I really liked this sophomore novel from Monaghan. Her debut novel, Nora Goes Off Script, was my favorite book from 2022, & this book will be one of my favorites from 2023. I didn’t want it to end, but when it did, I was left with a longing for the beach.

Same Time Next Summer gave me major Every Summer After vibes and I was in love with it. Summer romances are some of my favorite and then when adding in the "Then" and "Now" timelines + dual character POV and I am deeply invested in the story.

Annabel Monaghan simply writes stories that are so inviting and you just feel welcome to read every word she writes. One thing I have noticed between this book and her first, Nora Goes Off Script, is that she not only writes romance that gives you all the butterflies but also that her emphasis on family both blood and found family are spectacular. After reading "Same Time Next Summer" I wanted to go surfing with her sister Gabby and make art with her mom and dad.

Let's also not forget about Wyatt and how much he fought for Sam to see the real her and not the act that she was putting on with her so called fiancee Jack. Reading Wyatt's thoughts and seeing his perspective from then and now was a big gift to us as readers and added so much to the story so that the love story wasn't just one sided with Sam's thoughts and feelings.

Same Time Next Summer is already my favorite book of the summer. This book has all the elements of a perfect summer read- a family’s eclectic summer home on Long Island -not the Hamptons-, first love, finding your true self, family drama, and learning to forgive those who hurt us the most.

I loved the love story so much and cried several times reading the second half of the book. Sam was an excellent main character, and I felt like I could relate with her in several ways. The setting of the book was absolutely idyllic and the perfect little beach town. Wyatt was a pretty dreamy male main character and I like that we were able to get a glimpse of his perspective as well.

A very sincere thank you to netgalley and to Putnam for the electronic arc of this book. It was an absolute pleasure to read and I can’t wait to see what Annabel Monaghan writes next.

Same Tine Next Summer is a true second chance love story. It avoids being over dramatic by indulging in its sunny Long Island coast setting, and lots of beach time, making it the perfect summer beach read.

When Sam’s heart was broken by Wyatt at 17 years old she avoided her family’s Long Island beach home for over a decade. Now she’s back to plan a wedding with her new fiancée, but so is Wyatt. A lovely cast of side character make this story an absolute delight!

I love stories that explore complex emotions and relationships often resonate with audiences because they tap into universal experiences and dilemmas. The internal conflict that Sam faces, torn between their current commitment and lingering feelings from the past, can create tension and emotional depth within the narrative.

Exploring themes of loyalty, personal growth, and the pursuit of happiness can provide opportunities for character development and self-discovery. As the story unfolds, readers or viewers may find themselves empathizing with Sam's struggles, questioning their own perceptions of love and relationships, and contemplating the nature of second chances.

In addition to the emotional aspects, the summer and beach house setting can add an extra layer of ambiance and nostalgia. The idyllic backdrop of sunny beaches and warm weather can evoke a sense of freedom, new beginnings, and the possibility of transformative experiences.

Overall, when handled thoughtfully and with emotional depth, stories that revolve around second chances and complex relationships can be captivating and resonate with audiences on a profound level.

SAME TIME NEXT SUMMER is a quick and easy, dual POV book to add to your shelves this summer. It doesn't ask too much of the reader, and that's exactly what I was looking for while sitting on the beach in Charleston, SC! Readers will love the romance and the vibes, but I found it lacked some grounding in reality.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Thank you to Putnam and NetGalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
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Annabel could write the description on the back of a shampoo bottle and it would be my favorite book. Something about the way she writes is so captivating, real, raw, gut wrenching, and beautiful all at once. It is so rare, and so difficult, for a second novel to be as amazing (if not better) than a debut, and she has done it.
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Same Time Next Summer (was the original title Meet Me at the Beach?) introduces us to Samantha, a big city girl, engaged to a doctor named Jack, working as an HR consultant at a buttoned up firm. Her parents have a beach house not far from the city that she spent every summer at growing up. Their neighbors at the beach have a son named Wyatt who is one year older than Samantha, and naturally as time goes on, young love takes hold. Now that Samantha is back at the beach, this time with her fiancé, she’s faced with the two separate realities of her life converging - can she be her truest self and stay with Jack? Did her young love for Wyatt ever really die? What happens when the life you’ve perfectly sewed together doesn’t seem to fit you anymore?
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I simply refuse to hear any criticism about this book ever. Sam and Wyatt are so thoroughly and thoughtfully developed. Their story is beautiful and I love them and you need to read this book.

Same Time Next Summer by @annabelmonaghan is the perfect beach read and you don’t have to wait much longer because it comes out tomorrow.

Nora Goes off Script was one of my favorite books last year, so I was super excited to read this one, and as soon as I started Same Time Next Summer I was immediately sucked into the author’s gentle, lilting writing style.

Sam is visiting her family’s beach house for the first time in years. It used to be her favorite place. The place she could be herself and paint trees on her walls and fall in love for the very first time over years of summers with the boy next door, Wyatt, who was happy to spend days surfing and writing songs in his treehouse. But when Wyatt broke her heart, she stopped coming to the beach. She’s returning now with her life finally together—a practical job in HR and a practical doctor fiancé who lives by schedules and routines that make Sam feel safe. But Wyatt has come back to the beach too, and Sam must contend with her unresolved feelings and unwanted questions that come rushing in about the life she’s chosen.

The story is told in two timelines—the present where Sam is trying to avoid Wyatt at all costs, and the past when they first met and fell in love.

It was easy to get lost in this book. How many of us have made choices that seemed safe and wondered along the way if maybe we made the choice for the wrong reasons? I adored present-day Wyatt, and liked him as a teen, but I did have a little trouble with the way he handled things later in that timeline. I get it. I really do, but I wish we had been given a little deeper insight into his character so I could sympathize a more with him in those moments. Still, this book is a wonderful feel-good story, and I loved reading it.

I’d highly recommend this one to all romance fans and anyone who loves a coming of age in your 30s (I think) story or a second chance romance. I’d also recommend the audio which is fabulously narrated by Brittany Pressley and Dan Bittner.

Thank you so much for an advance copy of this book! I LOVED it.

I went into this book pretty blind and without any previous knowledge of the author's other work...and this one completely knocked my socks off! This is a second-chance love story, and I was hanging on every word once I got about fifty pages into the story. I don't even think my review can do this book justice. There were so many moments that I found myself grinning, smiling, laughing, swooning, and tearing up that I lost count as I read. This story made me feel all the emotions, and ultimately, it just made my heart so happy by the end. There were some twists and turns throughout the book I didn't expect, and I was so invested by the end I didn't want the story to be over.

If you enjoyed books like Love & Other Words and Every Summer After, this is the book for you!

Rating: 5⭐️

Sam is on track with her life including her strait-laced doctor fiancé, Jack. When she and Jack visit her parents at their summer house on Long Island, she finds herself reminiscing about her first love and next door neighbor, Wyatt, who she hasn’t seen in years. Enter Wyatt who has rented out his parents’ house and started a music festival in the quaint beach town.

Sam and Wyatt’s story is told in flashbacks while Sam and Jack are also possibly planning their wedding in the beach town. There are interactions between all 3 of them but the chemistry between Sam and Wyatt is still simmering enough for Sam to question where she wants her future to go.

Nora Goes Off Script was one of my faves from 2022 and while this one is good, it doesn’t reach favorite for me. Same Time Next Summer feels like a nostalgic read. It is a good summer book with a second chance romance and family connections.

Thanks to NetGalley and Putnam Books for this eARC. Same Time Next Summer comes out June 6, 2023.

An excellent coming of age, beach read with plenty of nostalgia of 1st love and heartbreak. This is a second chance romance featuring Sam, her Dr. fiancé Jack, and first love Wyatt. They reunite while she's planning her own wedding. Sam visits her Long Island beach house where memories of love and past hurts redefine what happiness is for her.

**Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. I voluntarily give my honest review, and any opinions are mine alone.**

I absolutely LOVED Nora Goes Off Script - but unfortunately I had to DNF this at 33%. While I love a dual timeline and alternating point of views the pacing of this one felt off to me.. I did not like how it switched from 1st person to 3rd person. That threw me off and it was hard to enjoy it. The storyline was not keeping my attention.

𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝘆 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗹 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗵𝗮𝗻⁣
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This was the perfect summer read. Funny, sweet, nostalgic, heartbreaking, and romantic. ⁣
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𝘚𝘺𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘴𝘪𝘴:⁣
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Beach Rules:⁣
Do take long walks on the sand.⁣
Do put an umbrella in every cocktail.⁣
Do NOT run into your first love.⁣
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Sam’s life is on track. She has the perfect doctor fiancé, Jack (his strict routines are a good thing, really), a great job in Manhattan (unless they fire her), and is about to tour a wedding venue near her family’s Long Island beach house. Everything should go to plan, yet the minute she arrives, Sam senses something is off. Wyatt is here. Her Wyatt. But there’s no reason for a thirty-year-old engaged woman to feel panicked around the guy who broke her heart when she was seventeen. Right? ⁣
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Yet being back at this beach, hearing notes from Wyatt’s guitar float across the night air from next door as if no time has passed—Sam’s memories come flooding back: the feel of Wyatt’s skin on hers, their nights in the treehouse, and the truth behind their split. Sam remembers who she used to be, and as Wyatt reenters her life their connection is as undeniable as it alwaysummeeShe will have to make a choice.⁣
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I enjoyed every second of this book!⁣
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I loved then and now Sam and Wyatt. I loved how they grew up together and fell in love. ⁣
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I appreciated when they came back together after falling so painfully and heartbreakingly apart. ⁣
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I also loved how Wyatt helped Sam find herself again after losing herself to the life she THOUGHT she wanted. ⁣
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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Thank you @netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review. ⁣
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𝗣𝘂𝗯 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 𝟲/𝟲/𝟮𝟯⁣
𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿: @annabelmonaghan

This was a good one! It was almost a 4, but not quite there for me, but I’m a big fan of this author. Nora Goes off a Script was one of my favorites of 2022. I think if this ending would have played out a little longer I would have bumped up my rating - I wanted to know what happened! Give a girl an epilogue!! This one gets a yes from me.

After loving Annabel Monaghan's novel from last year, Nora Goes Off Script, I was so excited to read this year's release. And also, I felt a little nervous that it wouldn't meet my expectations. But, it DEFINITELY did meet my expectations. In fact, I loved this one even MORE than the last. This one felt almost like it was written for me which may be part of why it's worked so well for me. This one explores first love, growing up at the beach, and coming to terms with who you are after heartbreak - all things that REALLY worked for me and resonated with me. The beach experiences that Monaghan describes were SPOT on and came alive on the page for me, a person who spent much of her childhood at our family's cottage at the Chesapeake Bay. The quirkiness of the family beach house cracked me up and it also reminded me of the quirks of our own cottage. The author grabbed my heart early and held on to it over and over and over throughout the story. The relationship between Sam and Wyatt was so well done and really felt very real and thoughtful to me. I really liked the back-and-forth between their growing up together and their lives in the current day but I don't know if that's something that will work for everyone. I really resonated with their story so it felt great to me. I heard someone compare this one to the movie Sweet Home Alabama and I can totally see that. If you like that movie, you might like this one as well although this story explores their young love more than that movie does. All in all, I just adored this one and can't wait to see where Monahan takes us next! This is such a perfect vacation/beach read! Highly recommend!

This book, was the perfect summer read. I have read the previous book by this author, and I loved her humor, she creates page turning books, and of course I learned something amazing from this book. We meet Sam, who finally has everything that she thought she had wanted in her life, but all of the changes when she decided to finally go with her family to Long Island to their beach home which is something she did every summer, but all of that changed the year she went to college.

Not only does she go back to her summer home and bumps into her first love and best friend Wyatt, there were a lot of unresolved issues between them, and right when she thought she had is all together…. Well she doesn’t….. we find out the reasons why they broke up in their youth, what led to where everything is now, career wise and also leading to a path of self discovery. This book was everything I needed.

Thanks NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Everything seems to be going perfectly for Sam. She has a really great job in Manhattan and is newly engaged to doctor Jack. But when Sam heads to her family’s beach house in Long Island to start planning her dream wedding, she encounters her old neighbor and love, Wyatt. Will she move forward with marrying Jack or will she reunite with her former love, Wyatt?

Thanks to Putnam Books and NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this gem in exchange for an honest review!

Annabel Monaghan’s ‘Nora Goes off Script’ was a favorite of mine last year, so I was super excited to receive an early copy of ‘Same Time Next Summer’.

This novel is told in the past and present, has short chapters, is super easy to read, and has a really relatable main character (maybe more so for me since she happens to work in HR 😜).

If you’re looking for books to pack in your beach bag, make sure to add this one to your list!

3.5 ⭐️

I adored Nora Goes Off Script so I had high hopes for Same Time Next Summer. Perhaps my expectations set me up to be disappointed, but this book fell a little flat for me.

I normally enjoy a second chance romance but for me this one didn’t quite feel believable. Instead of creating a nostalgic feeling I found that the flashbacks gave the book a YA feel. I didn’t like Wyatt’s behavior in the flashbacks or Sam’s during the present.

I enjoyed the quaint beach town setting & the reminder of how a perfect summer break felt as a kid. I really enjoyed the writing as well & look forward to reading whatever Annabel Monaghan publishes next.


Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for providing me with an e-arc to read and review.

Thank you Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟 3/5 stars

Same Time Next Summer is an emotional second chance romance. The story follows Sam, who is recently engaged and thinks her life is on track. When she returns home to her family’s Long Island beach house, she runs into her first love, Wyatt. Their connection is still there and makes Sam reconsider everything about her life.

I loved the setting of this romance and the nostalgia. I’m never a huge fan of the love triangle trope, but this was well done. I didn’t love this one as much as Nora Hoes Off Script, but I continue to enjoy Monaghan’s writing. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Nora Goes Off Script. Loved it. I think it set my expectations way too high for this one. There's nothing overly wrong with this book, so if you're looking for a summer romance, then you cannot go wrong with this one.

What I liked:
Sam's character arc. She's almost a caricature at first, a straight laced, rule following person who likes everything to work out just as it should. It annoyed me at first, but as the story develops, we do eventually learn why she is the way she is and get to watch her learn and grow and become the person she was always meant to be.

What didn't really work for me:

Way too much back story, it felt so YA to get the full on development of the relationship between Sam and Wyatt as teenagers.

I didn't quite buy into the fact that she was still pining for Wyatt and drawn to him so much after so many years...which leads into another thing I didn't care for, which was "cheating adjacent" behavior. She is so focused on Wyatt, yet she is still planning her wedding and trying to act like her intentions and behavior are normal. Just break it off with the fiancé or at least talk to him about your feelings, but it just left me feeling kind of icky.

Overall, this is a cute story and maybe I can't really relate because the main character is so much younger than I am. I know that tons of people have adored this book so go read their reviews and you might connect to the story more than I did. I'll definitely give this author another chance in the future though!