older, relives the bittersweetness of the remaining days. I enjoyed the air of mystery that has a major presence throughout the story as much as the complex, nuanced characters. Waiting to discover what that mystery thing might turn out to be added intrigue to this compelling tale. When Jackie finally faces her issues and the past head-on, it facilitates a marvellous ending for this whole emotional journey. Very highly recommended.

A special thank you to Graydon House and the author for a complimentary copy of this novel at my request, received via NetGalley. This review is my unbiased opinion.

This was my first Amy Mason Doan book. It definitely won't be my last.

This book is a light read compared to my usual books. It's a very well written and very interesting. From the start you get hooked and don't want to put it down. This book is told from Jackie's POV. She goes to spend the summer with her uncle when her dad and step mother go away for a vacation. From there her life is never the same again.

Jackie has the adventure of a lifetime at Sandcastle. Sandcastle is the name of the area that her uncle owns and it’s paradise. It has almost everything any teen would love. Except no tv's or phones. It's set in 1979 so no internet yet either. But it's a place where she can grow and learn how to live off the land. To be a part of a big family. Once her and her cousin Willa become friends they are unstoppable. Willa is a very outgoing young lady. They are complete opposites in every way. From their lifestyles to their music choices. Jackie's uncle, Graham is a musician who has not worked in a while. But this is the summer of comebacks for him. There are many people here at Sandcastle and they are all the typical hippies you knew or read about in the 70s. There are some things going on that were not so great. But that happens when you have so many people in one place.

Things are not all fun and games though. There are a lot of serious issues going on in this book. While I fully disliked Uncle Graham he was fun. He could be brutal too though. I just did not like him much. I loved Willa's mother, Angela. She was like a typical earth mother who wanted to take care of the earth and the people involved with their land. She loved her daughter and niece and tried to make both of them feel at peace with the life there.

You will feel like you are there. The waterfall and the sea feel so realistic the way they are described. The way you see Willa surfing and trying to teach Jackie to surf. The deep woods. The treehouse. All of it feels like pure beauty. When tragedy hits things come to a halt though. Willa disappears and Jackie has to return to her father and stepmother. Twenty years go by and Jackie goes back to sell Sandcastle. It was left to her after her Aunt Angela dies. She decides to sell and donate all the money. But there is more to be done here. Secrets will come out. So much is going on but it's so easy to follow.

This book jumps from 1979 to 1999. It's the story of two teens who became best friends one summer. Of the tragedy that happened. Of the secrets that came out. This story will keep you wanting more. You will keep turning the pages to see what comes next. It's not a thriller. It's not a historical fiction. It's a happy/sad story. It's a light read. It's just a good book in every sense of the word. I'm very happy I chose this book to read.

Thank you #NetGalley, #amymasondoan, #harlequin for this ARC. This is my own true feelings about this book.

5/5 stars and a high recommendation. I will be looking forward to more by this author.

This is a good literary fiction perfect for summer reading. I enjoyed the dual timelines from the 70s and 90s. I love music so this hit the right note there. However, overall I wasn’t able to deeply connect to the characters.

I love coming-of-age stories that are reflective as well, and that’s what Lady Sunshine offers. Told between two timelines, Jackie Pierce’s life centers around the Sandcastle Estate, where the people and events shaped her life.

In 1979 Jackie was sent by her father to spend the summer with her eccentric folk singer Uncle Graham. He lived on a sprawling compound on the wind-swept coast of Northern California. Here Jackie lived among musicians, artists, and their families. She and her cousin, Willa, enjoyed times on the beach and stealing away to secret hideaways. But not everything was as idyllic as it seemed.

How did everything go from summer breezes and songs by the fire to secrets and sadness?

As an adult in 1999, Jackie finds herself back at Sandcastle. She has inherited it from her aunt, who has passed away. Jackie wants to clear it out and sell, but a music producer, Shane Ingram, comes along and asks if he can record a tribute album to her uncle in the old studio. Jackie wants to say no - torn with the memories and loss, but could it bring closure?

Although the story plays out slowly, the atmosphere is enchanting. I love the description of the compound back in 1979, with people coming and going, laundry flapping in the salty sea air. 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 is a story that makes you stop and soak in the sights and sounds along the way, but it's worth it.

Thank you to @harpercollins @htpbooks and @graydonhousebooks for an invitation to this tour and a digital copy.