Jessie is the main character and has always found refuge or a sense of home in a summer camp. She has been going since childhood and now is the director when she learns that the children of the deceased owner has decided to sell the camp property. Torn up about the camp being the only home she’s known she decides to spend the last summer reliving her memories and invites past now adult campers and staff back.

In attendance is Jessie’s once good friend Hillary who had pledged to help her run the camp when they were children. Having gone off to Chicago though and having had her own life they had fallen apart in their friendship and closeness. Hillary realizes what is happening with the camp and works to help Jessie in anyway she can.

Both women are single during their summer at camp and find two suitors that were least expected to catch their eyes!

This has a touch of love, friendship and working hard to save what you believe in. It definitely brings the sense of nostalgia of summer camps back to adult readers as well! I loved this novel and found it to be a quick read.

An absolute gem of a summer romance. Ali Brady writes such amazing books about friendship with romance woven in. I loved how this one featured two friends reconnecting AND they both get romances! Plus, the setting is just amazing and the cast of characters is so loveable.

4.5 Stars

This book was such a heartwarming read and the perfect nostalgic escape for the summer! It captured the magic of summer camp while weaving in a compelling story of friendship, love, and second chances. The characters were relatable and the setting was pure bliss. While the pace could have picked up in some parts, overall, it was delightful read that will leave you longing for your own camp reunion. It was the perfect summer read!

Until Next Summer tells the story of a summer camp that invites all of its past adult campers back for one last summer of fun before it is shut down. The story revolves around two estranged best friends who are finding their way back to each other and the two men who they have summer flings with. Until Next Summer was a fine beach read, but the random reference to Colleen Hoover's book (one of the characters worked at the restaurant from It Ends with Us) was just one of the aspects that didn't work for me.

Thanks to NetGalley, Berkley Romance, Penguin Random House, and Berkley Publishing for this copy of "Until Next Summer."

What a wonderful idea for a book! I always wanted to go to summer camp when I was a child, so having an "adult camp" for alumni of Camp Chickawah was inspired!

The canoe races, team competitions, campfires, talent show, and all the "essential" camp activities were so heartwarming.

But it's also a wonderful story about transitioning from childhood to adult friendship and how to remain true to yourself and your dreams.

This was a perfect book to read in the summer! I loved all the nostalgia for summer camp. This had so many great tropes - grump/sunshine, found family, friendships and a sexy chef! I loved all the different plot lines and thjs was a quick and easy read!

This book is written by the duo @bradeighgodfrey and Alison Hammer. I connected with @bradeighgodfrey early on in my Bookstagram journey when I joined @bookishladiesclub and I’m so thankful because I’ve loved everything she’s written! Thank you to @berkleyromance for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own. 4.5 rounded up

As someone who never had the opportunity to attend summer camp, I live vicariously through books like Until Next Summer, which so perfectly capture the full camp experience - the atmosphere, the friendships, the fun activities, & of course, the summer romances.

While I loved everything about the camp experience described in this story, my absolute favorite part was the theme of second chances. Jessie & Hillary became best friends at camp years ago and planned to become camp counselors together someday. When Hillary changed her mind to take a “real” job instead, the two friends became estranged. Jessie goes on to work at the camp full time until she learns the camp will be sold. She plans one last summer and invites all former campers, who are now adults, to relive the summer camp nostalgia. When Hillary signs up to help, it provides the perfect opportunity for Jessie and Hillary to reunite and rebuild their friendship. These women are like sisters so I was rooting every step of the way for them to find their way back to each other.

The second chances theme also extends to romances as well in this book, with Hillary getting a second chance at romance with the camp’s sexy chef, while Jessie connects with a gruff, reclusive writer who has rented a cabin for the summer to work on his next novel.

Whether you’ve been to summer camp and want to relive the nostalgia of your own experiences, or if like me, you never had the chance as a kid and want to experience the joys of camp for the first time, Until Next Summer is the perfect summer romance for you!

Until Next Summer!

QOTD: Would you attend summer camp as an adult?

Jessie and Hillary lived for summer camp. They dreamed about being counselors together, but when the summer rolled around, only Jessie went to camp. Hillary took a prestigious internship and the girls’ friendship ended. Now, over a decade later, Jessie is running the camp and Hillary is living the life she (or rather, her father) dreamed she would. When Jessie learns that the camp is being sold, she introduces an adult only summer camp as a last ditch effort to save the camp from being sold and developed.

I am really conflicted on this one. On one hand, I LOVED the summer camp setting and the idea of the main characters rekindling both their friendship and their respective relationships. BUT one of the storylines felt way too much like cheating for my taste, and it could’ve been easily avoided.

I also have to mention that there’s a content warning for pet death, so please proceed carefully if that’s something you avoid.

Thank you to Berkley for the eARC. All thoughts are my own.

Ali Brady does it again!!!

I’ve been fortunate to get every Ali Brady book on NetGalley! This is their third book and let me just say, they are in their grooooove! I loved this book so much!

The nostalgia of being a kid and going to summer camp is the best. It’s giving The Parent Trap vibes (without the swap lol) as I pictured that summer camp in a lot of the scenes in the book.

One thing I love about Ali Brady’s books is yes, there is romance and love interests but so much revolves around friendship and being a better version of yourself. My heart!! And also, this author due is freaking funny. I found myself laughing out loud.

If you’re looking for a well-rounded, nostalgic wholesome, summer vibes book with some spice - pick this one up!

Thank you Netgalley and Berkley for an advance copy of " Until Next Summer". I discovered the writing duo of Ali Brady last summer, and enjoyed her two previous books immensely. Out of all her novels, this probably was my least favorite. It felt soooo predictable, and was about 100 pages too long, but I found myself rooting for the main characters regardless. I will absolutely still be picking up her novels in the future.

In Until Next Summer, two former best friends spend their summer at an adults only summer camp before their camp is sold and closed for good. This book brought back such camp memories for me. The book fully captured the magic and essence of camp and how camp is such a massive part of your life and who you are if you grew up going to sleepaway camp. There is nothing like a camp friendship.
I loved the spin on summer camp with the characters going back as adults and reconnecting at a different stage in their lives. While the romances were beyond swoonworthy and sweet, the real love that bowled me over was the rekindling for a fractured camp friendship. I was a puddle by the end of this book, so entrenched in the lives of these strong, independent and impressive women. It is the perfect summer heartwarming read and the perfect ode to the carefree days of summer camp.

Former best friends, a summer camp in its final summer and a second chance at friendship, love and life.

This book screams SUMMER! The camp vibes, the summer love, the friendships, the found family - I loved it all! I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with these characters and at this camp. I only went to camp once when I was young but I have always been taken in by camper life and it was great to experience it through the lens of adults. All the added nostalgia and memories captured my heart.

The romances were fun and touched on a few of my fave tropes and definitely added some spice to the storyline. Part women’s fiction and part romcom, this makes for a heartwarming and humorous read about finding what and who brings you joy and grabbing hold with all you’ve got.

Growing up, Jessie and Hillary spent their summers at Camp Chickawah and loved every moment. So much so that the best friends promised they would be counselors together as they got older. But when Hillary backed out of their plan at the last minute, the two had a falling out and lost touch. Fast forward a few years and Jessie is the Camp Director and has just learned that the camp is being sold. For the last summer, Jessie decides to host an adult summer camp, inviting all the former campers who are now adults back for one more summer of nostalgia. Hillary sees this and decides to join and the two spend the summer together rebuilding their friendship, finding love, and trying to save the camp.

I really enjoyed this story. I LOVED the camp setting. It was so much fun and led to a great read with all the nostalgia. I didn’t even go to summer camp as a kid and this had me wanting to experience adult summer camp. I appreciated that this book showed the messiness of adulthood and reconciling who you thought you would grow up to be to reality, and seeing both women find themselves, find love, and reconnect with each other at a place that meant so much to them was incredibly heartwarming. There were a few plot lines that I struggled with (dog mom over here and dog deaths hit hard). But overall the heartwarming feel and the unexpected happy final plot twist more than made up for it in my opinion!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the advance copy.

This was the perfect summer read, and now I really want to go to adult summer camp! Ali Brady are one of my favorite writing duos, and every summer, I look forward to their new release. Until Next Summer was one of my most anticipated reads, and it did not disappoint!

I loved Jessie and Hillary equally and thought that the authors developed both of them well. Their storylines worked perfectly for the summer camp setting, and I enjoyed both of their romances. Cooper and Luke were great characters too, and I liked reading about who they were and their pasts. There’s a cool Easter egg that the authors threw in about where Cooper worked in Boston that I was super excited I caught onto. The other counselors at the camp were great side characters and brought some great laugh out loud moments to the story. There were also some serious moments in the book that I thought were handled delicately and with grace.

I loved that Kat from The Beach Trap made an appearance because until I read this one, that was my favorite Ali Brady book. The summer camp vibes, the competitions, and the food all made this book such a fun read and catapulted it to my favorite of theirs. I was transported to Camp Chickawah and felt like I was a camper there myself. All I have to say about this book is READ IT NOW! It’s everything I want in a summer read and was Chicka-awesome!

Thank you Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Until Next Summer by Ali Brady
Women’s Fiction with Romance

Thank you NetGalley and Berkely for the opportunity to read this early. This review contains my honest opinions. Ana’s Attic is an Amazon Affiliate.

“But if we knew the ending before we started, we’d cherry-pick our way through life, only doing things that are guaranteed to work out.”

I just read my favorite book of the year: Until Next Summer by Ali Brady. Honestly, I am 100% biased in this review because I went to sleepaway camp for nine or ten summers and they are the best memories of my childhood. Sleepaway camp shaped me into who I am today.

Until Next Summer is a love letter to camp. It’s about camp friends and camp love. It has friendship, romance, laughs and tears. And it’s about adults coming “home”. Two years ago I went to a camp reunion at my camp for the first time in over 40 years and reconnected with my best camp friend, so I related to this story so much.

Jessie and Hillary were best friends at camp. Neither had ever had a better friendship. They planned on coming back and being counselors together, but Hillary took an internship instead and Jessie went on to become the camp director. Jessie “lived ten months for two”, and camp was her home after coming from a broken family where both parents had new families. When Hillary didn’t come back, Jessie was hurt and their friendship ended, but they thought of each other often.

Ten years later, the camp is about to be sold and Jessie and her staff decide to make the last summer an adult summer camp for former campers. Hillary signs on to become arts and crafts director, but Jessie is still hurt that Hillary blew her off ten years before. This friendship and reconciliation was the main theme of the book and I loved it.

Yes, there was romance with each woman hooking up with their old camp crushes. There were a few mild open door sex scenes, but the main theme was friendship and trying to save the camp. I can’t tell you the nostalgia I felt while reading this book! I loved every minute of it, and now I will be searching for other summer camp books as well as reading more from Ali Brady as a writing duo, and Alison Hammer and Bradleigh Godfrey as individual authors.

“Maybe it comes down to deciding what kind of people we want to be. The kind who believe nothing is worth attempting if the outcome isn’t guaranteed?” He pauses. “Or the kind of people who try?”

Likes:
•Brought back so many great memories.
•It made me really feel like I was there, I had such a perfect picture.
•Though the romances were convenient, I can see them happening in a camp setting.
•I loved Hillary, and though Jessie was a little difficult to warm up to, I loved her so much in the end.
•All of the camp fun with adults.
•Jewish representation, but very little, it was just a quick mention or two, I loved that it wasn’t a “thing”.
•I laughed, I cried and I literally hugged my kindle.
•Told in dual POV from Hillary and Jessie.

Dislikes:
•There was a bit of a plot hole that I can’t say anything more about without spoilers.

The Down & Dirty:
I loved Until Next Summer SO MUCH!!!!! It was a light, fun, feel-good friendship book with romance. While I don’t think you had to go to camp to love this, I think it’s a MUST READ for any camper. I was halfway through when I jumped into both of my Facebook camp groups (Camp Delaware in CT and Camp Merrimac in NH) and recommended it. Until Next Summer was happiness in book form for me. Though I got the ARC from NetGalley, I bought the audiobook as well and I can’t wait to listen to it next month to keep the summer spirit going.

Rating: 5 Stars, 1.5 Heat

Eeeep!!! A book about adults remembering their love as a child at summer camp, going back to camp, and then fighting to save it? Add in camp crushes, pranks, camp wars, book talk, and friends as kids.....you've got me hooked. I liked that the two MMCs were totally different from each other, and two FMCs were similar but different. The part that made me really smile though was Jessie's love of musicals. I listen to so many of those myself! Cooper and Luke were lovely when they weren't being dweebs. Sigh. I really enjoyed this book. I miss camp.

I can’t resist a summer camp romance—they’re an elite romance subgenre in my book! While I loved the idea of saving a summer camp, I wanted more immersive summer camp vibes to feel connected to the setting.

The writing of this one was simple and surface level, which had me skimming the ending because I could tell how things were wrapping up and I didn’t really fully connect with the characters and their emotions.

I did appreciate that the story focused not just on romance but also on mending a friendship, which added a bit of depth to the story, but overall this wasn’t a hit for me.

As a youngster, Jessie always felt the most at home at summer camp. Now she manages that camp but the owners have decided that they are selling up and the next summer will be the last.
A devastated Jessie decides to run the season for adult guests, reaching out to former campers who have fond memories of their summers around the lake. This includes business consultant Hillary, the best friend she fell out with after she reneged on the promise to return together as counsellors.
This sweet story plays heavily on reminiscing about the summer camp heydays, with some romance thrown in via a dishy camp chef and grumpy author who plans to hole up in his cabin to write. But the main focus is on the reconnection between Jessie and Hillary and their efforts to save the camp.

What a great read! Until Next Summer has it all: romance, friendship, nostalgia, spice, humor, serious moments, and even a touch of suspense. The book revolves around a summer camp and its director, Jessie. When it comes to light that the camp and all the surrounding land will be sold Jessie has to grapple with the fact that this will be her last summer.

The thing I liked about the book is that it made me feel things. I actually laughed out loud and I balled like a baby (if you read the book you'll know where that happened and you'll probably cry too). I also (could be totally off base here) think there were some nods to the summer camp portion of The Parent Trap movie.

There were a few things that I think were lacking in the book. First off, there was so much back and forth between characters (view spoiler) that just irked me. The other is that I was not immersed in a setting. The camp was obviously breathtaking and transformative. The buildings are over a hundred years old, there's a lake, and various other hidden gems on the property. You are told all of these things exist but you don't get to experience them along with the characters. I wish they would've put the same detail in the setting as in the sex scenes.

Until Next Summer is very character and dialogue driven and as much as I want to say the setting was lacking and that bugged me, the characters and dialogue more than made up for it. It is the
P E R F E C T summer read. I didn't even go to camp and I felt the wave of nostalgia that floated through the book. Definitely recommend!

Filled with interesting, realistic characters Until Next Summer was an enjoyable read.

While Jessie seems stuck at the camp, she's content with her life. It's her safe spot and she treasures her summers. Hilary has moved into a "serious" job and is dating the perfect man (according to her dad) but jumps at the chance to do one last summer camp. As the two work past their big rift and finally become friends again, it was fun to watch them. Their relationship over the weeks at the camp are also entertaining to follow. I'm not sure about the premise but then I didn't have camp experiences so maybe I just can't identify. Regardless, the summer is a huge success to the group and they succeed in not only having a great summer with all the campers but are able to save the camp from developers. Yay for the win!

For a fun read, Until Next Summer is a book I can recommend.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.