On Gin Lane by Brooke Lea Foster is a trip back in time. It's an escape to summer in the 1950s for rich folks vacationing at the coast... but it is more than that. Everleigh (Lee) is playing housewife with her fiancé Roland one summer. He's built her a hotel but it burns down on opening night. The story of the investigation into the fire and the rebuilding process turns into a story of Lee rebuilding herself into a strong woman, unhindered by the constraints of her time.

I admit that it took me awhile to get into this book, but about halfway through, I was hooked. Lee's growth throughout the novel was fun to see and inspiring. Definitely worth the read. A great summer escape!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced ebook copy. All opinions are my own.

Have you ever dreamed of being so rich that you could live off your trust fund and be perfectly content the rest of your life? Your biggest worries are which gown should I wear tonight, which country club should I be seen at, are my friends of the right caliber. On Gin Lane will transport you back in time to 1957. When the Hamptons were just being discovered by the rich and famous. The descriptions and the details will leave you flipping through photographs in your mind. All the glitz, glamour, booze, and money you could possibly dream of. All within your fingertips. Is it just the endless amounts of money that makes you happy? Or does the money trap you within these richly decorated homes?

Everleigh grew up in The Plaza Hotel. It was her playground, the staff looked out for her, helped her with her homework, contacted her parents when she stepped out of line. She is expected to meet the right man, a man of wealth, and continue along this path. The one fear that grips Everleigh is her mother has great bouts of depression. It is always in the back of her mind that she too could end up like her mother. At the age of 23, Everleigh has finally found the man for her. After her last finance left her, declaring her mind unfit. Roland is a man of integrity, and his family has loads of money. On a weekend getaway to the Hamptons he surprises her with a hotel that he has built and named after her. Everleigh has flashbacks growing up at The Plaza. Does she want this life? The first weekend the hotel is open, tragedy strikes. Leaving the hotel in ash and Roland and Everleigh living in a small cottage. She needs to decide if the life she is living is the one she genuinely wants.

This book is fantastic! I loved being swept up in the life of a socialite. Let's be honest, who doesn't dream of having endless amounts of money, living right on the ocean, having few cares in the world. It sounds like my dream life. Until you start to gently pull back the layers and find that it is not all fun and games. Thank you to Brooke Lea Foster, Gallery Books, and NetGalley for sharing this fascinating book with me. I am off to add Summer Darlings to my Wishlist!!

Lee is a well put together young lady from a wealthy but troubled family. She’s beginning her engagement with a surprise summer in the Hamptons as planned by her insistent fiancé, Roland, also from a prominent family. While discovering the ways to fulfill her new role as wife, Lee realizes she has much to learn about her own place in the world.

Foster manages to use her words to transport you directly to the Hamptons in the 50s. You can almost see the camera flashes at a swanky socialite party, taste the champagne and so on. Glitz, glamour and a world where women know what they want but expect to be silenced.

I absolutely loved these multidimensional characters and watching Lee grow into who she is meant to be. I’m not sure what I expected On Gin Lane would be about but I was not prepared for the empowerment and the beautiful, supportive female relationships.

What a timeless tale for every woman, this became!

Society girl Everleigh bows to convention. She needs to get married soon. Enter Roland who sweeps her off her feet and even builds a hotel for her in the Hamptons, summer playground of,the rich. A tragedy occurs and Lee begins to question everything and even her own wants.
I thought Roland was slimy and unctuous from the outset. I like to read about the rich society set because that is so far from my world and I would never fit in.
Foster’s writing takes readers back to when the elite moved into the summer resort towns and women has to claw and scratch for their own wants and needs.
It’s also a novel of searching: for happiness, truth, and one’s own desires.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Gallery Books for gifting me a digital ARC of the new book by Brooke Lea Foster - 4.5 stars!

It's summer, 1957, in Southampton, New York. It's the period of time when a woman's worth is measured by how well she marries. Everleigh Farrows is fresh off a broken engagement when she meets Roland, who appears to be perfect for her and her parents are thrilled. They buy them a house but Roland whisks her away to Southampton and surprises her with an engagement present - a hotel in her name. Hotels are a sore point for Everleigh - she grew up in The Plaza with a mother who struggled with mental illness. When there is a fire on the hotel's opening night, cracks start appearing in her world.

This was definitely a step back into time, both in the atmospheric setting and the societal views. I adored so many characters in this book, but especially Everleigh, who fought against herself, her family and the world to try to be happy in her own skin. It's also a good mystery book. with many characters with secrets and who could have set the fire that destroyed the hotel. Definitely a good beach read!

Travel back to 1957, a time period when the definition of a successful woman was based on her marrying right and having children. Socialite Everleigh “Lee” Farrows is twenty-three years old. While born into a life of wealth, she grew up having to endure periods of separation from her mother, who suffers from mental illness, and was essentially raised by a nanny in New York City’s The Plaza Hotel. Having had one broken engagement, time was running out to find a suitable husband. She seemed to have found the right one in Roland Whittaker, also from a wealthy family. As the couple is preparing for their wedding, Roland surprises Lee with his new venture: The Everleigh Beach Club Hotel. He has built a luxury hotel on family land in Southampton, New York. Initially horrified by the prospect of having to once-again spend an extended period of time living in a hotel, Lee pretends to be excited. But what truly excites Lee is her love of photography. When the hotel is destroyed by fire, will this tragedy give Lee the chance to reevaluate her life? Exposure to a colony of Bohemian artists in East Hampton, including a noted female photographer, shows her new possibilities as officials investigate the suspicious fire.

Having enjoyed Foster’s debut 𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, set in Martha’s Vineyard, I was happy to return to the past in her new book. She has done a wonderful job capturing the time period and the world of the wealthy and privileged. I enjoyed the character of Lee, a creative young woman yearning to escape the country club life she was brought up in, while everyone she knows, and loves is telling her to stay on course. This is just the type of beach read I enjoy. And what a book cover!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5/5

What a perfect read just in time for Memorial Day! Set in an idyllic summer setting, On Gin Lane tells the story of Everleigh Farrows, a young woman in the 1950’s trying to find herself. She gets whisked away by her fiancé, Roland, to Southampton where the two are meant to spend their summer. Upon arrival, Everleigh learns that Roland has built her a hotel as an early wedding present and to top it all off, he has named it after her. But things take a turn when the hotel mysteriously burns to the ground overnight, leaving Everleigh uneasy and unsure of what comes next.

All her life, Everleigh was told she was meant to fall in love, get married, and have babies. Simple as that. But in the back of her mind, she has always wanted to be more. When a police investigator begins to look deeper into the fire, considering that it was arson and not an accident, Everleigh finds herself questioning if she truly knows those around her.

I was completely caught off guard by this novel in the best way! I fell in love with Everleigh’s journey of rediscovery and rooted for her success in reclaiming her life. My heart raced as Everleigh unraveled the mystery surrounding the hotel fire and desperately wanted to uncover the true culprit. I was dazzled by the cast of characters and was able to picture them all so clearly. Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and hope you will too.

‘On Gin Lane’ will be published on May 31, 2022.

Thank you to Brooke Lea Foster, Gallery Books, and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was given an early release copy of On Gin Lane through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book took me a little while to get into but I am glad that I continued to the end. Set in the mid-1900s, the story immerses you into the high society life of summering in the Hamptons. Everleigh is a young woman who grew up in a wealthy but dysfunctional household. She has always conformed to be the girl she thought her parents wanted her to be. Engaged to be married , her fiancé surprises her with by rebuilding his family house in the Hamptons into a hotel on Gin Lane. It all seems idyllic and full or romance until it all starts to crumble. Out of the debris of what Everleigh believed her life was going to be emerged a woman who finds her true self and inner strength.

Everleigh has it all, a big trust fund, loads of friends, and an adoring fiance, Roland. Roland moves Everleigh (Lee) out to the Hamptons for a fun-filled life in a hotel that he had built and named after her. When the hotel catches on fire it shakes up their lives and the lives of their friends. The cops are investigating because the fire was arson. This is a drama-filled book with a long list of suspects and a girl who is tired of the socialite lifestyle.

I really enjoyed this book! I do love historical fiction novels. I love to read about a time and place past. I enjoy reading about how people lived, what they wore, hearing how they spoke. On Gin Lane followed Everleigh, engaged to Roland, through a summer at the beach before their wedding. They were part of New York society and all that that entailed. There is a fire, an investigation, a scandal, mystery, intrigue, and romance. It delves into what was expected of women versus what they actually wanted.. and did it even matter?? Everleigh does some deep diving into her life, into herself, and into what makes her happy. Great story, great writing, and very satisfying.

This book was a fun treat! I loved it! It was a good reset after I read a heavier book. It kept me flipping pages well past my bedtime!!

I loved Brooke Lea Foster’s first book and had high hopes for this one. It is well written and entertaining but I found the flashbacks unnecessary and felt the detracted from the book.

On Gin Lane by Brooke Lea Foster is a perfect beach read. Set in 1950s New York, Lee finally has life all figured out with her fiancé, Roland, a trust, and a beautiful home. But then, Roland surprises her with a hotel in the Hamptons named after her and tells her they'll spend the whole summer there. Lee feigns joy, but really, she doesn't want to live in any hotel again after growing up in one and feeling lonely her entire childhood in the shadow of her mother's mental illness. Then, tragedy strikes on the hotel's opening night, her fiancé refuses to cooperate with the investigation, and he starts pulling away from her. When he doesn't have time for her, she decides to pursue her passion of photography, but that only leads to more difficulty in her relationship. Roland is hiding things, she's unhappy, and her past has come back to terrorize her. Lee is sympathetic as a character--even if she's not always likable--and she projects a lot of the inner turmoil that women in the 50s experienced. Foster does a beautiful job of ensuring that things and people are never as they seem, and, by the end, readers' opinions of almost every character take a 180. The characters you sympathize with are ultimately problematic and the ones you hate, you start to respect. This is a good single sitting read, but sometimes I found certain aspects felt forgotten--there were several chapters in a row where the investigation wasn't mentioned despite it being a major plot device.

I got to go to the Hamptons last weekend and never left my couch. Foster did an amazing job of recreating a time and place and telling a tale that kept me enthralled. This is the perfect summer read -- a trip to a romantic, storied town where the characters leap off the page and entertain you with their story. Wonderful historical fiction!

If you have a love for historical fiction, this is a great read! Set in the 1950's,we meet Everleigh "Lee" Farrow, a New York socialite who is taken by her fiancé Roland to glamorous Southampton in the summer of 1957. Lee has everything she could want: a handsome, rich husband, a trust fund in her name, a home in Bronxville waiting for their return and a hotel, build for Lee by her fiance. Opening weekend tragedy strikes and Lee's summer will never be the same.

This must-read historical novel offers a glimpse into the high society life of the 1950's and what expectations were put on women to serve their husbands and plan parties. With Lee though we find a brave, coming of age story, filled with captivating characters, an engaging and well-written storyline, a sensitive look at how mental illness was judged.

I would highly recommend this book!

Now this is exactly what historical fiction should be! The plot and main character Everleigh ‘Lee’ were captivating. There was a hint of mystery intermingled in to the story which made it even more intriguing and entertaining.

Lee was portrayed as a woman coming into her own despite the the lifestyle she was born into during the 1950’s when women should “behave in a certain way” because of societal norms.

Readers of historical fiction will really enjoy this book. The setting of the 1950’s is captivating, as it gives the first glimmers of massive social change in the United States.

I finished this in less than a day, eager to see what would happen. This is the perfect summer beach read! I’d love to see this as a movie.

Thank you @netgalley for an Arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, Brooke Lea Foster and Gallery Books. This is my personal review.
This book took me into a time and place that I really enjoyed reading about. The story was a bit slow for me in places and I knew I wanted to read on to learn how Lee’s life plays out for her.
This is a book that many will enjoy and I can see this being a huge hit with book clubs.

LOVED! What a fantastic read- Loved the setting in the hamptons, loved the pace, loved the MC, and really love the overall vibe and feeling of the story. The ending is exactly what I was hoping for.

Absolutely loved this book. The descriptions of the hotel and fashions of the age put you directly in the story as if you’re sitting next to Leigh at the same party. I’d be thrilled for another book from this author

I really enjoyed Foster's prior novel, SUMMER DARLINGS, and IN GIN LANE was equally delightful. Following Everleigh Farrows' trajectory of a sweet, compliant New York debutante to an independent woman is both entertaining and heart-wrenching. Women in Everleigh's position were given very little freedom to make choices; they were expected to be wives who supported their husband without question and had children as soon as possible. Everleigh's journey of self-discovery, struggling with whether she needs to fulfill societal expectations or follow her passion is engaging, filled with realistic character and some intrigue as well. A really good read.