I read this book after Seven Summer Weekends which I feel like needs to be labeled as a sequel and now I want to go back and read Seven Summer Weekends to get all of the little easter egg appearances and appreciate the residents of Fire Island more in that one. But again neither needs to be read to enjoy the other.

On Fire Island is a beautifully emotional yet surprisingly light read about life, loss, and love. After Julia Morse dies, she spends one last summer on Fire Island, watching over her husband, Ben, and the community. This sounds rather sad, right, but Jane L. Rosen manages to mix in plenty of humor, making it more heartwarming than heavy.

I loved the characters, especially Shep, Julia’s quirky neighbor who helps Ben through his grief in the sweetest way. The island vibe is perfect—it’s like Fire Island becomes its own character. There are moments that’ll make you tear up, but also scenes that had me laughing out loud (seriously, “Hubba bubba or tutti fruity?” 😂).

If you’re into character-driven stories with lots of feels and a great setting, this is one to check out. Rosen’s definitely retained her auto-read author status for me with this one!

I liked this one a lot and was so grateful to be able to get an advanced copy, but this one took me a little while to get into. I am lucky enough to have spent time on Fire Island growing up, and to be able to bring my kids back today, and that connection is what kept me reading in the beginning. Ultimately, the story itself was able to hook me, but it wasn't until after the halfway mark that I was able to really get into the dead narrator aspect. I did love the setting and the characters were a blast - making this a 4 star read for me by the end!

On Fire Island by Jane L. Rosen is a contemporary women’s fiction title that comes with a side of a supernatural twist to it. The story in On Fire Island is narrated by the main character who happens to pass away shortly into the novel.

Julia Morse spent her life being a book editor and marrying the man of her dreams which she met through her job. Ben had written a novel and turned it into Julia’s publishing company where Julia read it and fell in love with the story and later after meeting the author of that story.

Julia and Ben were married and had a wonderful life together but one that ended way too soon when Julia found out she was terminal. At thirty seven Julia wasn’t ready to let go of her life when she died so instead of passing on into her next she chose to stay one last summer on Fire Island and look over Ben and all of their friends and family.

Knowing that the main character in On Fire Island by Jane L. Rosen is actually dead as she narrates the novel one is pretty safe to assume this is an incredibly emotional tale with grief at the forefront. The other characters in the story do go through a lot of healing after their heartache though and of course some character growth along the way too. I did enjoy On Fire Island once I settled into to it but with this unique perspective it did start off rather slowly for me so when finished I rated this one at three and a half stars and will give this author another try.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

To all my gals (and guys, if you are in to Chick Lit) who live in the land of third winter and have experienced the brief hint of what is to come as far as weather goes and now anxiously await summertime – boy do I have a book recommendation for you.

The story here is told from Julia’s perspective right after she has succumbed to a brief battle with cancer. Her husband has fled the expected seven day Shiva to hide out at their beach house on Fire Island. It is there Julia gets the opportunity to spend one final Summer as an observer before officially passing to the other side. Not only will she watch over Ben and their neighbor Shep as they navigate their way through the grieving process as recent widowers, but she’ll witness her best pal Renee heal her own broken heart after being cheated on by her husband and have a little summertime fling, see Matty and Dyl attempt (and fail) to procure a condom in order to officially come of age before Dylan heads off to college, and see if Bay Harbor can finally beat Oceanview in the end of season baseball game now that Renee’s ex isn’t eligible to play and be the strikeout king.

This one is perfect for fans of Kristin Higgins. A beachy read with tons of feels that most definitely won’t leave many a dry-eye in the house upon wrapping up the final pages. It felt like a warm hug and made me eager for those first days of sitting out on the deck with the sun kissing your shoulders. Every Star.

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

Though the cover makes one think this a beach read, the topic of grief ways heavily in this story. The setting was wonderful and getting to know all the characters was so enjoyable. You will laugh and cry with this story. Coping after losing a loved one was handled very well by this author. I look forward to more of her stories.

Even thought I read the synopsis of On Fire Island by Jane L. Rosen, I for some reason was not quite expecting the narrative quality of the departed Julia in this book. That said, I enjoyed this one and thought it provided an interesting perspective on love, loss, grief, and moving on after death.

Many thanks to the author, published, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

I went in thinking this was a rom com and boy was I wrong! What a unique heartfelt story this turned out to be and I love the way she writes! I can’t wait to see what she writes next!
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Thank you #berkley and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

I adored this book! I adore Jane Rosen - she's an absolute gem! She took the time to chat with our book club to discuss this and other titles. It was the most fun! This book will hit all of your feels - sadness and grief of course, but also humor and hopefulness. Loss is hard and she doesn't shy away from it but she also imbues some comedic moments and the hopefulness of friendship in a small town. I can't wait for her next book!

On Fire Island is a book about grief and loss. It's about survival. It's about starting over and hope. There is hope on the other side of loss. I'll admit, I thought this was a summer romcom, but it was so much more than that! It was deep and endearing.

Julia loves books- she’s dedicated her life to them as an editor. She’s read many and loved to guess the ending. But she would never guess her own ending would come at just 37 years old.

After she passes, she spends one last summer (from above) with her friends and family watching them as they spend their time on Fire Island. We get to know how Julia and Ben meet and what their relationship was like before Julia passed. I cried when they finally found out they were expecting a baby.

This was such a sweet story of love and dealing with grief. Julia and Ben had such a strong marriage; I hope that Ben is able to live life to the fullest as Julia would have wanted. I will say it’s a lot of Julia’s thoughts as the story is told through her. But it has its moment of humor and it was a beautiful book.

Thank you @berkelypub and @janelrosen for my gifted ebook. On Fire Island is out now.

Thank you @berkleypub for the free book and @prhaudio for the audio version as well. My thoughts are my own.
#penguinrandomhousepartner
#berkleypartner #berkley

Romance lovers will love this bittersweet story. Book editor Julia Morse finds out she has a terminal illness, and after she dies she decides to linger at the summer retreat where she enjoyed so many years with her husband. As she follows her husband and friends around, she tells their stories and relives her own…helping everyone to move on and realizing her own impact.

This heartwarming book was several love stories in one. It deals with grief and loss, but manages to be uplifting at the same time.

This is a great summer read if you enjoy a story with emotional overtones. Emily Lawrence does a great job with the narration of this as well.

I didn’t know it when I started this book, but this book was just exactly what I needed!!!
The grieving process, the community/family, the respect to get through it as best you can…

On Fire Island by Jane L. Rosen is a beautiful love story. The characters are real and put the reader right in the story with them.

This was the perfect beach read because of the beach setting, but the story itself. It was full of sadness and humor which is my favorite thing a book can do. The POV of Julia really worked in this situation. I fell in love with Ben, the town, and his neighbors.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC

A total summer book by it's cover but don't be fooled, this book is beautiful and deep!
"In ancient Hebrew, the word for tomb and the word for womb are one and the same."
this is the first line in On Fire Island and it opens a truly beautiful, heart wrenching and heartwarming story on grief as seen from the perspective of the recently deceased. A life affirming novel on the fleeting nature of life.
It is at once a laugh-out-loud and cry-out-loud story of a summer Julia Morse, a 37-year-old recently deceased book editor, spends observing her husband bestselling author, Benjamin Morse and their neighbors spend the very first summer after her death on Fire Island. Ben, devastated by Julia's early death, ditches the shiva ser vice at their New York City apartment and flees to their vacation home on Fire Island, where they shared so many happy moments. Julia follows him and witnesses his slow recovery and the people who help him and need him often both at once.
Ilaughed, I cried and I loved every minute!

Review will be posted on 8/16/23

Julia, an accomplished editor, died of cancer at 37. It's heartbreaking and it's painful. She leaves behind her husband, Ben, a successful writer, and her gorgeous home on Fire Island. Before she crosses over, she has one more summer to watch her husband, her family, and her friends at her favorite place in the world, Fire Island. She watches her husband slowly put his life back together and try to enjoy some of the things they loved on Fire Island including taking care of their dog. Ben befriends a fellow widow, Shep, who actually lived in his house. There's also Julia's parents that she keeps an eye on as well as her best friend, Renee. Renee is going through a nasty divorce and trying to raise her teenage son. She watches Renee go through the ups and downs of dating including meeting someone much younger than her. There are also friends Pam and Andie who have a baby, which is difficult at times to face head-on as Julia was supposed to have a child about that age. It isn't all sad though as Julia watches over; there are many funny moments and community members of the island that will have you cackling; however, readers know Julia's time here is limited, so that always hangs over your head as you are reading On Fire Island by Jane Rosen.

Rosen does such a great job bringing the beauty of Fire Island to life and illustrating how special a place can be to a person. I really enjoyed that aspect of the novel as well as all the quirky community members of Fire Island. The flashbacks to Ben and Julia's romance were also my favorite parts. How they met, and their relationship was swoonworthy which makes it even more difficult that she is now gone. Julia's Jewish family had me laughing out loud and her grandmother's antics were priceless. While there were so many funny moments in On Fire Island, more often than not, I found myself sad, because of the many triggers in this novel and not just an untimely dealth. There's divorce, heartbreak, miscarriage, and of course terminal cancer, which makes this novel a tough one to read if you have any experience with the awful disease. In fact, it reminded me a bit of Golden Girl, but it felt a bit heavier. So, if you are looking for an emotional beach read, this is it, but be forewarned.

After Julia dies young, she hangs around to watch over her grieving husband, Ben, and their Fire Island friends and neighbors.

The blurb promised it would be funny, poignant and nostalgic, but unfortunately, I did not feel any of that. Instead, there was way too much information about way too many minor, irrelevant characters. The entire story was from Julia's point of view with hardly any dialogue, and it was a rambling mess of gossip. In hindsight, I wish I would have allowed myself to quit reading but since it was an advance copy, I felt I should finish it.

Lastly, the premise was very similar to one of my favorite books ever, I Liked My Life (5 stars) Abby Fabiaschi, and I would definitely recommend it over this one! Next.

Location: Fire Island, New York

I received an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

When Julia dies at thirty-seven, she decides to spend one last summer watching her husband and friends on Fire Island.

This was a super weird premise, and I’m still not 100% sure how I feel about it. It wanted to like it and I didn’t hate it. Nothing really happened? Meh…

Wow! This was so charming. It reminded me of a Kristin Higgins novel I read last year with a little Elin Hilderbrand storytelling going on. I thought the characters were amazing and I loved the 3 generation of men together. This has some sad moments with death and grief but enough heartwarming, funny and community moments to keep it from being a downer. Great beach-y read, especially if you like the above mentioned authors.