I loved this one so much I didn’t want to wait to post 😂 so now you have time to preorder it, and read it right when it comes out! 🤪🩷

Thank you to @prhaudio for the gifted audiobook, and @netgalley for the ebook. All reviews and opinions are my own.

Get ready to read the book of the Summer!! This second chance romance is about to hit you in the feels. If you’re a fan of Every Summer After, I highly suggest grabbing this one.

I purposely cued this one up right after finishing Nora Goes Off Script. While they have nothing in common I loved reading them back to back.

This one follows Sam, and her “perfect” life, complete with fiancé and job…errrr.. well maybe not the second one. Sam’s self proclaimed perfect life isn’t looking so perfect at the moment. She and her fiancé Jack, head to her parents beach home for a visit and to check out a “possible” wedding venue. Little does Sam know that her first love Wyatt would be making an appearance as well.

I loved how this one played out. Jack is just annoying enough that you can’t root for him 😂 and honestly I’m not sure how he was able to stand so close to Sam and Wyatt and not catch on fire from their spark. 😘

This one has a dual time which helps the story move along quickly and the narrators absolutely killed it. Honestly for a minute I thought I was Sam and my heart was breaking. It was so good. This one has both a female and male narrator for their respective parts.

If you can’t tell I loved this one… it has received the coveted Melli’s 6 Star Rating! 🥰 And just went to the top of my favorite reads of 2023! 🩷

RATING: 5 stars
GENRE: Fiction/Romance

FAVORITE QUOTE:
“Beach Rules: Do take long walks on the sand. Do put an umbrella in every cocktail. Do NOT run into your first love.”

SYNOPSIS: In this unforgettable love story, 30-yr old Samantha (Sam) is living in NYC and engaged to Jack, who is handsome and perfect on paper. Her parents own a beach lake house on Long Island where she grew up and fell in love with her next-door neighbor, Wyatt, her one true love. At the age of 17 her heart is broken. When she returns to the lake house with her fiancée, her childhood memories come sweeping in like the waves of the ocean. It all causes her to ponder whether the future on her horizon is one she genuinely wants, or if she should be navigating a different path.

REVIEW: I can see this being the Summer read of 2023! This was such a delightful love story that begins at childhood and spans a lifetime. It pulled on my heartstrings in the best way, and I didn’t want the book to end! It took me back to lake days in my youth, with warm sand between my toes, and the freedom only Summer can bring! It comes out June 6, so be sure to add this to your beach bag in time! Happy Reading!

Sam’s life is on full track to marry Jack her doctor fiancé. They go to her parents beach house and she sees her old flame Wyatt. All throughout the book Jack begins to get on her nerves. She loves the reconnection and seeing Wyatt again. Her family always thought that she would wind up with Wyatt. She got into some trouble at work and decides she really want to be an art teacher. This novel teaches you too. Ever give up on your dreams, Eventually she and Wyatt get back together and end up together. This book was an easy and fun read.

This sweet read is just what I need. Nora Goes Off Script was a favorite of last year and I was really better for another fun summer, fluffy read.

This gave me Love and Other Words vibes. It was childhood best friends to lovers. It had a bit of a love triangle which I'm not usually a fan of, but this author wrote it so well that I really enjoyed it.

This author is such a delight to read. It's a light easy read that you can really finish in one sitting.

This is such a good beach read. I wanted to be where Sam was, swimming and picking shells along the shore.

Sam was such a great lead. I'm a sucker for a guarded FMC. I loved learning more about her and her relationship with both Wyatt and Jack. How she looks at each man and relationship differently. She at one point calls them the two loves of her life.

I'm seeing Annabel Monaghan in June and can't wait to hear her writing process and more about this book.

5/5

A second chance romance beach read taking place on Long Island sounded like the perfect book for me, but this one fell a little flat for me unfortunately. I loved Nora Goes Off Script so I couldn't wait for Monaghan's next book, but I had a hard time getting in to this one. I did listen to the audiobook which may have been the downfall for me, because even though I loved the narrators, I did find myself losing interest in listening to them at times.

I do think this will be the perfect summer read to escape with on the beach, and I did like the way the book ended.

This book is the perfect summer read! I basically loved everything about it. Sam was a great character, and I really sympathized with her life choices and struggle to make peace with some of those choices. I found the romance between her and Wyatt very believable, and I liked how this book did not rely on the miscommunication trope like I thought for a minute it was going to. All of the conflicts and misunderstandings made perfect sense to me, therefore I totally bought in. I love a beach read with a vivid setting, and this novel definitely delivers in that regard. I especially enjoyed that Sam's parents -- and eventually herself -- really became their authentic selves at their beach house. If you are a fan of Every Summer After or The Summer I Turned Pretty, you will enjoy this book (though personally I found it to be much better than both of those books!).

Thank you to G. P. Putnam’s Sons and NetGalley for an e-ARC of Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan.

This was such a cute second-chance romance novel. It was sweet, but funny at the same time, and brought on a lot of nostalgia. This is a perfect beach read for this summer!

Same Time Next Summer had the beachy vibe of Summer I was looking for but the characters felt very one dimensional and the read was very surface level to me.

Wyatt and Sam had chemistry but it wasn’t the type of chemistry that is off the charts 🔥. Their backstory didn’t allow me as the reader to feel connected to them on a deeper level which is how I want to feel while getting lost in a story.

The ending felt rushed to me and we didn’t get an epilogue which was very disappointing.

Overall this was a decent read that I could see myself recommend to others but one that won’t leave me thinking about it after finishing the story.

this didn't really keep my attention, I had a hard time getting through it, which was a challenge for me

Nora Goes Off Script was one of my favorite releases last year, and I couldn’t wait to read this author’s next book! I saw it on Netgalley and immediately requested it (and started it 8 months before the release date…). Same Time Next Summer takes us to the beach where Sam encounters her first love and biggest heartbreak and must come to terms with her life now.

Sam‘s life should be perfect; she has a job she enjoys and a fiancé who checks all the boxes. Yet, she’s about to be fired from her job for a small slip-up, and as she and Jack go to her family’s beach house to possibly plan their wedding there, she’s slowly starting to realize that their relationship is very stifling. It doesn’t help that when she arrives, she discovers that her first love Wyatt is back in town. She can’t help but go down memory lane, to a time where she felt freer, especially compared to her very buttoned-up life now.

I loved the writing; it’s very wry and without embellishment, yet you can feel everything the protagonist is feeling. Annabel Monaghan’s prose really puts you into the protagonist’s head. Sam read fairly similar to Nora, from Nora Goes Off Script, but you could still feel the key differences, namely how Sam is spiraling on and off throughout the book.

I also liked seeing the support of Sam’s family throughout the book. She doesn’t like spending a lot of time at the beach house, as it reminds her of Wyatt and heartbreak. Her parents are messier and more creative at the beach house, which slowly opens her back up. She’s also very close with her siblings: her older brother Travis, who clearly wants to protect her, and her much younger sister Gracie, whom she has a strong bond with despite their age difference.

The romance was…well, I did like the romance for the most part, but it’s also tied very closely to what I didn’t like about the book so it’s complicated. Sam and Wyatt grew up with each other on the beach, after Wyatt’s family moved into the house next to hers. They slowly fell in love, and when they broke up, it broke both of them. Seeing Wyatt again reminds Sam of that tumultuous time, yet she can’t help but be drawn to him again because he just feels so much like her person.

Now, I’m going to talk about what I didn’t like about this book, but please know that I did enjoy the story overall! It’s just so much easier putting into words what you didn’t like about something than what you liked.

In the first two-thirds of the books, we’ll get chunks of short chapters set in the past, some set from Wyatt’s point-of-view. Ignoring the fact that Wyatt’s point-of-view felt unnecessary, I think having chapters in the past really ruined the flow of the story. When I say chunks, I mean that there would be a handful of consecutive chapters just randomly dropped into the present narrative. They didn’t even feel like flashbacks because they wouldn’t really connect with what Sam was going through in the present. I think the pacing and placement of these past chapters took all the tension of the “what happened?” in the present chapters out. Their only purpose was to build up to why Sam and Wyatt broke up, and the emotional impact fell flat because of this.

On top of this, Wyatt’s point-of-view felt completely unnecessary. I understand why we got some chapters from him (but can’t go into because of spoilers), but again, it felt like we just needed to know information from him about what contributed to the break-up. I feel like we could’ve gotten the same information from Sam’s chapters, past or present.

Also, this book read more like women’s fiction than romance, which is not a deal breaker at all for me by the way! I bring this up only because at its heart, Same Time Next Summer is a story about Sam rediscovering herself. And typically, to me at least, if women’s fiction has a romance, the love interest is just conducive for the protagonist’s self-realization journey. Wyatt’s point-of-view fell even more flat to me because of this; what emotional impact did his chapters add? They didn’t really contribute to Sam’s journey overall, so it begs the question why we had to read simple plot points from him.

Again, I did enjoy Same Time Next Summer! I likely would have rated it higher if I weren’t so annoyed by the chunk of past/Wyatt’s chapters. I did like the characters and the writing, especially Sam’s relationship with her family. If you’re a fan of second-chance romances and/or stories about rediscovering yourself, you should give Same Time Next Summer a try.

What a satisfying story—I loved following Sam's path back to herself, and the way the romance arc complemented her own internal growth felt fated and joyful. A perfect second-chance beach summer romance!

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group for the ARC.

A few months ago I read Nora Goes Off Script, and absolutely loved it! I immediately searched for other books by Annabel Monaghan, and saw she had a new title coming out in June. "Same Time Next Summer" is another great story, and the perfect beach read.

Sam has a great life in NYC and is planning her wedding to Jake, a doctor who always makes her feels safe. Part of their wedding planning takes the couple back to Sam's family summer house, where Sam is forced to come face to face with her childhood best friend and teenage summer love, Wyatt. Sam knows she should be fine, Wyatt broke her heart over ten years ago, and they've both moved on. But seeing Wyatt makes Sam question their past relationship and her life now. The book goes back and forth between present day Sam and the summers prior, where Sam and Wyatt met, and what ultimately lead to their heartbreak.

A decent read about second chance romance and self discovery! It was a little slow to develop, but the pacing picked up for me once I dived in to part two. This is one of those stories where you know how it's probably going to end but still need to learn everything you can along the way. I have to admit to not being able to connect to any of the characters. They felt too forced. Obsession and heartache dominated this book, so I would not classify this as a feel-good read. It was mostly sad. I loved the eccentricity of Sam's family though and the beach scene was a peaceful paradise. If not for these things, I think I would have bailed out early. I think many people will love this book, but for me it was just ok.

Thank you to the author, Penguin Group and NetGalley for allowing me digital access in exchange for my honest review!

I was kind of surprised by how much I liked this one! I mean, I know I really liked her last book, but for some reason I anticipated liking this one less. I thought Sam was a really enjoyable main character and I liked watching her development even if it felt a little rushed. I was prepared to dislike what happened with her relationship with Jack, but it ended up working out better than I anticipated. I also really liked that 99% of the present day narrative was NOT dual POV! I didn’t realize how tired I was of that trend until I’ve read a couple of romances that haven’t been that way and it’s been refreshing! Wyatt is fine. Surprisingly chill about most things (maybe too chill).

I thought Sam’s relationships with her family were really well done too. I liked how things kind of resolved with her dad. It was also fun to see her interactions with Gracie and her grandparents. I almost wish Travis had been a little more fleshed out, though? They spent a lot of time together over the summers and shared a room during the rest of the year so it seemed like they should have been a little closer than the book made them seem.

Overall, if you liked Nora Goes Off Script, then I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t like this one as well. Also, if you like friends to lovers or second chance romances, this should be right up your alley.

Note: Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

The author of 2022’s hit romance, Nora Goes Off Script, is back with her sophomore novel and it’s NOT a sophomore slump! This story captures the best parts of young love in spades…and some of the warts. I got Joey and Dawson from Dawson’s Creek AND Sweet Home Alabama vibes. The quirky, artsy family beach house is the perfect summer setting…comfortable and nostalgic. There’s a great set of grandparents with no filter and the story doesn’t suffer from overwhelming banter (like other books in this genre do for me). Highly, enthusiastically recommend! I can already tell this is one of my favorite reads for summer..

Annabel's writing has got a very unique charm to it. It almost feels as if I'm reading a memoir, and that's the feeling you'll get when you read the first few chapters.

This book was an amazing take on second-chance romance. I love the past chapters & really got the clarity of what happened between Sam & Wyatt all those years ago.

Set in the gorgeous backdrop of a beach house, Sam & Wyatt's story was raw, heartfelt & filled with love. The conflict in the past was dramatic enough to feel authentic enough for a break-up back then.

More than a romance, it was Sam's journey & dilemma throughout. I loved the growth of her character. The ending was absolutely delightful.

Thank you Netgalley & Publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Read if you like:
🏖️ Beachy/Summer Vibes
💒 Wedding Planning
🥈Second Chance Romance
💘 First Love
🙄 Emotional Cheating

When living a lie, and trying to make yourself fit in a box that you just don’t fit into things are bound to blow up eventually, and that is exactly where Sam is at the start of the book.

Sam is engaged and has been avoiding setting a wedding date with her fiancé but when more pressure comes, it leads her home and she then is confronted with her past, and her first love, Wyatt.

Throughout the book Sam is fighting to stay in the box she has been shoving herself in and fighting letting herself out of the box to find happiness that she has lost.

As soon as she runs into Wyatt the emotional cheating almost immediately starts for Sam as Wyatt continues to creep into her thoughts, especially as she sees that she had molded herself into someone else and her Fiancé Jack really doesn’t see her for her but who she has made herself to be for him.

We get a lot of flashbacks of the summers that Sam and Wyatt spent together as they fell in love as kids and then fell apart and haven’t spoken in 11 years.

As Sam gives into who she is she implodes her life all to find a true happiness.

Thank you to GP Putnam Sons for my ARC in exchange for my review!

Many thanks to Putnam Books for my ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.
I loved Monaghan's previous romance, Nora Goes Off Script, and I went into this romance with high expectations. I read it while dog/house-sitting - I started it this morning while spending a little time outside on the hammock until it got too hot and humid for me, and I retreated inside to finish it on a cozy couch instead.
This book didn't work for me. Main characters spending summers together while growing up and starting to date reminded me of Carley Fortune's Every Summer After (which I loved), so perhaps that comparison is another reason I wasn't a fan of this book. The characters were well-defined and the beach setting on Long Island for the majority of the book was lovely. But the big reveal about two-thirds of the way through was something that had felt obvious to me since it first came up much earlier in the book. I also find it really hard to read a romance with blatant emotional cheating, and I had trouble getting through the last quarter of the book.
I've seen plenty of reviews from people that loved this book, so perhaps it's a "me" thing and you'll like it? I hope so!

Well I've found the perfect story to recommend as the 2023 Beach Read book of the summer!

Monaghan has done it again, delivering a contemporary romance of first loves, first heartbreaks and second-chances. Wyatt left everything behind, including the love of his life to heal himself and test his dreams. He's back at the beach house, face-to-face with the girl every country song was written. For years, Wyatt and Sam frolicked in the sand over their summer breaks. Then, they fell in love until a Wyatt witnesses an event that upheaves his life.

After 14 years Sam has finally comes back to beach to plan the wedding she thought she'd have with Wyatt only its NOT with him. Seeing the haunts of her young love, she begins to questions the life she's been living with her fiancee in the city.

What happened to Sam that he'd break her heart, and never look back? He's is and has been the only one who has seen her for who she is, but is it too late? Same Time Next Summer is a romance but its sooooo much more.

I'll recommend this book ALL summer long!

Thank you PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for the complimentary copy.

I read about half of this book and had to stop. While the concept was neat, I’ve read so many books with this type of storyline and I found this book to be fairly predictable.