This beach read is a good fit for readers who enjoy coastal settings, independent book stores, books about books/the publishing industry, and themes of friendship. I liked the multiple viewpoints, but it took me a while to get them separated. I would have preferred more slow-burn romance build up, but that is minor critique. I think readers should be aware that while the book has a romance subplot, the main plot is more women's fiction centered!

I wanted to love this summer beachy read. But there were too many characters, all very cliche, and it felt almost like a parody of a summer romance. The romance came in too hot and heavy - there was not enough build up - and that's the best part of a summer romance is the slow burn!

Such a good read that I enjoyed! I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

This story was very fun and enjoyable as a summer read. It was missing a tiny flair that would have raised it to 5 star but overall very enjoyable

Jamie Brenner books are usually a win for me, but this was a DNF. I don't like any of these characters and find them all incredibly irritating. On top of that I find the story and writing to be very disjointed and hard to follow.

A NOVEL SUMMER is a smart and honest story about friendship, love, and the choices one has to make to reach one’s dream. Brenner effortlessly weaves together a narrative that is both enjoyable and heartfelt.

What I love so much about the author’s writing is how she showcases the small-town life in a way that almost makes the location a character. Shelby, Hunter, and Colleen are our leading ladies, but the Cape and Land’s End Books are key players in this narrative.

Every time Jamie Brenner publishes a book it instantly becomes my must-read for the summer. A NOVEL SUMMER was no different. There is a sense of coming home to one of her novels. I know I will get brilliant storytelling, complicated relationships, and characters I want to invest in. And this time, I even got a love letter to books and the independent bookstores they are sold in. It was the perfect one-sitting read.

Three years ago Hunter, Collen, and Shelby spent their last summer together in Cape Cod. Now, Collen is running her family's bookstore in the Cod. Hunter grew up with money but is trying to make her own way in publishing. Shelby got her dream of becoming an author, and her debut novel has just been released. A stop on her bookstore brings her to Collen's bookstore where she is expecting to be celebrated but she learns some of the inspiration she took from her friends for her book hurt them.

Circumstances lead to Shelby taking over the bookstore for the summer to help out Collen who is dealing with health issue. Shelby takes it as an opportunity to work on her next novel, with the deadline looming and nothing solid to pitch. Her summer doesn't got the exact way she planned and in the end she must choose between the people who have always supported her and her career.

I love books that have very strong secondary characters, and the friendships are just as important as the romantic relationship. This book was a great summer read, set on the beach, friendship, a small town setting, and a sweet romance. This book did try and tackle too many things and did not do them enough justice but overall was a nice read.

https://mauriceonbooks.wordpress.com/2024/08/09/a-novel-summer-by-jamie-brenner/

Loved this quintessential summer novel that immediately takes you to the beach and fills your senses with all things beachy.

Thank you for the ARC!
This book was my first from this author and I enjoyed the story line.
Author Shelby Archer found inspiration for her first novel while living on the picturesque shores of Provincetown on Cape Cod. When she comes to the town to celebrate her new bestseller, she is expecting a warm homecoming. But instead she is confronted with the cold shoulders of friends and neighbors who feel exposed and betrayed.

I think that the main characters friends were a little immature compared to the main character. The other women felt a little bit caddy and mean to Shelby. I loved the descriptions to help set the mood and scene in the book of Cape Cod. A cute summer read.

I think this is a perfect summer beach read. Jamie Brenner writes about friendship and love in a consistent and approachable way, and creates characters you root for. The setting of P-Town is absolute perfection. I love reading Jamie Brenner every summer!

Oh the cycles of female friendship is the heart of A Novel Summer...Shelby, Colleen and Hunter meet as girls during summer holidays in Provincetown, but such as getting older goes, they lose touch until Shelby returns to promote her new bestselling book. She heads to Colleen's family bookstore, Land's End, to kick off her book tour a little nervous and gets more backlash than she's expecting from her friend.

At first, I was not a fan Shelby. She comes across as self involved and narcissistic about her book and her attitude toward her friends. I felt like she had grown into some resentment and insecurity toward her friends even though she had achieved her goal of publishing a novel. She uses her first hand experiences and those of her friends as the basis of her novel, but didn't have the courtesy or respect to give them a heads up.

In the end, the commonality of the needs of Colleen bring them back together and they work things out, but the weaving of each character and secondary character drags out the main plot as those subplots aren't that interesting.

This was a very enjoyable summer read. With all the happy feels. I loved the setting, the literary themes from the bookshop to the published book and the exploration of friendships through the years.

I really wanted to like this book as I loved the premise, but I had a hard time connecting with the characters. I felt like there were too many tropes used and too many "big events" squeezed into the book. I love Jamie Brenner, but this book didn't quite meet the mark.

I am so glad that books about writers and the publishing world are becoming a thing right now. I have read quite a few lately where the MC is in one of those fields and I have yet to get tired of it. I love books and reading, but have never thought about writing so that take on the subject is fascinating. A Novel Summer is a great second chance romance. Set in a small tourist town on the Cape, it’s the perfect location for a summer novel. I felt for Shelby, an author, who goes back to help out a friend at her bookstore. One of her friends is mad at her about her first book and some character portrayal and later her other friend has similar issues. The two of them seemed a bit whiny for my liking. However the rest of the cast of characters I really enjoyed and they made this a perfect beach read!

As a college student, Shelby Archer spent her summers with her best friends Hunter and Colleen in the beach town of Provincetown on Cape Cod. She worked in Colleen’s family’s bookstore and lived with Hunter. The three promised to make it back every summer after they graduated, but it never really panned out. Now Shelby has found success as an author, with a book that’s loosely based on their friendship and those summers. Hunter is pissed off about it because her character isn’t given the best edit. As much as Shelby would like to slink back to NYC and start working on her next novel, she’s got writer’s block - and Colleen needs her help desperately with running the book store. With the three friends back on the island - and Shelby’s ex-boyfriend Justin seemingly everywhere she turns, they’re all in for an interesting summer.

This is my first read by the author and I did enjoy it. I liked Shelby a lot, and I thought she was a lot more mature than her friends were. Her friends were all honestly pretty crappy and immature (even Colleen, who I really wanted to like). I loved the Cape Cod setting. I’ve never been there but read about it in books, and I think the author did a nice job setting the scene. This is definitely a great beach read to sneak in before the summer is over!

What a great summer read! I love a good beach town book and working in a small beach town bookshop myself I was able to relate a bit. I don’t know what I would do if my friend’s bookstore was in trouble but I would love to believe our friends and neighbors would really around her like in this book.
I will recommend this book to customers for sure starting tomorrow!
Thank you for allowing me to read the ARC and look forward to the next one.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jamie Brenner, and Park Row for this e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I was not expecting for this to be a 5 ⭐ read but man was I captivated by Jamie's writing style and completely sucked into the world of Provincetown. This story reads like a grown up version of Dawson's Creek surrounding a group of friends in their 20s from the cape and full of friendship mistakes and growth. From second chance friendships, romance, and career paths this book took you places you did not think it would. This story explores the plans we make for our future and how quickly life can change them for us and how sometimes we have to change them ourselves. Full of small town camaraderie and coastal descriptions from the buildings, beach, decor, and down to the wildlife. It's very relatable how a decision you make can affect those around you without you even thinking they would. If you are looking for a fast paced, easy beach read this book IS for you and even if it's not your normal read I still highly recommend it!!!

#netgalley #netgalleyreview #anovelsummer #jamiebrenner #parkrowbooks #romcombooks
#beachreads

3.5 stars. A Novel Summer is about three female friends who met in college who come together on the Cape after two of them have had a falling out. I love books set on Cape Cod, but I have not read one focused on Provincetown before, so I enjoyed that element of it.

Read if you enjoy:
*Beach reads
*Small towns
*Books about books
*Bookstore rivalry
*Female friendship

Constructive criticisms:
*I found the main characters to be immature and annoying. This seemed to increase as the book progressed.
*The plot was a bit all over the place. I felt that there were too many themes/dramas happening amongst the characters.
*I think the book needed a bit more editing to pare down the various story lines to make things more focused and less chaotic.

Thank you to HTP and NetGalley for an arc to read in exchange for my review.

I throughly enjoyed A NOVEL SUMMER by Jamie Brenner. Taking place in Provincetown (one of my favorite towns on Cape Cod!) we are introduced to three female best friends post college. The book focused on their friendship more than anything else (not much of romance) but it was very heartwarming. I loved the literary aspect of the book — it included the publishing industry, owning a bookstore and writing a book. It’s the perfect summer read for book lovers! Thank you to NetGalley and Park Row for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I love books that are set in book stores and books that are set in quaint vacation places and this has both making it a lovely read.
25 year old Shelby Archer left Provincetown, a town on Cape Cod, 3 years ago to try to make it as an author in NYC and now she’s back having not just written her debut, but also having written an NYT bestseller. She’s now back in Provincetown to help her friend, Colleen, run her family’s long standing bookstore. Shelby is expecting a hero’s welcome, but she receives the exact opposite. Her ex boyfriend and his family are still upset with how she left him and her friends, Hunter and Duke, are upset because they found their own personal stories within the pages of Shelby’s hit. During the summer, Shelby has to help Colleen with the store so her parents don’t sell it, try to make amends to everyone she inadvertently hurt, and write her next novel. She’s not sure how she’s going to make it all work, but Provincetown inspired her first book and she’s beginning to find more inspiration in the drama that’s unfolding in this quaint seaside town.
While my synopsis makes it seem like this is told solely from Shelby’s perspective, it isn’t at all. Within each chapter we see the (third person) perspectives of Shelby, Hunter, Colleen, Duke, and Shelby’s ex-boyfriend, his mother and his sister. It sounds like a lot, but it’s really not. All together we have a front row seat to summer on Cape Cod and a great look into the lives of people who live there year round.
While I liked most of the characters, there were aspects of some that I just couldn’t stand. I felt like I knew how to solve the major issue before any of the characters did and there was a subplot with Hunter that was just left dangling.
That being said, this was a very cute and easy summer read and will definitely read more books by Jamie Brenner. Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an advanced copy of this. A Novel Summer hit the shelves on July 16th.