From the publisher:
A woman’s second act on the island of Nantucket delivers much more than she expected in this captivating novel by New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer.
“A beautiful, hope-filled, heartwarming story about new beginnings and second chances.”—RaeAnne Thayne, author of The Cafe at Beach End
Heather Willette has a good life in Concord, Massachusetts. But when her marriage has fizzles out, Heather has to decide what sort of life to live next. Ready to seek out her own happiness and discover herself again, Heather decides to leave her husband and rent a cottage on Nantucket. And her plan is going perfectly—until her son, Ross, announces he’s moving to Nantucket to work at his girlfriend’s family’s construction business instead of going back home to work with his own father, like he’d promised. Worst of all for Heather, this means having to get along with her.
Kailee Essex is thrilled that Ross is willing to move to her hometown. She has big hopes for their happily ever after, especially now that her parents are finally showing interest in her career. She’s less thrilled, however, about his mother living nearby. Kailee has clashed with Heather since the day they met. But anything is possible in the summer sun and sea breezes of Nantucket—even reconciliation. And when change comes sooner than either Heather or Kailee expect, they must learn to overcome their differences to fight for the future they want.
With All the Days of Summer, beloved storyteller Nancy Thayer delivers a moving novel that explores the complexity of family and the unexpected ways fate can guide you forward.
“Thayer delivers another heartwarming story that fans will enjoy.”—Booklist
https://amzn.to/42efPal
Nancy Thayer writes heartwarming stories with strong female protagonists, and the setting on Nantucket is just the icing on the cake here. Heather has been married for a long time, but her son is getting ready to finish college and she decides it’s time for her to find some happiness. Not that her marriage is a bad one, it’s just not especially happy or fulfilling. Heather and her husband have grown apart and while that isn’t enough of a reason for some people to divorce, it is for her. When her best friend finds a small cottage for rent on Nantucket for $10,000 for the summer – a steal for this market – Heather decides to take some of the money she’s been squirreling away for years and splurge on this summer rental. Her husband doesn’t quite understand why she is leaving him, but he doesn’t put up much of a fight, either. I think her calmness and logic in all of this is a rather nice change from the usual craziness of so many divorces.
The only downside to Heather’s plan is that her son, whom they expected to take over the father’s hardware store, is not interested in doing that. He has a girlfriend and it is getting serious, so when her father offers him a summer job working for his company, the largest construction company on Nantucket, he jumps at the chance. His girlfriend is none too thrilled to find out that Heather is staying on the island, too. She is immature in a lot of ways, and it takes some time to see her grow up.
Heather and her future daughter-in-law both do a lot of growing this summer. I liked seeing Heather come into her own here, and while the ending is a bit too neat, it is perfect for my first read of the summer books. The calendar may not say summer yet, but Thayer took me there anyway. I enjoyed the writing, the setting, and the characters in this domestic fiction with a touch of romance – everything I like in a book.
5/2023 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
ALL THE DAYS OF SUMMER by Nancy Thayer. Ballantine Books (May 2, 2023). ISBN: 978-0593358450. 352p.
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