From the publisher:
Two sisters reconnect and pursue their dreams on the beautiful island of Nantucket, overcoming life’s challenges and finding new love, in this heartwarming and hopeful novel by New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer.
Eddie Grant is happy with her life and her work as a personal assistant to Dinah Lavender, one of the most famous and renowned romance authors in the business. But being a spectator to notoriety and glamour isn’t as fulfilling as she once thought. Thankfully, Eddie has the perfect excuse for a vacation: Her hardworking younger sister, Barrett, is opening her gift shop on Memorial Day weekend, and could use all the help she can get.
But going home to the beautiful island of Nantucket means facing the family’s difficult past. Shortly after the death of Eddie and Barrett’s brother, their mother left them and their father made the spontaneous decision to buy a small farm. Eddie stayed there for only a year before her family’s grief threatened to consume her as well, and had been living in Manhattan ever since. Now that she is back, Eddie must face all she left behind: her father’s increased eccentricities, which has led to a house bursting at the seams with books; her sister’s resentment over Eddie’s escape; and a past love connection, one that is still undeniable and complicated, all these years later. But the Grant sisters are nothing if not resilient and capable, opening a used bookstore in their father’s abandoned barn to manage his hoarding, and navigating the discovery of a long-buried family secret that will change all of them forever.
In The Summer We Started Over, beloved storyteller Nancy Thayer transports readers with a moving story about family, courage, and the resiliency of young women.
“Thayer, known for her best-selling Nantucket-set novels, offers a heartwarming story timed to kick off the season of beach reads. This newest keeps to Thayer’s key themes, following a family as they reunite and confront the past, along with long-held secrets.”–Library Journal
https://amzn.to/4a0NCHa
Reading a Nancy Thayer book is like hanging out with friends. The characters may be new, but the island of Nantucket is never changing, and the relationships are always heartwarming.
Eddie loves books (anyone relate to that?!) She has landed an awesome job as the personal assistant to a Nora Roberts type romance author, Dinah Lavender, who has written over a hundred books, has a legion of fans, and more money than she knows what to do with. Lucky for Eddie, she is the recipient of some of that spending; first-class vacations (albeit working vacations) around the world, designer clothes and shoes and bags, and the best Manhattan has to offer in fine dining. It’s not a bad life, and Eddie is pretty happy.
Eddie has not had the easiest life; her mom took off, and her brother died in an accident. Her father coped with it all by buying an old farmhouse on Nantucket. Her sister, Barrett, also lives there and has been working and saving her money for years to open her dream business, a high-end shop she calls Nantucket Blues. As opening weekend approaches, Barrett is a nervous wreck, but her sister Eddie is on the way. Eddie convinces Dinah that she is entitled to her own non-working vacation, but she is more than happy to help her sister with the new store. Dinah reluctantly agrees, and Eddie returns to Nantucket.
Shortly thereafter, Dinah becomes obsessed with the idea that she is being stalked until Eddie finally agrees that Dinah can come and stay on Nantucket. Dinah is a big flirt, loves men but hasn’t settled down with anyone. She loves her life and her flings, but meeting Eddie’s father may change that. He is a retired professor trying to write a book and has become something of a hoarder of books in doing his research. A nice touch was Eddie turning their barn into a used bookstore to relieve the clutter in the house.
Eddie runs into her first big flame and is surprised to find those feelings are still there – for both of them. Barrett also has an admirer, actually two, and spends the summer trying them both out. The romances here are sweet and take a back seat to the story of the sisters and their relationship, making this much more women’s fiction than romance.
As with most of Thayer’s books, not a whole lot happens beyond living day to day in a beautiful location with everyone eventually finding their happily ever after. Nantucket is pretty much the star of all of her books, and she writes about it with such love and detail that it makes me feel like I’m there. Maybe someday I’ll get to Cape Cod or Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket, but until then, at least I have Elin Hilderbrand, Kristan Higgins, and Thayer’s books to transport me. If you enjoy Debbie Macomber or Brenda Novak, Thayer fits in well in their company.
5/2024 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
THE SUMMER WE STARTED OVER by Nancy Thayer. Ballantine Books (April 23, 2024). ISBN: 978-0593724002. 320p.
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