This story took me over 20% of it to get interested in what might happen to the characters. I am a fan of sister stories and in the long run that part of the book was good. All of them had romances going on.

The character of Dinah was irritating, weird and whiney. I did not like her from the very beginning.

I loved the Nantucket setting - that is always a good place to start a story for me. The cover of the book is beautiful. I wish the story had been as captivating.

It was over 80°F in Boston yesterday and that put me in the mood to read a book set on the beach in the summer. THE SUMMER WE STARTED OVER by Nancy Thayer is about two sisters in their thirties figuring out what they want out of life and coming to terms with choosing a different path - and finding happiness. Would recommend!

*The Summer We Started Over* by Nancy Thayer is a delightful, feel-good beach read that’s perfect for summer. Set in a charming Nantucket town, it follows a woman who, after a tough breakup, returns to her family’s home and starts over—finding new love, rediscovering old friendships, and learning to embrace life again. The characters are warm and relatable, the setting is picturesque, and there’s just the right amount of drama to keep things interesting. It’s heartwarming, light, and full of hope—a great pick if you’re in the mood for a cozy, uplifting story with a bit of romance!

Nancy Thayer is one of my go-to authors for an escape from reality to beautiful Nantucket. This book felt so relatable with aging parents, sibling relationships that are so multi-layered, and a long ago romance that might could be rekindled. A warm, summery, cozy read.

I read this book in two days on the beach and was sad when it ended. This is another good family drama book. Eddie Grant decides to take a vacation from her glamourous NYC job to help her sister launch her store on Nantucket. She is looking forward to a little down time, spending time with family, and enjoying Nantucket. Well, she gets time with family and enjoys Nantucket, but there is not much down time. She arrives to discover that her father is hoarding books and opens a used bookstore on their property. She rekindles a friendship with her past love and helps her sister in the store and at home. The house fills up quickly as her boss joins her and a beloved friend from the past. There is some sadness but it is a story full of love for family, friends, yourself, and Nantucket. It was great!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of The Summer We Started Over by Nancy Thayer in exchange for my honest review and opinion. Anything by Nancy Thayer immediately goes to the top of my TBR list as she is one of my absolute favorite authors and I love anything about Nantucket!!! If you don't fall in love with Nantucket after reading this book, we can't be friends! LOL! Seriously this is another fantastic book by Nancy Thayer and my only complaint is I read it too fast and now have to wait another year for her next release!

Cozy and heartwarming!!

The Summer We Started Over by Nancy Thayer is a heartwarming and uplifting novel about family, healing, and the pursuit of dreams. Set on the beautiful island of Nantucket, the story follows Eddie Grant, a personal assistant to a famous romance novelist, who returns home to help her younger sister, Barrett, open a gift shop. What begins as a simple trip to help turns into a journey of emotional growth, as Eddie faces the unresolved grief from her family’s past, including her brother’s death, her mother’s abandonment, and her complicated relationship with her father and sister.

Thayer masterfully weaves themes of resilience, love, and the power of second chances into the narrative, creating a story filled with warmth and hope. Eddie and Barrett’s relationship is at the heart of the novel, as the sisters navigate old wounds and forge a path toward understanding and reconciliation. As they work together to transform their father’s overflowing house into a used bookstore, they not only tackle the physical clutter but also confront emotional baggage and uncover a long-hidden family secret.

Thayer’s writing is filled with rich, evocative descriptions of Nantucket, creating a perfect backdrop for this story of personal and familial transformation. The characters are relatable and endearing, and their growth throughout the novel is both inspiring and rewarding. The Summer We Started Over is a beautifully written tale of love, forgiveness, and the healing power of family, making it a perfect read for fans of heartwarming women’s fiction.

Wonderful story of second chances and new love . Natucket has a way of bringing life back into those who need it , Eddie and her family for one summer will experience new choices that will affect their lives in the future . Loved this book ,

In The Summer We Started Over, Nancy Thayer brings us to Nantucket, where sisters Eddie and Barrett reconnect after some time apart. Both women are going through big changes and are searching for happiness, making for a heartfelt journey.

While their sisterly bond is touching, some parts of the story felt a bit flat.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Ballentine Books for the opportunity to read The Summer We Started Over.

Thank you @penguinrandomhouse for my gifted ebook!

The Summer We Started Over features two sisters, Eddie and Barrett. Barrett is the younger sister opening a shop in Nantucket that is her dream. She asks Eddie to come home for a few weeks to help her get the shop up and running. Eddie has been working as writer’s assistant in NYC and she’s looking forward to the break.

When she returns home, she runs into her former love, Jeff. They broke up when things got serious because Jeff wants kids and Eddie doesn’t. Their mother left them when things got tough and Eddie is concerned that she won’t be a good mother. But the chemistry is still there and they pick up where they left off. Barrett meets a rich banker from Boston at the same time she meets a local carpenter and she dates them both. Their dad is also becoming a book hoarder and they open a small second hand book shop.

I liked the take on the book that Barrett and Eddie weren’t Nantucket natives, but made the island their home. I would love to shop at Barrett’s store!

Family is family. But how well do you really know them? Do they know you?

This back-to-home-together story tugs at the heartstrings. What does it mean to have someone's back? To explore the past of someone who cannot defend themselves or their "stuff?"

If you like women's fiction, generational connections, and stories of living and dying well, you'll find this one has heart. If you want family beginnings, middles, and endings, you'll love this one.

As always, the author did not disappoint! Heart felt and entertaining at the same time! I really enjoyed the development of the characters throughout the story.

This is another Nantucket summer beach read. When Elin Hilderbrand or Mary Kay Andrews writes those, I tend to like them a lot. This one fell pretty flat for me though. The writing itself here was good. I finished the book and I didn't loathe opening it up. I was mildly entertained reading about a life that I know I'll never live (I'm NOT a beach girlie lol). However, the prose was repetitive to the point that I had to make sure I wasn't rereading the same sentences a few times... but it turns out I wasn't--the sentences were just exactly the same a few pages apart..? I also felt like nothing actually happened in this book. There was a little bit of drama toward the end with Dove, but no real tension or climactic scenes. Everything kept working out a suspiciously well and I never felt like any of the characters had any kind of real responsibilities or challenges so there was very little development. I found this book to be very forgettable, but I think that, as reviews are indicating, there is an audience for this... it's just not me.

This is a good book. This is a story about a family of a father and his two adult daughters. They move to Nantucket Island after the death of their brother or son and their wife or mother ask for a divorce. The oldest daughter goes to to New York City to work as an assistant. The youngest daughter works three jobs to save to open a shop. The father is trying to write a novel. They all learn that there nothing like having a family. They always have your back they each find their true love.

Wasn’t my favorite one of hers. I felt like nothing happened until the end and I was left wanting more.

The Summer We Started Over is a sweet romance, perfect for the beach or pool. A relaxing, and reassuring novel where two sisters, Eddie and Barrett, use a summer in Nantucket with their aging father to re-evaluate their life and love choices.

Overall I enjoyed reading this novel, though I do have one issue. I found the characters to be very one-dimensional. Each sister is stunted in her own way; always playing their assigned roles and both looking for the same silent validation. There was emotional growth with the women through the novel, but it partially felt like the author was pulling teeth.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read this novel.

For me if Nancy Thayer’s name is on it I’m going to read it. And this one was definitely not a disappointment. Being an average reader I loved all the talk about the book barn.

This family has really been through a lot. They lost their son/brother and then the mother left them. After a while Eddie couldn’t take it anymore so she left the farm to work for a very famous romance author in New York. This was her dream for quite some time. But when her sister Barrett needed her home to help with her dad. She immediately took a small leave of absence and went home. Barrett was opening a gift shop. And she really needed Eddie take care of their dad.
I really enjoyed this book. It had a lot going on. It was an easy read a quick read.

Thank you for this ARC .

This was a cute story about two sisters who are reunited on Nantucket. One is opening a store and the other is helping to take care of their fathers. This was a sweet book, with some teary moments, but it was a bit too predictable for me and I found myself skimming it more than I usually do with a Thayer novel. This would be a nice beach read. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love every Nancy Thayer book I read but this one was particularly enjoyable. I loved all the characters (even Dinah, minus Drew) and I cried at the end which doesn’t happen often. I will be thinking about the book barn and Dove for a long time.

Family drama, love, loss, going home to a beautiful setting. It had the potential to be a great read and though was enjoyable, it was hard to connect with the characters who given some of the things they were going through were, in my opinion mostly flat and there was zero chemistry between anyone. So a nice read, but not my favorite and seemingly a departure from her previous works, which I’ve loved. That said, still glad I read and am looking forward to what comes next.