If summer reading was a book, this is it. I loved NGOS and the second chance romance here was literally the perfect summer story! Keep ‘em coming please!!

“I am in a bit of a dream state. I didn’t realize it until now, but while I have been getting myself together, I have also been waiting for this. On some level, I hoped that if I came back to myself, Wyatt would come back to me too. Sam I am, and vice versa.”

This book was so nostalgic and I loved it so much. Think the Summer I Turned Pretty series but Belly and Conrad don’t speak until they are in their 30s and she’s getting married to someone else.

Sam and Wyatt were incredibly wholesome and very much the “I have always been in love with you” couple. They grew up together during the summer and their relationship developed overtime. Until something happens and Wyatt pulls away, leaving Sam reeling.

So when Sam is back on Long Island with her now fiancée, the last person she wants to see if Wyatt. Her first love and someone who once she sees again, occupies too much space in her head.

I enjoyed how the book went from past to present. I think the flow was really natural and it kept me captivated the entire time (I read this book in one sitting). This book is the perfect summer read for people who want to believe that the one that got away could be the one that comes back for forever. (

I love dual timelines especially when one is a nostalgic flashback to highschool, but this one didn't work for me. It didn't feel real. I didn't feel the connections. I didn't feel the angst of wanting a couple to get together. I feel like show, don't tell makes sense. I just didn't feel the emotions or reasoning of the characters.

4 1/2 stars

What a wonderful second chance romance! I really enjoyed this one. Sam is checking off the boxes in her checklist called life. Engage - - check but not to who she planned on marrying when she was younger. No that would have totally been Wyatt, her first love and next door neighbor at the shore. The very same person who she hasn't spoken to in years but is coming face to face with all of a sudden after all this time. But it will be fine because she's engaged and Wyatt doesn't hold any power over her anymore. Right? Sure.

This book did a nice job of balancing the back and forth between the time periods so you could learn how Sam and Wyatt fell in love and then eventually fell apart. It was so heartbreaking - - especially when you realize just how much could have been fixed if they would have spoken to each other. But too much time passed and then it just became more complicated.

I think this book really speaks to the subject of never really forgetting your first love. It also should make people realize life is short and to not waste time. If you love someone, tell them.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced review copy of “Same Time Next Summer” by Annabel Monaghan. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really liked ‘Nora Goes Off Script’ and this book proved to be a similar fast read that I didn’t want to put down. It had wonderful summer vibes and would be a great beach read.

The story follows Sam as she plans to get married. But when she visits her family beach house as a potential wedding location, she has to face her past in the form of her first love. While the angst was there, I’m not a fan of books that set up infidelity like this. I really didn’t like this element and wish there had been some other conflict keeping Sam and Wyatt apart. Honestly there was enough tension from what happened in the past that I wish that had been the focus on them healing from all those issues. The story is told in present timeline and flashbacks. Sometimes stories can struggle with this element but I thought it was well done and I liked being in both timelines. I was very curious about why Sam and Wyatt fell apart and it kept me turning the pages to find out what happened.

4/5 stars

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of this summer read! I read Nora Goes Off Script last year and it was good, but I think I loved this book more! The transformation the characters make throughout the story was easy to follow, understand, and made me root for certain characters! The family dynamics and how they intertwined was also intriguing. I love the idea of growth from young love and the idea of the main character finding her purpose. This was a book I wanted to keep reading and not put down, I wanted more! I truly loved this story.

There’s something about Monaghan’s writing that feels like coming home. It’s a comfort hug that gives you room to breathe. The breath of fresh air that accompanies a summer vacation.

Returning to the town you grew up in can come with a lot of anxieties – especially when exes are involved, and Monaghan capture this perfectly for Sam as she returns home to a small Long Island town with her now fiancé to find a venue for their wedding. But the last thing she planned for was running into her first (and potentially only‽) true love, Wyatt, who is the perfect boy-next-door who made her heart race years ago.

I loved the concept of this book. That Sam, a people-pleaser (relatable, right?), spent years cultivating a persona that she felt was “perfect”. That made her feel as though her life was on track. But all it takes is a visit home (the one place she could ever truly be herself) and a run-in with her first love (the only person to ever truly accept her for who she was at heart) to start questioning everything she had come to know as acceptable in her life.

Suddenly, with adult conversations that allow for clarification of childhood misunderstandings, Sam and Wyatt are able to better understand one another, what drove them apart, and just what each person has been up to in one another’s absence. But with Wyatt back in her life, Sam can’t seem to settle back into the life she crafted for herself anymore. It doesn’t feel right.

I loved everything about this book. I loved that the miscommunication largely happened in the past, that the awkward run-ins with ghosts from your past felt genuine and realistic, and that the ability to completely reinvent yourself (again) in your thirties is entirely possible and something you shouldn’t fear or shy away from. I cannot recommend this book enough!

Tropes:
- Second chance romance
- First love
- Self-discovery
- Girl/boy next door
- It’s always been you
- Small town
- Beach read

Ever since Wyatt broke her heart, Sam has been a different person. The girl that loved spending the summer at the beach, speaking her mind, and being impulsive has been replaced with an engaged woman who likes for things to be predictable and steady (or, some may say, boring). Sam brings her fiancee Jack to her family beach house for what should be a short trip so that they can check out a wedding venue to appease her parents. Only Wyatt is back at the house next door, playing music and bringing out some parts of who she used to be, along with her little sister.

This story is told from the perspectives of "then" and "now," so the relationship between Sam and Wyatt is given piece by piece and you don't get to know the whole story of their breakup until near the end. I did not particularly care for "now" Sam at first - who changes their whole personality after being hurt by their first love and manages to stay on that path for over a decade? I didn't like Jack either, but the reasons I didn't like him were the reasons Sam had chosen him - he was dependable (aka boring and rigid) and he would basically explain why his choice was the correct one whenever they chose something different so she'd back down. While I could see why Sam fell in love with "then" Wyatt, the now version seemed a lot more detached. Which makes sense considering that Sam is engaged to another man. Once we find out what happened between Sam and Wyatt to cause their breakup, I was completely hooked! I loved to see Sam and Wyatt both opening back up and Sam's relationship with her dad improving. This is a fantastic summer read and I'm looking to go back and check out some of the author's previous books.

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Long story short, this book was every freaking thing!! I loved it so much. This is the perfect summer read that we’ve all been craving. It will drawn you in right from the start and you won’t want to put it down.

I normally have hard time connecting with a love story when one of the main characters has a fiancé for a majority of the book but I just wanted them together SO bad!!! Wyatt and Sam had my heart from the very beginning. This is perfect for people who loved Love and Other Words. I laughed, I smiled, I cried, I felt all the feels. I would have loved to see more of Sam and Wyatt together, but that’s really the only change I’d have made. This was my first book by Annabel, but definitely not the last!

Sam hasn’t seen her first love, Wyatt in 14 years. Their breakup devastated her and left her questioning everything she thought she knew. She’s finally gotten her life back on track with the perfect job, the perfect fiance, and an easy predictable life. She returns to Long Island for the first time since that fateful summer 14 years ago, only to find Wyatt next door. Being back at the place where the first fell in love and actually seeing Wyatt brings back so many memories for Sam. It leaves her questioning if she should give up her stable, safe life for this man who makes her feel like no one else ever has.

I really enjoyed this second chance romance. The flashbacks to then were full of teenage angst and perfectly captured that feeling of first love. Then compared with the “now” chapters it was easy to see how both Sam and Wyatt changed and grew up. In both timelines, I loved them together. There’s something special about romances where the characters quite literally grow up together, and this story had all of that magic. The one thing I struggled with was how long it took Sam to realize which man to be with. It was so clearly obvious to me and took her way too long to shake things up and make a change. Overall, this was a cute summer read.

Thank you to Putnam Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.

A cute and fun, light summer romance that focuses more on nostalgia and a sweet love story than on cringey romance tropes.

I’m not typically a romance reader, so I tend to only get interested if the story has another aspect to it that strikes my fancy. In this case it’s summer beach nostalgia, and while the book is lighter on sense of place and beachy nostalgia than I would have preferred, it’s a fun read for summer.

I appreciate that this never gets too maudlin or overwrought in the way that many romances do, and the protagonist and her family and lovable and charming.

There’s some ridiculousness that’s tough to ignore (this woman’s job situation is absurd on pretty much every level, the therapist she goes to should probably be brought before the board, and Wyatt actually mistreats her more than Jack does in ways that I think absolutely matter), but if you can get past that stuff, it’s likable and well-paced enough to forgive some silliness.

PERFECT SUMMER READ!!!!! This is a fun, entertaining and above average romance novel with some drama and smiles and bringing some much needed feel good factor.
When Sam and her fiancé Jack head back to her family's Long Island beach house in search of a nearby wedding venue, she is thrown for a loop when it turns out her first love Wyatt has returned as well. As she and Wyatt begin to reconnect, Sam is confronted with the memories of all that she shared with him and finds herself torn between her past and her present.
A huge thanks to NetGalley and especially to Hodder and Stoughton for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

This was a cute if not predictable, clean romance! I loved Nora Goes Off Script, so this one was a bit of a letdown for me, but there were still things to enjoy about it.

I loved the setting; it's set on Long Island at a family beach house and invokes the feeling of summer and long days at the beach as you're reading. The narrative jumps back in forth from the present day, where Sam and Wyatt are adults, to their summers together as teenagers. I was especially swept into the current-day timelines because I wanted to see how things would pan out.

I wanted more depth from this story. The book is already pretty short, and I wanted more from present-day Wyatt. It felt predictable and did feel like it veered into YA territory. But, overall, a quick and breezy summer read that goes by fast and drops you into a summer setting.

Same Time Next Summer was a light-hearted, quick read. I enjoy a second chance romance. Not much spice!

This book had it all. I swooned and was happy and there were good times and emotional times. I enjoyed this book, i had to find the first one in this series. Good book and good author.

Oh, how I do love a second chance romance! Annabel Monaghan’s new novel Same Time Next Summer features my favorite kind too – childhood sweethearts who are reunited after years apart. The nostalgic vibes and the sweet flashbacks showing a first love in bloom are just pure catnip for me.

Same Time Next Summer follows Sam, a young woman who has returned to her parent’s Long Island beach house to start planning her wedding. On the surface, Sam’s life seems perfect. Her fiancé is a handsome doctor and she has the perfect job. But the more we get to witness Sam in action, the more it becomes clear that things aren’t nearly as perfect as they seem. There’s trouble with her job, and her doctor fiancé isn’t quite the catch he should be. When Sam runs into Wyatt, her childhood sweetheart who she hasn’t seen in almost 14 years, it becomes clear that Sam has just been going through the motions both personally and professionally.

Monaghan does a wonderful job of alternating between past and present so we can witness the moving story of Sam and Wyatt when they first met, became friends, and then fell in love and then see them reconnect as adults and realize that they still have very strong feelings for one another. It made me sad to see what initially drove them apart but the bond between them is so strong that I felt confident that if Sam were to choose him, they could have a happily ever after.

The romance is lovely, but this is a story that features more than just a second chance at love. Sam’s return home, and everything she experiences while there, serves as a wake up call and a second chance for Sam to have the life she has always wanted professionally as well as personally. This creates a perfect balance between romance and women’s fiction. As someone who loves both rom coms and romances that have a little more meat to them, I loved the extra layers Sam’s personal journey added to the story.

Featuring a poignant second chance romance as well as a moving journey of personal discovery, Same Time Next Summer is a read that will appeal to so many readers. And with its vibrant beachy setting and nostalgic summer vibes, it’s the perfect book to toss in your beach bag this summer!

2.5/5

Does anyone really forget their first love? Or do they just try really hard to for years only to find out they never truly got over them? Only time will tell if Sam is dead set on marrying her fiancé or if she’ll drop everything for Wyatt, her first love…

I’ll just come straight out and say it, I struggled with this book. Hardcore. The first 50% of the book was slow, somewhat monotonous, and just irritated the mess out of me.

The choices made by Sam were just not there for me…at least the timing of them. There was some serious emotional cheating going on, even if both parties were relatively checked out of the relationship. And really, if we dropped Jack earlier we could have had so much more Wyatt. Which would have been great because Wyatt is a sweetheart.

Another big thing that got under my skin was the therapist’s approach to the situation. Telling her what was wrong with her, gaslighting her emotions, and not really helping her to heal at all. It made me want to scream. If you have a therapist taking this approach with you…please drop them and find another.

The family drama in this book was spectacular. I ate it up. Even though it was beyond inappropriate…I just held onto that nice and tight.

Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan

Thank you to @netgalley, @putnambooks, and the author, @annabelmonaghan for the chance to read this #eARC in exchange for my #honestbookreview! This book is now available for purchase. 💚

Sam Holloday has her shit together. She’s engaged to a handsome and established man who happens to be a doctor, she is a respected and responsible HR executive and they’re planning their life together. And, most importantly, she’s definitely not still in love with her ex, Wyatt. She and Wyatt had a very passionate once-in-a-lifetime kind of romance but that’s in the past. Then circumstances throw Sam and Wyatt back into each other’s lives as he coordinates a music festival and she works on wedding planning in the place where it all began - Long Island. Will Sam settle for the buttoned-up life she’s carefully curated for herself or will she take a chance on true love and happiness?

This is it - this is the quintessential summer romance read for Summer 2023! As Sam sorts through the what-ifs of her past, present, and future I was forced to also do some soul-searching and remind myself life is too short to be anything but your true self and do what makes you happy. Though the extraordinary, passionate, life-altering love Sam and Wyatt have may be rare, their experiences are too easy to relate to. Sam dissociates from her true identity and desires to protect her heart and cope. Wyatt pushes away the most important person in his life and pours his emotion into his craft instead of communicating with Sam and telling her how he feels. This book gave me alllll the feels and I’d love to see a sequel with these characters. Highly recommend!

TW: PTSD, cheating, dissociation, gaslighting, depression

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 5/5

Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan follows Sam through planning her engagement with the seemingly perfect-doctor-fiance-fitness-buff Jack, which is smooth sailing until Wyatt, her teenage summer crush / first boyfriend comes back into the picture. The book has very short chapters, which moves the story along quickly, and compells you to read it even faster, because “just one more chapter” will only be a few more minutes, which turns into endless “one more chapter”s. The author uses vivid imagry to create distinct life-like characters, and pulls you into the setting, making the beach house feel like a home you’ve visited dozens of times before. The audiobook narrators also do a wonderful job capturing both Sam and Wyatt’s emotions.
With Monaghan’s novel prior to this, Nora Goes Off Script—which I loved, I was deeply impressed with the author’s ability to make the readers so deeply upset with a character, and create reasoning that would make us fully forgive him, when I’d otherwise written him off as irredeemable. I was nervously hoping for the same sort of twist with this novel, and found it didn’t quite redeem anyone the way I’d hoped. I recognize full that “leaving my seemingly perfect man (who when I think about it, isn’t as perfect as I thought) for the man I crushed on long ago” is not a relationship dynamic / story trope that I’m a huge fan of, but I also didn’t feel like either man would actually be good for Sam to end up with. Wyatt’s redemption didn’t feel much deeper than “I was young and distressed, and I said I’m sorry, so forgive me.” and felt more like Sam falling back into the obsessive mental patterns of her youth, just with less perceived consequence as before because this time, he simply said he wouldn’t leave.
My dislike for this doesn’t change that I do think it was a very well written and entertaining read, and more than anything it’s just not MY cup of tea, but I am certain that it will be for others.

Years ago, Wyatt and Samantha, a.k.a. Sam, were best friends. They grew up in neighboring beach houses on Long Island and spent every summer together until Sam turned 17 and Wyatt broke her heart.

After years away, Sam is back again and has brought her fiancé Jack with her, As Sam and Jack start to plan their wedding and look to the future, Wyatt reappears. Throughout the week, Sam and Wyatt find themselves repeatedly crossing paths and the reader is treated to getting to know Sam and Wyatt both now and when they were younger.

I loved the fact that this book kept me guessing what was going to happen next right up until the end. Same Time Next Summer should DEFINITELY be on your beach book list!

Thank you to Net Galley and Penguin Group for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.