This book is already my favorite book of 2024 - I cannot wait to have a physical copy of it.

I love books that make me feel - and this made me feel everything to my core. Ali is guarded and closed to who she really is - living in a world that no longer looks like her, and living for others. She is a mother of three, who recently lost her own mother and her husband left her. She is, for lack of a better word, stuck. In comes Ethan, a handsome guy in board shorts, a charming smile, and a cute dog.
Ethan and Ali decide to have a summer romance - nothing more - until they figure out who they are together is who they should be all along.

When I say this book made me feel everything, I mean it. I could feel the love of Ali for her children and her desire to give them the world. I could feel the pain Ali had from losing the support of her mother and feeling like a shadow of who she should be. I could feel the joy of seeing herself for who she is next to Ethan. I felt her heartbreak at having to choose and having to lose those she loves. Few books leave a mark like this one did - and I will not forget it any time soon.

Great read. Great story. The loveliest of characters. The most charming town and townspeople. Full 5 stars. Cannot recommend it enough. Read this one. It will be worth it.

3.5 ⭐️
I was rooting for Ali and Scooter/Ethan the whole time! But I also expected something more to happen. Overall a very cute romance novel that leaves you feeling hopefully.

I feel my words are redundant ,always starting a review about loving a book. This book had me from hello. A dog peeing in a shoe had me all in. I could write paragraphs about how much this book touched me. I’ve had none of Ali’s life experiences but I felt I was there in the trenches with her, waiting to see how this would all turn out. Ethan ( Scooter) was what my perfect man would be. Patient and kind and finding his own way when his family deemed his as a man that wasn’t living up to his potential. This book flowed so effortlessly for me. I have listened to the audio of Nora goes off script and truly enjoyed it. This book surpassed it in my opinion. Strong women finding their own way in their new chapters in life. I can’t thank NetGalley enough for this free advanced copy. I can’t wait to see what story comes next from this gifted author. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

4+

Did anyone else here grow up reading Sarah Dessen books? For me, her stories were the epitome of summer. They almost always took place in a beachside town, and the heroine would figure out pieces of herself and, more likely than not, fall in love in a swoony and delightful way. And that's the vibe I get from Annabel Monaghan, but now instead of a teenager figuring out her way we get an adult woman coming back to herself.

"Summer Romance" takes place in a small town and follows a woman struggling with grief and the aftermath of an unpleasant marriage as she takes off her wedding ring and starts to step back into herself. But, ya know, with the context of falling in love and relearning the people in her life and the lovely backdrop of summer. The writing is gorgeous, the romance makes your heart all fluttery, and I honestly have zero complaints. I'm at the point where if Annabel Monaghan writes it, I'll read it. I have never been disappointed by one of her books, and this is my favorite to date.

Pick this up if...
1) You want a beach read that's focused on the feelings you get while falling in love.
2) You like the trope where the love interest has actually been in love with the protagonist forever.
3) You don't mind (or prefer) when any sex scenes happen entirely off screen.
4) You read books for the vibes and good writing.

Also, general note to add that this book deals with parental death (in the past) and divorce.

I am a big fan of Annabel Monaghan's novels, so I had high expectations going into this. I am happy to say that this book had met those expectations...and even surpassed them.

Summer Romance has found itself sitting on my 5-star shelf.

Newly single Ali is learning to navigate through her life, and pantry, while wearing hard pants for the first time in two years.
Ethan is just in town visiting his family.
They meet (I'll let you experience their introduction yourself) and soon their romance beings.

This book perfectly captures the feeling of a whirlwind summer romance. I couldn’t set it down! It had everything I love in a book (small town romance, summer fling, DOGS!) and some things I didn't even know I would love (imperfect meet cutes).

I definitely recommend this book if romance and women's fiction are your thing!

Thank you so much to Putnam and NetGalley for allowing me to read this amazing book early to review! All opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley I received an advanced electronic copy of the book to read and provide a review.

Wow, this was a really beautiful story! It was refreshing to read a “summer romance” with a 38 year old mother of three. It had the fresh and fun feel of a typical summer romance on the water with nostalgia, shorts and sandals, lobster rolls and sand in your toes BUT with adults dealing with huge life changing events.

I loved how the author balanced the journey of self-discovery and building confidence for Ali while deeply caring for her children and allowing herself to find love! Scooter / Ethan was also a really refreshing and smart MMC who finds the fun while consistently showing up.

All in all, I really enjoyed and loved this story. It was endearing and full of happy tear moments!

To be honest, I was skeptical of the premise when I read the jacket copy but it delivered. This book is giving NORA a run for its money as my favorite Annabel Monaghan book. I inhaled this book when I should have been preparing for important work meetings. It's funny and witty and, above all, real. Monaghan's writing is a gift.

I want to start by saying THANK YOU so much to Putnam and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this book as an ARC and provide my honest, unbiased review.

Now onto the good stuff...
OMG I loved this book so much!! This story is about Ali; she's in her late-30's, has 3 kids, has been separated from her husband for a year and is in the process of divorce, and is approaching the 2-year anniversary of her mother's death, whom she had an insanely close relationship with. Ali is a professional organizer, but her personal life...not so organized, and I felt like this was so relatable!! We can be so put together at work, but outside of work, life can feel so messy. One day at the dog park, she meets a sexy someone in a hilarious circumstance, whose name is Ethan. Can we just talk about an amazing meet cute! Like why doesn't this happen to me?! They hit it off, have an awesome first date, and their relationship develops from there. I loved the development of their relationship, but I loved Ali's character development even more. Her character was so easy to connect to and she showed so much personal growth throughout the story, you are just cheering her on like you go girl!

Summer Romance is an absolute HIT!

Annabel Monaghan seems to only get better with each book, once again she completely swept me up in the world of her story. Her books hit that sweet spot for me - they have a lit / women’s fiction tilt with strong romantic arc throughout. Her story’s are always engaging, relatable, thought provoking and heartfelt.

In Summer Romance, we meet Ali - professional organizer struggling to organize her own life, newly single mother of three, and finding herself a bit overwhelmed and it a rut with these things while still grieving the loss of her own mother 2 years prior. The pending divorce, as well as meeting someone new shakes things up and suddenly Ali is finding out how to put the pieces together and start to build a new life.

I love so many aspects of Monaghan’s story telling, but one thing that stands out for me is the fact that her characters are a bit more experienced. Ali is 38 - she’s lived life. She’s grown, she’s had a career, a family. It’s nice to read about the experiences of a character in this age range- it’s not all shiny new first experiences, but a character with some true life experience to draw on. I like that Ali wasn’t just a 25-30 year old which gave some more depth for me.

Her characters feel real and relatable. I was invested in Ali and Ethan. I was interested to see them explore their journeys and nuances of their individual experiences. Ali honestly felt so real, like one of my friends with the issues she was handling: divorce, grief, dating again, parenthood, being an adult.

The story was heartwarming and authentic. I loved the characters, mains and secondary, and was so pleased to get swept up in how things would all play out. The romance was paced just right for me and had just the right role within the story. This was an easy five stars read for me, I wanted to slow my pace to make it last but I quickly devoured it and found the ending satisfying and it left me smiling.

I’ll continue to try anything Annabel Monaghan writes and will eagerly await her next book. I’m the meantime, I’ll highly recommend this one 😊

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the opportunity to read and review an early copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own and freely offered.

Thank you NetGalley and Annabel Monaghan for the ARC copy of Summer Romance.

I loved the storyline of Alice and Scooter and it definitely felt like a hallmark meet cute romance. I struggled a bit with the structure of the book and felt that some of the chapters and other breaks jumped to hard to fast. I would recommend to my friends as a light hearted read and overall would read it again.

4.7⭐️
Wow! I loved this so so so so much! I finished this in about a day and a half. It was so captivating and the writing was just really good and refreshing!

Synopsis: Ali Morris is a 38-year old soon to be divorced woman with 3 kids. Separated for a year and approaching the two-year anniversary of her mother's death. Ali is a professional organizer all the while her life is a total mess. She can't seem to get that straightened up. Mentally, emotionally and physically. That is until she has the BEST meet cute at the dog park and a new sudden sense of sparks comes about. She changes out her usual sweats for jeans and even throws on some lipgloss. Ali feels rejuvenated and comes to life.

Watching Ali and Ethan's relationship unfold was adorable. I loveddddd reading about them. The character development really hit. Ali finds her voice again, one she lost between marriage and becoming a mom and it was just such a relatable story! I was rooting for Ali the entire time. She was extremely likable and you wanted to see her come out on top.

The different relationships that touch in this book gave me ALL the feels. Old love, new love, motherhood, friendships...it's all there and it all HITS so warm and fuzzy.

I laughed, I cried and overall felt so good after reading this. It shows you that sometimes things are messy. Sometimes life is hard. Sometimes you wonder what it's all about. But there is reason and purpose. And it's all WORTH IT at the end. Buy the dog...

*Thank you so much to Putnam and NetGalley for this early release publication for my unbiased review!

Summer Romance is a total WIN!

Ali is in a rut since her mom died. As a professional organizer, she can’t seem to control the chaos of her own life due to her insurmountable grief. To make things worse, on the one year anniversary of her mom’s death her husband decides to leave her. Ali can’t even say she’s disappointed in her failed marriage. She just misses her mom. However hard things are for Ali, she must attempt to move forward. So she takes off her ring, puts on real pants and goes to the dog park where her dog pees on a handsome stranger in town visiting family. After one amazing date, Ali starts to wonder if she can have a summer romance with this guy.

I adore every book Annabel Monoghan writes at this point. She has a beautiful way of immersing you in the story and characters while also perfectly portraying the emotions of divorce and grief. I loved Ali and Ethan but mostly I loved Cliffy and his “fun-tastic” enthusiasm.

What a great book. First book for me from this author and I am looking forward to more books by her. It's an entertaining story about a true summer romance and what happens from there. It builds relationships and reminisces about past encounters and people who have been lost.

First off, huge thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the opportunity to read this pre-release in exchange for my review. And my goodness, Annabel Monaghan does it again. What an absolutely lovely book. Ms. Monaghan has hit it out of the park with Summer Romance. Her main character, Ali, is relatable and down-to-earth, navigating the recent death of her mother and her (potentially unexpected?) divorce. When she meets her love interest, Ethan, who is fun and playful, yet realistic and has his own drives and reasons. Deciding to embark on a summer romance through lots of changes and moments of growth in Ali’s life, it makes for a joyous read from start to finish. I really loved that this read had such a simplicity in its premise, but it led to so many poignant moments and words that will stay with me as lessons for my own life. I felt each individual character was inviting and understood (a favorite of mine being visiting Ali’s daughter, Greer, and her exploration of being a preteen weathering her own life changes alongside Ali’s), and it was one of those novels where you feel like you’re transported into the room as a fly on the wall throughout its entirety. This book felt like a warm hug, and I’m consistently so impressed with Ms. Monaghan’s writing. I first became a fan after Nora Goes Off Script, then Same Time Next Summer, and now, yet again, with Summer Romance. Highly recommend this, and so glad to have read it.

Annabel Monaghan writes the most emotion filled, character rich books and this one did not disappoint. I loved her other two books and when I saw Summer Romance was coming out I couldn't wait to read it!

There is so much happiness tucked into this book and I loved getting to know our main characters so thoroughly. ❤️ If you need a little sunshine in your life, pick this one up.

This book is about finding yourself after deep grief and loss, romance after divorce, and finding your spark as a "grown up".

5 stars from me. I would have read this book in one sitting if I didn't have to get up the next day! I read it in two sessions and didn't want to put it down. I can't wait for her next book.

Thank you to netgalley for an eARC to review and read.

Annabel Monaghan has delivered once again. I really thought this book might not do it for me with the soon to be divorced single mom trope, but the storytelling was so poignant and beautiful. Experiencing how Ali rediscovered her former self and was willing to take another risk on love after parental and spousal heartbreak will be inspirational to many.

If you have lost a parent, be prepared to be in your feelings while you read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher. This was an EASY 5 star read. I loved Ali and Ethan so so much. I can't imagine there will be another summer romance novel out in 2024 that is better than this. I loved every character, every scene-- just perfection!

Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan is my first novel by this author but will definitely not be my last!!!! This was such a fun read- an absolute perfect beach book!!! I love a heroine who is adorably imperfect and Ali is the most perfect example ever. Ethan- swoon!!!!!! A book you won't want to put down and will definitely not forget!

I absolutely LOVED this book! Just like Nora Goes Off Script, this book is so much more than what it seems. It’s not a complicated story, but the writing is catchy, the main characters are witty, and their life seems real. Ali is a very sad, soon to be divorced mother of 3 who lost her mom two years prior. She’s not gotten her life back on track. And Ethan? Sigh….he’s the perfect thing that she needs.

The chapters are short; the story never drags; all the characters, both primary and secondary, are a great mix and just what the story needs! And the underlying theme is about that everlasting family bond that makes you who you are! This will be a great summer book when it releases in June!

Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan was absolutely perfect! I devoured this book like the last lobster roll of summer!

Ali has lost herself in grief and a bad marriage. Is a summer romance just the thing to remind her who she really is and jumpstart the rest of her life?