Childhood friends to lovers is a trope that I always love. Same Time Next Summer is about Sam, who has a great life and a doctor fiance, but she cannot quite get over her childhood sweetheart. This will make a great beach read for next summer!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC.

From the author of Nora Goes Off Script comes her next novel Same Time Next Summer. It is the story of summers on Long Island and childhood friendships that that tuns into teenage love to teenage breakups, it is a story of heartbreak and second chances romance, self-reflection and discovering your true self and not settling for second best.

We first meet Sam (Samantha) our main protagonist, along with her doctor fiancée on their way to her family seaside beach house locate on Long Island to plan her wedding. Unbeknownst to Sam, her first love, Wyatt, the boy that broke her heart is staying in his home right next door. It is here that Sam finally sees that her so called perfect life may not be as perfect as she thought. Is she caving to just make her fiancée Jack happy or is this what she the life she really wants?

The story of Sam and Wyatt unfold in a NOW and THEN narrative, while I enjoy this type of storytelling at times it became a little jarring with the jumping from a first to third person narration but not enough to affect my rating. Annabel Monaghan’s character arc for Sam was not rushed but was completed. I wish Wyatt’s arc followed suit. I loved both Sam and Wyatt, I felt throughout the story they had great chemistry .. I just wish I had more adult Sam and Wyatt. Maybe an epilogue would have been nice.

Overall, a comfortable 4-star rating from me.

Same Time Next Summer will be a great novel to add to your 2023 summer reads.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam and Annabel Monaghan for providing me with an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Release date for Same Time Next Summer is June 6, 2023

I really enjoyed this book, which speaks to the quality of the story considering this is the first ARC I was sent that was really difficult to read because of all the formatting/typo errors. Perhaps I was sent an old version? I don’t let that affect my review of the story though. Sam and Wyatt are two complicated people who were childhood friends/turned lovers until an event that led to the destruction of their relationship. I thought I knew what that event would be but I was really surprised by what it actually was. Sam, in particular, is living what she thinks is a perfect life with a successful job and handsome doctor fiancé. But running in to her former boyfriend while visiting her parents at their eccentric summer house sends her life in to a tailspin. I really liked the character Gracie and her importance to Sam’s life and I thought the ending tied up the plot nicely. I’d definitely recommend this book. Thank you to the author and publisher for the digital ARC!

This is a super well done childhood friends to lovers story. Fantastic beach read and reminds me quite a bit of some other fan favs in the same genre. Highly recommend!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 rounded up. Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC. Annabel Monaghan writes another warm, heartfelt novel that brings all the feels. I believe this is her second adult romance and I would say Monaghan has established herself as someone who is not going anywhere! I have to say I was sad when I’m turned the last page. Mark your calendar for June 2023 because this summer read wafts in like a warm summer breeze coming off the ocean.

The history between Sam and Wyatt sends you back in time to your first major love. Back to your teenage years. That along with the majority of the book taking place at the beach somehow makes you feel closer to your youth.
Watching Sam come to terms with accepting who she is and realizing her life wasn't her own was uplifting. Watching her make the changes to be happy was even better.

Thank you Penguin Group and Net Galley for an ARC of this book. This is the 2nd book I've rad from Annabel Monaghan and I loved this one just as much. From the beginning I was drawn into the story and I wanted to see what happened next for Sam. I read this book so quickly and couldn't put it down. I highly recommend it.

I like the idea of this book... but I didn't like certain elements of it.

Every character in this story has an interesting and well thought out background. Usually, I dislike the fiancé who is the filler love-interest until the MMC comes along. But I liked Jack and I respected him. I didn't really root for Sam and Wyatt. Wyatt was selfish and childish, blaming his problems on Sam. Sam had to deal with years of trauma because of her "first love".

Same Time Next Summer that a a second chance romance. It had many touching moments and is reminiscent of other second chance romance tales, most notably Every Summer After and Love and Other Words, fans of those stories will likely enjoy Samantha and Wyatt’s story. This one is also about messy families and being true to yourself. An enjoyable read.

Same Time Next Summer was a delightful read. I promise it will be 2023's favorite summer read!
We follow Sam and Wyatt who are childhood best friends that come together every summer at the beach on Long Island. They fall in love but like most teenage love, it ends in heartbreak. Sam finally comes back to her summer home since her big heartbreak to plan her wedding to her fiancé, Jack. But, when Sam and Jack arrive they find out Wyatt is also back. This novel switches between both Wyatt and Sam's viewpoints and you get to see both sides of their story. This was a refreshing and cute romance without all the overly gushy stuff. It took me back to my teenage self. I really enjoyed how the author captured that teen love and heartbreak and also the adult feelings of trying to navigate a life where you are lost and finding yourself again. I would read this over and over again.

Thank you for the advance copy of this book as I was completely obsessed with Nora Goes Off Script! I devoured this book and thought it was a perfect summer read however it wasn't love. The ending felt rushed and some things were unbelievable like Wyatt being a big shot in the music industry and almost no one knowing that he was. The reason why Wyatt stopped talking to Sam I thought was unbelievable because while that situation was upsetting, you wouldn't stop talking to your first love like he did. The author did play into Wyatt not having the best family life but in no way did she allude to him having anger problems like his brother did so him being set down a spiral to not talk to Sam after the affair didn't sit well with me. I also thought Wyatt was kind of an asshole as an adult which I get the reasoning for but I feel the author didn't write it properly. Overall I still enjoyed this book and I think it'll be a great beach read but I think it'll be forgotten about once a reader picks up another book.

Huge thank you to the Penguin Group Putnam for my ARC.
Pub date: 6/6/2023
Such a cute, fun, and flirty read. This will be your beach read in 2023!! Reminded me of “Every Summer After” by Carley Fortune in the feel, but with a totally different story line.
This is the story of Sam and Wyatt-who spent every summer together from age 5 to age 17 on Long Island, NY, growing up and eventually finding love, but one night ended everything. Now, Sam returns to Long Island, 14 years later, engaged to a perfect man, and comes face to face with Wyatt. She begins to question all of her choices. I loved how this story came together. It felt predictable at first but I loved the journey that Abigail Monaghan took me on. Couldn’t put it down for the last 50% of the book!

“The goodest of all the good people I’ve ever known”

This book was so good. It sent me back to my own summers at 15 and 16. Being free and alive. I loved the MMC, Wyatt and everything he represented. I loved how he loved Sam and wanted her to remember that she’s chocolate cake and that she doesn’t have to fit into a box. He reminded her that he knew her and not this adult version of herself that she created to feel safe.

This is going to be a great summer read! Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

Another great read by Annabel Monaghan, it will be a perfect first read of summer '23. It tells the tales of first love and knowing not only who you are, but what you need. Looking forward to reading more by Monaghan.

Makes you remember your first love! This is a wonderful escape that is a great follow up to Nora Goes off Script.

This was such a sweet read - it felt a lot like “Every Summer After” and “The Summer I Turned Pretty” but not TOO much like them, just the vibes, which was good! It had that sort of looseness that summer books have, while still being very much it’s own story. I don’t think it’s possible for a book to have no cliches, but this one did well with the ones it had to make them not feel overused. I was rooting for them the whole time!

Annabel Monaghan’s SAME TIME NEXT SUMMER was a delightful reading respite. It’s been a long time since I fell so completely into a story and did not want to put the book down. Not a silly love story or an overly gushy romance, this novel has all the elements that entertain and thrill me. The setting is a quaint little beach town where everyone knows Sam and Wyatt and remember them as teens. I turned page after page with Sam as she remembered falling in love, moments written in beautifully described flashes of time between the dunes, floating on the ocean, and in the tree house. Is this a second-chance romance, a friends-to-lovers narrative, or a first-love-is-the-sweetest story? In any case, there is a story for everyone: love lost or love found, first love, family dynamics, small town life, or finding one’s way home. The entire cast of characters, family, and friends are authentic and interesting. This is my first book by Annabel Monaghan, but it will certainly not be my last. I loved her writing style, the perfect pacing, and her clear descriptive passages. Scenes came alive, so much so, that I find myself hoping there will be a sequel—Same Time, Same Place. I wasn’t ready for this book to end, and I want more.

This was a fun, fast read. Perfect for the summer. The main character Sam was such a lovely protagonist. She jumped off the page and made me connect with her so easily! Reading her personal journey was worth the wait in the romance journey.
It’s hard not to compare Same Time Next Summer to books like Love and Other Words and Every Summer After. I think it had enough differences to set itself apart but the romance was nothing profound. I will say Sam is one of my favorite MCs within the subgenre.
Next to check out are some of this authors other works!
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

This book had all the charm of a Hallmark movie but with better acting. 😉 The delicious tension between the main characters kept me reading and I devoured this book in one sitting.

A great premise with easy to love characters AND a charming backdrop? Sounds like the perfect recipe for a made-for-TV movie.

The synopsis of this book is similar to Love and Other Words and Every Summer After. This was a decent read, but unfortunately after reading those, it pales in comparison.