Started off strong from the opening page. Well developed characters, gorgeously vivid descriptions.

Utterly fantastic heroine, in an utterly fantastic setting. I really enjoyed seeing Everleigh come into her own during this novel. Beach reading at it’s finest.

Start this one with free time set aside; you’ll need it because you won’t want to stop reading this.

Recommended!

Who is looking forward to beach days?

I was craving a fun summer read and decided to read On Gin Lane by Brooke Lea Foster. This book is being released May 31st. I was lucky enough to read it early through @netgalley !

On Gin Lane is a historical fiction set in the summer of 1957. Lee is whisked away to the South Hampton for the summer by her new fiancé. They are set to get married in October and her fiancé, Roland, surprises her with the fact that he opened a hotel in honor of her for them to live in during the summers. Lee doesn’t exactly love this idea after growing up in the Plaza. What should be a summer of glitz and glamour turns upside down when a tragic event occurs and sets her summer down a different life changing path.

❤️Review❤️

This is a summer novel that is a character driven story. There is a small mystery woven through the story, but it ultimately isn’t the big picture of the story. The plot is really only moved through character development. There were two side characters that Lee forms relationships with that really allowed her to become who she was meant to be. I really enjoyed reading those interactions. The author does a nice job of really making you feel like you are in the Hamptons in the 1950. There are a lot of references to famous people of the time period. This is truly the story of a woman really figuring out who she is and what she wants over the span of the summer.

4 Stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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On Gin Lane by Brooke Lea Foster is set on the East End of Long Island in the bohemian 50s. It's heady and glamorous and completely captivating, and Lee is such a wonderful heroine. I couldn't put it down—the absolutely perfect escapist read. Highly recommend!!

For fans of women fiction, this book will grab your attention. The main female character is a women torn between becoming the person who her parents want her to be versus seeking the career that she would love. A quick read, I think this will be a popular book for summer reading at the beach. Wonderful descriptions of both NYC and the Hamptons.

I think you need to go into ON GIN LANE expecting a fun, entertaining read and then you'll be very pleased with what you get. For some reason, I had recalled Brooke Lea Foster's first novel, Summer Darlings, as being a bit more on the literary side, which is generally where my tastes run. This meant I was slightly disappointed in ON GIN LANE, but honestly, the fault lies completely with me. When I took another look at this novel and viewed it through the lens of historical (versus literary) fiction, I saw the appeal. The characters are well-drawn and the plot moves at a nice clip. There's plenty of drama here and readers are sure to enjoy the main character's journey of self realization, which is lovely and satisfying. Perfect for fans of Beatriz Williams & Karen White.

Obsessed with this book. The writing , the characters and the plot were perfection. Can we make it a movie ?

Everleigh’s wealthy parents had nearly given up on marrying her off, until she meets the almost too-good-to-be-true Roland Whittaker. As the two prepare for their fall wedding, Roland surprises her with a tone-deaf engagement present: a hotel in Southampton. Everleigh spent her unhappy childhood living in the Plaza, and is eager for a real home.

A fire destroys the hotel on its opening weekend—a bad omen, to be sure. As Everleigh wonders how much of Roland’s bad behavior she’s willing to overlook, she begins carving out a new life for herself, pursuing her interest in photography and taking a job at a gallery.

The 1957 shore setting is absolute perfection, as the first glimmers of massive social change first appear. Everleigh is an unlikely rebel. I raced through the novel the first time, eager to see what would happen, and I look forward to rereading it so I can savor it more. #OnGinLane #NetGalley

On Gin Lane is set to release in May of 2022.

Everleigh is a rich girl from the Upper East Side of Manhattan. She is set to marry Roland, who whisks her away to Southampton for the summer of 1957.

Roland gives her a beach hotel and promises a summer of sipping Bellinis on the beach with no worries in the world. That is, until the hotel mysteriously burns down...

Throughout the summer, Everleigh discovers more about herself. She becomes more sure of what she actually wants and less sure that her future includes Roland.

A story about a woman losing herself for a man, but discovering her true self and identity just in time. I did enjoy On Gin Lane, however it was a bit dull. I didn't care much for our main gal, and while a lot of little things happened throughout, they didn't really have a shock factor. Decent enough summer read, though.

On Gin Lane by Brooke Lea Foster is a great historical fiction that brings the reader straight behind the scenes of Southampton in the 1950s. I just loved this!

I truly enjoyed the author’s previous book, Summer Darlings, so I knew I had to read this gem. This was just as amazing!

The 1950s is a decade that I am truly fascinated with. The fashion, art, culture, jazz…I just really have always been drawn to it. I love that this book takes place in 1957. Summer of the elite in Southampton, but the best part is that the author takes us into the darker, tarnished, and cracked aspects of society. It may seem as if it is all glitz, glamour, sparkles, and ease…but for some it is anything but.

I loved reading more about Everleigh’s (Lee) awakening. At first it seems as if she is set up to believe and desire what is expected of her: a submissive, domestic piece of eye candy that will pop out several cardigan-wearing children…but Lee has a complicated past, and as the layers are peeled away, a complicated present. External and internal events occur that puts her entire life, viewpoints, and hidden internal hopes and desires all up into the air. Will Lee be able to answer these questions, escape the gravitational pull that has already been started, escape, and find herself and the future which she truly deserves and desires in the process? I absolutely loved finding out.

I loved the plot, the wrenches thrown in, the twists, the mystery and suspense, and I LOVED the ending. Just perfect!

Another home run for Ms. Foster.

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Gallery Books for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 5/31/22.

I absolutely love this story. It absorbed me the entire time I was reading it. I would describe it as a drama but it’s told in a really different way. Highly recommend!