Summer After Summer by Lauren Bailey is a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Olivia Taylor leaves her soon-to-be ex husband in NYC and heads to the Hamptons to help her father and sisters pack up their family estate. After many years of financial trouble, someone has finally purchased their sprawling beachfront property for an amount the family could not pass up. Packing up the estate will not be an easy task, it is the house they grew up in, the house their mother died in, and it holds a lifetime of memories including the time spent with her first love, Fred. Olivia doesn’t have the best relationship with her father and she and her sisters are not close, so naturally there is some family drama sprinkled in as well. It isn’t until she arrives back in the Hamptons that she finds out that Fred is the one who purchased the house. It has been 20 years since Olivia first met Fred on the beach and five years since their last interaction, which did not end well, but perhaps the fifth time’s the charm for them.

Fred and Olivia end up crossing paths every five years and through flashbacks to 2003, 2008, 2013, and 2018, the reader gets to experience all of their missed opportunities over the years. The chemistry between the MCs was evident as was their angst every time things didn’t work out. This book has a lovely cover, the possibility of a second chance romance, a very likable MMC, and takes place in a quaint beachside town, things that I enjoy in a summer read, but for me there were a few things that kept me from rating it higher. First of all Olivia, the FMC, came across as very immature and even petty at times. I would expect that in her teen years, but not as 36 year old woman. I understand her career as a tennis pro played a role in everything, but the very detailed tennis scenes felt excess and not necessary to move the narrative forward. Lastly, the repetitive lack of communication between Olivia and Fred and self-sabotage was aggravating, but this is a personal issue since I find those to be one of my least favorite things when it comes to failed romances.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Megan Tusing, who skillfully portrayed a wide range of characters, making it effortless to distinguish between them, even as they aged. While her narration was generally excellent, there were moments when the narration felt excessively dramatic, which was disproportionate to the events in the story at the time. However, despite these minor critiques, the book has strong writing and an overall enjoyable narrative. I was emotionally invested in Olivia and Fred’s journey and was hoping for a happy ending for them. Overall, this was a solid debut novel and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick beach read. 3.5 stars
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