Another Nancy Thayer read that you won’t want to put down! This is Centered around Eleanor and her family. Eleanor is 70 and lives in a big old house. The story introduces her family and their various problems including wanting Eleanor to sell her house. Ari, Eleanor’s granddaughter, spends the summer with her. Love the family dynamics. Relatable characters in a beautiful setting in Nantucket. A must read!

Great beach read! I look forward to reading a Nancy Thayer book every summer. This story focuses on matriarch, Eleanor and her family. I found some of the characters pretty annoying but still believable. Nice story and well written.

I enjoy the nice, easy readability of Nancy Thayer's beachy reads. This one, while not my favorite, has a beautiful setting, family drama, and a happy ending. Great formula for an quick read!

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
As one of my go to summer read authors, I was looking forward to reading this book. And while the story started out as promising, the book was made not as enjoyable for me by the number of awful and unlikeable characters. It's hard to get invested in a story where you don't care for a majority of the characters. That being said, this book has all the hallmarks of an easy, breezy summer book, a beach setting, a little romance, a little drama and a happy ending for all involved. I just wish Eleanor was a little less of a doormat and stood up more to her horrible family members, her children especially.
All in all, this was an easy read, I just didn't love it as much as I was hoping to.

What a delightful fun summer read. I got this on an ARC and wish I had picked it up sooner. My favorite place to read about is Nantucket and this story of grandmother/granddaughter was so touching! Loved the characters and highly enjoyed reading.

Nancy Thayer's Family Reunion is a wonderful summer read! As many fans already know, Thayer has the Nantucket summer on lock down and her descriptions of the area and characters are spot on. Eleanor and Ari, the grandmother/granddaughter combo, give the novel a nice sense of generational love and compassion for each other's issues.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballentine Books for a copy of this novel.

Another perfect summer read from Nancy Thayer. ‘Family Reunion’, is a light, easy to read beach book that I highly recommend you add to your beach tote. A three generational story that takes place on the beautiful island of Nantucket. Nancy Thayer makes you feel like you are one of the ‘summer people’ with her detailed description of Nantucket. Pick up a copy of “Family Reunion’” and join Eleanor, Alicia and Ari has they navigate romance, betrayal, pregnancy, family drama and ultimately forgiveness.

Summer isn't summer without a book from Nancy Thayer! Family Reunion is about a reunion/70th birthday party for Eleanor. Eleanor lives in a beach house overlooking the ocean that needs some updating but she loves it. Her children are constantly telling her she needs to move because she's getting too old to stay there by herself even though she's 69 and still in good health. They just want the money from the sale of the house. It's valuable property and would bring in a lot of money. Then there is Eleanor's granddaughter Ari who is living with her for the summer. A great story of family and the drama that goes along with it!

I found this book to be a slow start The setting in Nantucket...a family reunion yes I loved that theme but some of the characters I did not like at all so it became a push for me to read!
I must give an honest review....it was not for me!

This was my first time reading a book by Nancy Thayer and I enjoyed it. I would describe this as womens fiction with a touch of romance.

Eleanor loves living in her seaside home and looks forward to her children coming home this summer. But she's shocked to discover they want her to sell the house and divide the money between them. Her 22 year old granddaughter, Ari is the only one to side with Eleanor and wants to keep the house. It's her summer getaway. Now Ari is falling in love with local Cal and loves her grandmother's great advice and companionship. This is a multi-generational saga that I love. The solution to this family problems keeps everyone happy and it's a great summer beach read. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Great for fans of family drama and beach reads with a touch of romance and humor spiced in! This book angered me at times because Eleanor was a doormat to her family and this seems like a common theme in a lot of books I've read lately.

Another perfect summer read by Nancy Thayer. You know what you are going to to get when you pick up one of her books and she doesn't disappoint! Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

FAMILY REUNION by Nancy Thayer is exactly what the peaceful cover implies – a relaxing story of affluent family times over one eventful summer. Best-selling author Thayer returns to the Nantucket Island setting where she explores relationships across three generations. Matriarch Eleanor Sunderland loves the family compound, but her children, Alicia and Cliff, prefer that she sell and share the proceeds. Granddaughter Ari has no such ulterior motives, but plenty of angst all her own. Ari, interested in early childhood education, is spending the summer with her grandmother in between a broken engagement and graduate school. There is plenty of privilege to go around in this novel, but, sadly, Ari was the least believable (and surprisingly clueless and selfish) of the characters. Still, the beautiful summer setting and hints of romance will appeal to fans of Nancy Thayer – she does not disappoint.

Boring. Repetitive. Predictable. I don't really have anything good to say about this book. The language was stilted awkward, the 22-year-old granddaughter would not use the word, "gruesome!" And how many times could she reference her "wobbly arms" and that a house was "handsome?" Why did we need to know what they were wearing all of the time?!? None of the characters were likable, in fact, some of them were awful! I haven't read a Nancy Thayer book before, but will not be reading another one. I was given an advance copy of the book from #netgalley.

I loved reading this book. I felt like I was part of the family and really connected with the characters. The themes of family, love, starting over and triumph run so seamlessly through this book. I can’t wait to read more by the author. I’m never disappointed.

~~~ I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ~~~

I really enjoy Nancy Thayer's books and the Nantucket setting she writes about. I have never been there myself, but I feel like I have after reading her descriptions of the island. Family Reunion is no doubt a good read. The characters, for the most part are realistic, and even relatable to an extent (besides the obscene wealth they apparently have). It is the story of a family group with each member facing big life changes/problems. The major themes of Family Reunion are family (secrets and drama), summer, and love. This is a great beach read that I'd definitely recommend for vacation. Overall, I'd say I recommend Family Reunion for a nice summer escape!

I loved this charming book, set in Nantucket. Nancy Thayer is a talented writer who makes you feel like you’re right there with her characters. It made me want to vacation in Nantucket and gorge on lobster! Her characters feel like your friends and neighbors and I emphasized with everything they went through.
I highly recommend this book, 5 stars.

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

I found this to be a well written, perfect beach read. I didn’t want it to end. Few things are as enjoyable as a book by Nancy Thayer.
Many thanks to Random House Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Family Reunion is a perfect summer story set on the beautiful island of Nantucket. Eleanor Sunderland has retired to her big, beautiful, old home on Nantucket Island. Her husband has passed away, but her family comes to visit for the summer and the holidays. Her daughter Alicia, and son, Cliff, feel that she should sell the family home for the millions it is worth and split the money with them. Eleanor’s only grandchild is Alicia’s daughter Ari. Ari has recently completed college and broken off her engagement, much to her mother’s dismay. She decides to spend the summer with her grandmother. Will Eleanor and Ari be able to figure out where they want to go in life?

I enjoyed this family drama. I especially loved the special relationship between Eleanor and her granddaughter Ari. I had my own special great grandmother that I used to visit in Indiana every summer. I love that Eleanor and Ari understood each other just as I felt my Great Grandma Norma and I understood each other. I also loved that Eleanor was one of the main characters as a seventy something woman. I love when older people are the focus of the story. It seems that most novels only feature 20- or 30-year-old.

The only complaint I had about this novel was that the dialogue was clunky at times. Cliff and Alicia also drove me nuts with their focus on their mother’s estate and feeling that they deserved the money. Unfortunately, this does seem to happen in families. I did love that Ari and Eleanor focused on helping the kids at Beach Camp. I also loved that Ari was focused on what made her happy and helped others rather than focusing on money.

I read Family Reunion in May for the Brenda Novak Book Group. I greatly enjoyed Brenda Novak’s interview with Nancy Thayer at Nancy’s house on Nantucket. It was great fun. You can still see this interview on Brenda Novak’s Facebook page, and I highly recommend it.

Favorite Quotes:

“Summer was almost here! Eleanor Sunderland sat on her deck looking out at the eternal Atlantic, savoring the view. Above in the sky, diamond-tipped stars were appearing, one by one, and Eleanor could hear the gentle shush of the waves on the shore far below her. The scent of long, sunny days drifted in with the light salty breeze from the sea.” I loved the vivid descriptions of the island and thought this was a great opening paragraph!

“Soon the house would be gone. But the ocean would always remain.”

“I’ve never been happier in my life.” – I loved this ending line!

Overall, Family Reunion is a good Women’s Fiction and Family Drama novel with a beautiful setting. It’s a perfect summer read!

Book Source: Review copy from Netgalley and Ballentine Books. Thank-you!!