It's the summer of 1979 and everything that Jackie Pierce knows is about to change. After her father remarries, Jackie is sent to stay with her musician uncle and family at his huge estate on the Californian coast called The Sandcastle. The first few days Jackie mostly keeps to herself, despite being surrounded by musicians, artists, and other free spirits who call the compound home, until she and her cousin Willa strike up a fast friendship. The pair are quickly attached at the hip and spend all their moments at the beach or getting lost in the woods surrounding the house. Until one night, tragedy strikes and Willa disappears without a trace.

Twenty years have passed, and Jackie finds herself once again back at The Sandcastle but this time now as its owner. Jackie has no desire to keep the estate and intends to clean it up to sell it, but her plans are put on hold when she finds out her estranged aunt had agreed to let a group of musicians record an anniversary tribute album to her late uncle. With the estate once again full of music and people, Jackie can't help but be transported back to that fateful summer and all the memories that come with it. When Jackie stumbles upon clues that prove there's more to Willa's disappearance, she must face dark secrets she's spent years burying if she hopes to uncover what truly happened.

This had a lot going for it. Stunning cover? Check. Beachy, 1970's setting? Check. Family mystery to unravel? Check. Yet I still found this lacking a bit. I think Doan's writing was atmospheric and easy to fall into (I read the entire thing in almost one sitting) and did a nice job transporting you to both periods. This is told in two different timelines, and while that can get a little jumbled if not done well, that wasn't the case here. Everything flowed well and I liked following Jackie both as a teen in the '79 and an adult in '99. I was very into discovering what happened to her cousin Willa, but I will say it was easy to figure out and I knew where the plot was going halfway through. Because I knew how the mystery was going to play out, the ending didn't have as much of an impact on me, but I still enjoyed how Doan wrapped it up. This isn't one where I felt any strong connection to the characters or storyline, but it's still entertaining enough and would be a good beach read.

Amy Mason Doan's new novel, Lady Sunshine transports the reader to the California coast of 1979. It is here that Jackie goes to spend three months on her uncles sprawling communal estate where artists and musicians have have converged for the ultimate California free spirited hippie experience. She soon forges a close friendship with her cousin Willa as they bond and explore the coast and woodlands surrounding the estate. Eventually there is a tragedy and everything is torn apart and Willa disappears.

Twenty years later and Jackie inherits the estate upon her uncle's death and when she arrives she finds that a tribute album is being recorded at the estate's studio. Soon, Jackie begins to see things that are making her rethink the night that Willa disappeared and what the truth might really be.

I adored this book for so many reasons. Doan captures that golden free spirit vibe that can only be found in 1970's California. You can almost smell the ocean air and feel the sun on your face. The novel is filled with memorable characters whose actions and motivations ring true. If you like a good dose of nostalgia and a mystery filled with dark family secrets, I highly recommend you pick this one up. A perfectly nuanced, atmospheric and multilayered novel that will make you want to head to the coast of California immediately. The PERFECT summer read!

Title: Lady Sunshine
Author: Amy Mason Doan
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5

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

For Jackie Pierce, everything changed the summer of 1979, when she spent three months of infinite freedom at her bohemian uncle’s sprawling estate on the California coast. As musicians, artists, and free spirits gathered at The Sandcastle for the season in pursuit of inspiration and communal living, Jackie and her cousin Willa fell into a fast friendship, testing their limits along the rocky beach and in the wild woods... until the summer abruptly ended in tragedy, and Willa silently slipped away into the night.

Twenty years later, Jackie unexpectedly inherits The Sandcastle and returns to the iconic estate for a short visit to ready it for sale. But she reluctantly extends her stay when she learns that, before her death, her estranged aunt had promised an up-and-coming producer he could record a tribute album to her late uncle at the property’s studio. As her musical guests bring the place to life again with their sun-drenched beach days and late-night bonfires, Jackie begins to notice startling parallels to that summer long ago. And when a piece of the past resurfaces and sparks new questions about Willa’s disappearance, Jackie must discover if the dark secret she’s kept ever since is even the truth at all.

This book was unexpected. That’s the only adjective I can think of to describe it. Parts of it are lyrical, parts are sad, parts are just plain magical. Excellent, vibrant writing—I can practically watch events unfolding in my imagination as the narrative switches between present-day events and those of the past. I highly recommend this!

Amy Mason Doan grew up in California. Lady Sunshine is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/Graydon House in exchange for an honest review.)

(Blog link live 6/5.)

Thank you to the author and publisher and Netgalley! Beautiful story by Amy Mason Doan. I'll update with a more thorough review closer to publication.

This book was like stepping back into time. I felt like I was in the 70’s and a summer of love. This is told in dual times lines, one with a bit of mystery to it.
Jackie has returned to the place she spent one summer. Willa is the cousin she had never met til that summer. The story was good and certainly kept my attention to the very end. I was kinda surprised by the ending.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

Amy Mason Doan's Lady Sunshine was actually a ray of sunshine in my reading log. Jackie and Shanes' adventures back from the seventies and of present keep the book moving quite mysteriously. It encourages the development of friendships and goals in life that benefit many. The book is memorable.

A beautiful story! Very atmospheric. It transports you to a beautiful retreat during a carefree 70s summer..

“Lady Sunshine” is a total page turner--I was immediately pulled into the story of Jackie, Willa, and the Kingstons. The story moves along at just the right pace, and watching Jackie try to cope with what happened to her in the summer of ‘79 is absolutely fascinating. I’d definitely recommend “Lady Sunshine” to anyone who likes a good mystery story.

I struggled with this story. I liked the time line between 1979 and 1999. I finished it, bit some chapters were difficult to get through. None of the characters resonated with me and the story dragged in places. It wasn't unitl the end that the story picked up and my interest was reignited. It was a decent read but not one of my favorites by Doan.

If you're anything like me, you are feeling kind of nostalgic these days what with the world sucking so hard, and you have a hankering to go back in time - but not that far! You may even want to go back to TWO times, like two of the greatest times in history - the 70s and the 90s! Yeah!

So if you're like me, you will pick up Lady Sunshine with no further ado! Oh, and did I mention this has enough history for historical fiction buffs, enough music for music buffs, enough gorgeous sentences for literary buffs, and enough mystery for thriller buffs? Did I?

Jackie comes back to her uncle and aunt's massive 400-acre compound on the bluffs of San Francisco after she unexpectedly inherits it. But it's a bit odd as she only spent one summer there before her uncle, a famous folk-rock musician named Graham (I personally pictured David Crosby), slipped off those stunning bluffs to his death. There, Jackie unearths music (back when it mattered), love, closure, forgiveness, and understanding.

Doan is an expert at teasing out those tiny but visceral moments that grab you and yank you back to another time and place. Every detail is spot on. You will smell the patchouli oil and weed, you will hear Blondie and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, you will have flashes of Woodstock. You will hear the waves crashing against the shore, and feel the exhilaration of teen golden years.

Go get this book! NOW!!

Lady Sunshine is the nickname given to our protagonist, Jackie Pierce, by her musician Uncle Graham in 1979. The book flits between 1999, when Jackie is given the task of dealing with her late Uncle's estate, and 1979 - the Summer that changed everything.

The sprawling estate in California was home to Graham, his wife Angela, and their daughter Willa. Jackie is sent there for the Summer when she's seventeen, and after a shaky start, her and Willa forge an incredibly close bond. In the present, Willa doesn't seem to be in the picture at all, so what happened? Jackie is busy packing up the estate for sale, but a promise was made to a group of musicians to allow them record there. The music brings back a lot of memories for Jackie, could this finally give her some closure and help her move on from the events of that Summer?

This has (and will be) compared to Daisy Jones and the Six and I don't entirely disagree - it has that same lazy, hazy seventies vibe and the musical element does play a part - but that's where the similarities end. This book is a look at friendships, families, and forgiveness. I really loved this one, I think it's definitely one of my favourites this year and I would highly recommend it as a good Summer novel. It's lovely.

A coming of age story set in the late 1970's in California. The story is told in two timelines, present day and in 1979 when the main character ,Jackie, stays at her Uncle's estate for the summer. A perfect beach read!

Thanks to NetGalley for this advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.
Set in dual time periods, we meet Jackie the young woman coming of age, trying to find herself, and Jackie the adult, unraveling the family secrets and trying to figure out why the wife of her famous uncle left the entire family compound to her. Jackie’s uncle was a beloved man and musician and the property welcomed everyone to stay and feel like family. Now Jackie has to prepare the property for sale but can’t run away from what happened there in her youth.
I adored this novel. Based loosely on Woodie Guthrie, it invokes and era of my own youth and the angst that comes with trying to find your own place in the world. The story has magic and mystery and family joys and secrets. I was riveted throughout and would recommend this to my patrons. I think it would make for lively book discussions.
5*

Cinematic. This is one of those books that is very easy to imagine on a screen somewhere, with the younger more idyllic scenes in bright yellow tones and the older, more mature scenes in blue tones. While it didn't hit me as hard as Doan's prior works, it was still a strong coming of age tale of secrets, revelations, finding oneself, and forgiveness. Both timelines were extremely vivid and visceral, and both worked well to show where our main character was at each point in her life. Truly an excellent read, particularly in the summer (and perfectly timed, releasing the week before a traditional major vacation week in the US). Very much recommended.

Amy Mason Doan is a natural storyteller and I enjoy reading her novels. I think she outdid her previous two with Lady Sunshine. I was worried that it was going to be another rock and roll biopic complete with lots of drugs and alcohol. However, I was pleasantly surprised at the angle with which she approached the combination of 1970s and famous musicians.

I liked the parts that took place in 1979 a lot. Amy really captured the feel of that time period. Given I was too young to appreciate that year, it was nice to live it through Jackie's eyes. I enjoyed seeing her friendship with Willa develop throughout the story. I also liked the combination of music and setting to bring the story to life even more.

While the 1999 parts were also well told and interesting, they didn't give off a strong feel for the time period as much as the 1979 parts did. I also wish the characters didn't say what actually happened in 1979 so that I could be more surprised about how things unfolded during those parts. (If they referred to something that had already happened, that was okay.)

Overall, this is an idyllic look at a simpler time, even though it had its own complex issues. I recommend checking it out when it publishes this summer!

Movie casting ideas:
Jackie (1979): Danielle Rose Russell
Jackie (1999): Chyler Leigh
Willa: Ellery Sprayberry
Graham: Eric Stonestreet
Angela: Jane Krakowski
Shane: Chris Wood
Paul: Josh Lawson
Bree: Gwyneth Paltrow

When a Boston music teacher inherits the home of her folk-singer uncle, she heads to San Francisco to prepare it for sale, the property holds memories of the one summer she spent there as a teen - some precious and some horrible. She is approached by a record producer who wants to record some songs that her uncle had written and some that she and her cousin had written. He convinces her that this was all sanctioned by her aunt, who recently passed away. Just as the summer she was seventeen changed her life, so will this summer. Love, betrayal and music combine to make Lady Sunshine an interesting read.

Back in 1979, Jackie spent the summer at her uncle's estate in California. The summer was filled with musicians and artists at the Sandcastle. Jackie became fast friends with her cousin Willa. It was a wonderful summer until until Willa disappears one night. 20 years later, Jackie inherits her uncle's estate. She goes to sell it but a producer wants to make a tribute to her uncle. She allows it and will it bring answers about Willa's disappearance? This was a wonderful book with amazing scenery. I enjoyed the twists and turns. This is a wonderful book to read in the summer. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

As a teenager, Jackie is sent to stay with her aging rock star Uncle Graham and his family during the summer of 1979. She comes of age among the music and free spirits of her uncle's 400 acre haven on the coast of northern California. She and her cousin Willa grow close over that summer until a horrible accident shatters their peace.

In 1999, Jackie is surprised to learn that she has inherited her uncle's estate. She revisits the land where she spent that magical summer and relives memories while making new ones with a group of musicians that want to honor her uncle's legacy with a tribute album of his last songs. They are recording in his studio on the estate while Jackie tries to tie up loose ends and sell the property. She soon discovers that she is not ready to let go of the land and the memories that it holds.

This wonderfully written novel portrays a summer of love, music, and freedom along with secrets, forgiveness, and the bonds of family. I was easily engrossed in the world that the author creates. Both timelines are lovely and easily navigated. I felt as though I was visiting The Sandcastle in both timelines and could have stayed for longer. This book is highly recommended to book clubs and readers who want to explore the power of music, love, and family. Thank you to NetGallery and the publisher for the arc of this novel.

Amy Mason Doan is a beautiful storyteller and that is fully on display in Lady Sunshine. I felt like I traveled to California and was living among Jackie and Willa throughout this book since Doan provides the reader with such vivid descriptions. I enjoyed reading about Jackie and Willa learning to trust each other, form a friendship that the both of them needed and watch Jackie come to terms with the past 20 years later. While a bit slow at times, the story flowed easily from the alternating timelines of 1979 and 1999 and I thought the ending was a fitting conclusion for the book.

I loved this book! It was so unusual, so intriguing. The characters were real with good and bad sides., with a bit of fantasy. I would love to read more books by this author.