Same Time Next Summer

Since they became summer house neighbors at the ages of five and six, Sam and Wyatt spent every summer together in Long Island before falling in love as teenagers. Unfortunately their budding and intense romance ended in heartbreak. Adult Sam has moved on (really) and she has the perfect life (promise), including a perfect safe fiance (a doctor), and the perfect safe job (that she might actually hate). Over a decade later and unexpectedly reunited with Wyatt in Long Island, Sam may finally have to confront the devastation caused by their breakup if she has any hope of finally moving on. Except of course, human emotions are complicated and old feelings still linger and the way Wyatt looks at her, well, you know. Sam and Wyatt’s road back to one another made so much sense to me that I didn’t even mind the sort-of love triangle. There was never any doubt that they were meant to be; they just had to figure out a few things first. Same Time Next Summer was such a good, angsty, second chance romance. It was exactly what I needed and the perfect summer read.

Summertime is when I’m always on the hunt for a quick beach read, and this one makes the hours fly by. Sam spends her summers like many Long Islanders, out on the east end, doing everything a kid should. As a teenager, she realizes she’s in love with Wyatt, the boy she shares those summers with. But after his senior year, he heads to California, and they “break up,” never speaking again. At 31, she returns to her summer home with her fiancé, only to run into Wyatt—and suddenly realizes how much she’s changed. She ends up canceling her entire life... but for what?

3.5 Book club pick This is the first book I've read by this author so I was not sure what to expect going in, especially because it was a book club pick and not something I picked up on my own. I didn't read the synopsis before starting, but very quickly picked up that it would be a second chance trope. Pretty early on all I could think was that this gave me Sweet Home Alabama vibes and I was so okay with that. I love a story that is told in past and present duel POV's so I was excited for that. I loved the summer house setting, and loved seeing how Wyatt and Sam became what they were to each other. For a good part of the story you do question why the MC's split up, and once it is reveled I will say that while I wasn't expecting it, and I could see why it caused problems especially to a 17 and 18 year olds. I did enjoy seeing them reconnect as adults, and was a tad concerned that we would stumble into the cheating trope or a love triangle, but we did not. I enjoyed (most) of the side characters, and really enjoyed seeing the growth of Sam, not only in a relationship, but with herself. While this one did end in a happy for now, there was no epilogue and for me I would have loved to see the couple together more as adults. I would recommend this one to lovers of a beachy settings, young love/heartbreak and anyone who is looking for a quick closed door romance. I will pick up more from this author in the future.

Sam and Wyatt fell in love as teenagers, an idyllic time until it wasn’t; fourteen years later, she returns to the beach where they spent their summers, only now she is engaged to someone else, only to find out that Wyatt is there, too. This is a very touching love story, but it’s so much more, because during that time span Sam coped with heartache by becoming someone different. Bringing her fiancé to the place where she found love and also brought her heartache has her questioning her life choices. This book is a journey of self-discovery for Samantha, a way to find a path back to her authentic self. I loved spending time at the beach with Sam, both in the flashbacks as a teenager, and in the present day. I was glad the author gave us the glimpses back to when she was young, to understand who she really was and could be again. I also loved Wyatt, who dealt with heartache in his own way, and is so much more than he appears to be on the surface.

I’ve been wanting to read this for a long time but kept putting it on the back burner. It was a really cute read. The plot was simple but very well written. The characters were likable and relatable. Personally, I felt a connection to Samantha (Sam). The struggle she went through with her feelings and not living the life she truly wanted just rang true. On top of that, two other things earned this book four stars from me. One, I want a beach house immediately. Two, Wyatt is now up there with my other book boyfriends. He joins the ranks with Rowan (Butcher and Blackbird) and Hutch (The Love Haters). Seriously, if you don’t love Wyatt then I need an explanation because he was beyond fabulous. This would be a great summer read for anyone in the market for one of those. I highly recommend.

Sam and Wyatt were both believable and sympathetically drawn characters. Wyatt's dyslexia added an interesting dimension to the story.

One of the best romances I’ve read in a while. The author describes the feelings in a way you end up feeling everything throughout the story. It is totally worth it.

perfect

I loved everything about this book, the characters, the setting and the story. It was a perfect way to lengthen the summer.

Good for summer vibes...