28 Summers
Ratings36
Average rating3.7
4.5 rounded up.
I've seen some plays and movies with the same basic plot, and I have always really enjoyed it.
And this one immediately tells you how it will end, so you just need to get there, and even knowing, i cried to the point i couldn't see the pages at the end.
As good as it was, it made me realize why I read mostly contemporary romance with happy endings.
I usually enjoy this author but I just couldn't with this one. It's an entire book filled with summers of two people cheating. Not to mention cheating galore with almost every other character as well. That isn't love and that does not work for me in the slightest. I couldn't stand anyone in this book nor connect with their “pain” of not having the love they want. Bleh all around.
I had zero expectations because I do judge books by their cover and, frankly, I don't like this one. I assumed this would be your run of the mill beach romance. I was right and wrong. It's a beach romance, but not the cheesy run of the mill variety.
Jake and Mallory end up bonding one night in 1993 because “the dog chased the cat chased the rat.” A series of events left them alone in her cottage on Nantucket on Labor Day weekend. They have other commitments and life happens, but they vow to spend every Labor Day weekend at her cottage no matter what.
This is the story it sounds like it would be. It is. But what I loved about this was the atmosphere. I've never been to Nantucket and know nothing about it but I felt like I was there with them. The sun and salt air. And I felt so connected to the characters, Mallory in particular. They felt like real people. And we can't deny the pop culture references in the characters, UDG = AOC, red lipstick and all. It brought it all down a notch and made it somewhat satirical and not so heavy. Whether that was the goal or not, I'm not sure. But I enjoyed it.
Despite my prejudgement, here I am on a Friday at work crying at the end.
My first Elin Hilderbrand novel, thoroughly enjoyed it.
Stayed up until 1am to finish and bawled like a baby at the end.
Loved the heroine Mallory, a strong independent woman who made life choices to suit herself and not to please anybody else.
The men in the story paled in comparison.
A real page turner but keep tissues handy at the end.
Mallory and Jake meet on Labor Day weekend in 1993, and fall instantly in love. But there are obstacles to being together—Mallory and Jake live far from each other, and Jake has a long-term relationship. The solution? To meet once a year, like the characters in the movie, Same Time, Next Year, over Labor Day weekend, at Mallory's beachfront cottage in Nantucket.
I knew this was going to be an emotional read, and, of course, it was.
I guess this was inspired by the movie “Same Time, Next Year”, and had the audacity to even include it. I loved the movie, here is Roger Ebert's review if you are interested: https://www.imdb.com/videoplayer/vi2332932889 I did not like this book, at all. The characters were unlikable, made bad choices, did not grow. This was a “yuk” for me.