The real star of this book was the food! Didn’t help that I was hungry while reading it. I had an intense desire to eat chowder and clams.
This was a simple tale of three generations of female family members, whose connection to the summer house and island was integral to who they were as people. There was conflict, realistic marriages and the tension of performing the right moves in social situations to make others happy.
The dual timeline was interesting, 1948 affluent summers sound very similar to more modern day ones. Endless rounds of tennis, lunches, beach’s, parties and cocktails. Storylines were never padded out enough or expanded on which made it hard to feel any care for the characters. There was more love and attention given to the food and the kitchen island! It was a pleasant, easy read.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

A dual time line story about mothers and daughters. The story is easy to read and follow, but the characters fell a little flat and did not have much time to develop. I enjoyed the historical time line more than the present day.

This was my first Erika Montgomery book and it certainly won’t be the last. Such a great, comfort read. It reminded me of my favorite beach read author, Elin Hilderbrand.

I was given the opportunity to read this advanced copy by NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback, all opinions are my own.

I love this authors work and i will forever read more. This was a good book to read dhring the summer. And its a good bookto get lost in and honestly thats what i needed in a book. The characters were well developed and the premise was great and it was fast paced cant wait to read more. I love the cover as well

I really enjoyed Erika Montgomery's first book and was thrilled to read an early release copy here. Fans of Elin Hildebrand will enjoy this family beach romance.

This book was so riveting and I had trouble putting it down and doing my everyday tasks. I loved the back and forth timeline, I loved that it was set in 1999 so that cell phones weren't really a factor in any of the story. There was regular communication of calling, leaving a message, or speaking to someone else and having to be put on hold, etc. I also liked that I could relate to the Vineyard coming back to life after the war, very similarly to our lives after quarantine.

I thought that the naming of the bedrooms after cooking sauces was very random and over the top and pretentious.

While I so much liked all the characters I thought there were a few plot holes:
I was disappointed to not find out how Max and Cora reconnected and decided to get married. That seemed integral to their love story, but was missing. And was Lois a friend? Or an enemy? No meat to that story. And then the introduction of the plot of the waitresses at the club was random and then forgotten.

How did Michelle and Wes have the money to open a restaurant on the island if she was in so much financial trouble in Baltimore? I know that their friends were going to add in their savings.... but so much was made of the hole she was in and she suddenly was ok and plunging into another investment?
And why was Cora leaving the house? Simply because it was too big for them? Why wasn't that fleshed out more?

This had a lot of potential and the author is an excellent story teller in the pacing and the way that I was drawn in, but there were too many loose threads and not enough deep dives into any of the story lines........I felt like I got a copy of the book that was missing a chunk of pages in the middle that explained so many pieces.

Three generations of women, family drama, the one that got away, and second chances? This book has it all.

This book makes me want to learn how to cook properly and to also plan a summer trip to Martha’s Vineyard. The way the author described the food and the location made me daydream of vacationing on the island. Thanks Erika Montgomery for writing such an inspiring book.

So happy I was given an ARC of this amazing book. Just what I needed to help me get out of my mid-winter funk.

This is a sweet well written novel about 3 generations of women and their personal connections to a family home. It goes back and forth from past to present day. Very well written with characters that are well developed, not too much information and not too little. I would read more books by this author.

This was a lovely book with sprinklings of other stories that really swept me in. I'm not a big water person but the author, Erika Montgomery, painted such a welcoming and family-oriented home at Beech House that I want to go there. It may not exist but it does in my mind and I love it already. I almost feel like Beech House is its own character with its own love story. Maybe my favorite of the book.

Mickey has so much love for her family, especially her grandma, it fully seeps into her every move. To have so much reverence for what was, is and what can be, is an amazing trait and I'm so happy I "met" her through this book.

Cora was devoted to her husband even though she might've had feelings for another she never acted on it and she let it go, in the name of love. That she was lucky enough to have a second chance at that love is remarkable and all any of us can hope for when we lose our love.

Hedy was hard for me to relate to and she just seemed hard and unapologetic, to a fault. I'm glad to see she softened up by the end of the book.

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

I chose a cold New England afternoon to begin reading “Our Place on the Island” and I was quickly warmed up by the gentle ocean breezes, the happiness in Cora’s eyes as she prepared for her wedding, and her hope that her daughter and granddaughter would find peace during their stay on the island.

I loved Mickey’s relationship with her grandmother, Cora. Mickey spent many summers on the island, where her love for cooking was born. She helped her grandmother plant her herb garden and prepared delicious meals under her watchful eye. The house itself had many stories to tell, especially about Cora’s kitchen, which was renovated to her specifications many years ago. Hedy, Cora’s daughter, had a love/hate relationship with the family home, the Beech House, because she missed her late father terribly and was afraid to be in the house without him.

Erika Montgomery’s writing is visually enticing, eloquent and lyrically beautiful. The Beech House was a cozy and loving place for everyone that was lucky to have spent time there. Over the years couples fell in love, parties were given and dreams were made. The family drama between Cora, Hedy and Mickey took a backseat to the love they had for each other. They all realized that life was precious and that this time together on the island was a gift they would cherish forever

This was an enjoyable read and will be perfect as a summer beach read. He author jumps from one generation to the other, but has made it very easy to follow the story line.

Mickey has a secret that she hasn't told even her boyfriend, the chef in her restaurant. Although Piquant earned a feature in Gourmet Magazine with a high rating, Mickey owes money to all of her suppliers and can't imagine how she can save the Baltimore hot spot. But when she learns that her adored grandmother, Cora, is getting married in her seventies, she agrees to spend a weekend on Martha's Vineyard to attend the wedding. Little does she know that she will learn more about her family--and herself--over the course of a few days in a location she discovers she has sorely missed. Present-day scenes are interspersed with insights into her grandmother's life 51 years earlier (1948), when Cora was a new wife trying to be accepted by the Martha's Vineyard community while maintaining her own individuality and sense of self.

The characters of Mickey, her mother, Hedy, and Cora are sensitively drawn. Supporting characters are also memorable, though some are not necessarily likeable. Montgomery has successfully combined them with an absorbing, emotional plot to make a satisfying stew with a delicious aftertaste.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

A moving and marvelous story told in two time periods. The tale of struggling to fit into the Martha’s Vineyard society troubles newlywed Cora in 1948. She is not of the elite set and feels oftimes below her friends. Her present day wedding brings her daughter, Hedy, and Hedy’s daughter, Mickey, to the island for the ceremony and for good-bye to the home Cora has lived in since her first marriage. The individual personalities and problems weave with memories of the house to create a wonderful novel.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"Our Place on the Island" by Erika Montgomery will put you in the mood for a getaway to your favorite beach. Mickey has just achieved her dreams and launched an award winning restaurant in Baltimore Md. It has a waiting list every night and she is in love with the chef, but her management skills are leaving her extremely stressed. It is not a good time for a break but her grandmother Cora is getting married and she has to be there. So she leaves for Martha's Vineyard without solving anything and prays it will get better. Beech House is where she spent her childhood, summers of swimming, clambakes, and cooking with her grandma, friends and family. It is where she was molded and became who she is. This is a great story of family, love & friends across the generations.
This book is sure to be on the summer 2023 to read list.

Thanks to NetGalley, Erika Montgomery, and St Martin's Griffin for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is an enjoyable and entertaining novel describing the intricate dynamics between three generations of women as they gather to celebrate the second marriage of Cora, the family matriarch, following the death of her husband three years ago. Cora’s daughter, Hedy, a self-professed “daddy’s girl,” is having a difficult time accepting that her mother is ready to begin a new chapter in her life. Michelle, aka Mickey, reluctantly joins her mother and grandmother while carrying the secret burden that her critically acclaimed, popular restaurant is failing financially due to her lack of management skills.

While the initial impression is that Mickey is the focus of the drama, Cora’s story is the driving force described in a dual timeline of 1948 and 1999. The author has a deft touch moving between these two periods with clarity and purpose. In fact, Cora’s extensive backstory during 1948 adds depth and richness to the character and plot development. I found the characters engaging and believable in their emotional reactions to the inevitable changes life brings.

The promotional material makes a point about the profound effects of Cora’s secrets regarding her past. I felt that was an overstatement, but that did not take away from the quality of the read. The novel ends on a high note that left me wanting to know more about these women and their relationships.

My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This review is being posted immediately to my GoodReads account and will be posted on Amazon upon publication.

What a treat. I got this ARC from NetGalley. I loved it. Mickey’s grandmother, Cora, is getting remarried, and Mickey heads out to the family home on Martha’s Vineyard. Mickey heads to the island with some secrets and when she arrives, she learns there are some secrets being kept from her.

This book takes us back and forth between Cora in 1948, starting out as a new bride and present day in 1999. Three generations of Campbell women have stories to be told and Erika Montgomery is an expert storyteller.

I always know that I like a book a lot because when it ends, I want more, and I want more!

A totally charming, feel-good book. Reading a new author is always a surprise and this was a pleasant one.

Mickey owns a failing restaurant in Baltimore when she is called to return to Martha’s Vineyard for the wedding of her 72 year old grandmother. So, this unlikely story alternates between 1948 and 1999, as we learn about Grandma’s history with the groom as well as how Mickey can repair her future.

Despite turmoil, the family triumphs and gives the reader a lovely bit of closure.

The author does a good job involving the reader in grams’ life in post-WWII, depicting the struggles of women when the solders returned home.

Obviously, I enjoyed the book and will certainly recommend it to my readers. Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

I absolutely loved the concept of this book. The flashbacks to the past to help explain the context of the present was lovely. The characters were complex and lovable. I did feel like the ending wrapped up too nicely and left a lot of loose ends. I would have loved to have an epilogue for a future time to help wrap up some of the loose ends. I also felt that the interaction between Cora and her husband after the tennis match was difficult to follow.

This is my first Erika Montgomery book but it won’t be my last. I loved the dual timelines. It was easy to follow and really helped to develop all the characters. I would of liked a longer story of Cora’s past and a bit more of Hedys childhood. Cora yearns for Max at the end of the 1948 timeline but it would of been nice to hear more about her life after that encounter.

This book has many relationship aspects that are intertwined within it. Mothers, daughters, granddaughters and Mickey and Wes’s romantic relationship. They all were very relatable in my opinion. The description of Martha’s Vineyard was exceptionally done, it made me want to take a summer trip there. Overall a great book and I would love to read a follow up book with maybe Hedy as the main character.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for an ARC copy of this book.

This book was sent to me electronically by Netgalley for review. A novel of family, love, and romance, the different time periods can be confusing. The main character has gone home for her grandmother’s remarriage, while dealing with her own career and love life. Her mother is in the mix also…three women and three stories make for an intriguing novel. Enjoy