Summer Love: A Novel

Summer Love by Nancy Thayer is a story about friendship, summer fun, and secrets. Ariel, Nick, Sheila, and Wyatt have just graduated from college. The four of them have jobs on Nantucket Island for the summer. They are the lucky four who have obtained accommodations in the basement of a hotel under renovation. They work during the day and enjoy the island during their free time. Twenty-six years later, the four reunite at the same hotel that is now owned by Nick. They bring their children who are now in their early twenties just like they were when they first came to Nantucket. Their "children" become friends and set off to enjoy Nantucket Island. Summer Love is told in alternating chapters of this summer and that summer. The point-of-view alternates between the characters. We get to see the four roommates get to know each other and enjoy their summer on the island. The four were from differing backgrounds. Personally, I felt that they were not that close. The only reason they spent time together is because they were roommates. They even found each other annoying at times. The pacing is mixed in Summer Love. There are times it flew by and others when it moved at a snail's pace. I found the story to be predictable and I thought the characters lacked development. The ending was just the end (anticlimactic). It did not feel like everything came together. Summer Love is the type of book you read when you want an uncomplicated book. It is a good vacation story (a beach read). I did feel that Nancy Thayer brought Nantucket Island alive. I could envision the island with its quaint shops, the beach, the ocean, and the dingy basement rooms. She also shows the diversity between the rich people who inhabit the island in the summer and the working class. Summer Love is reminiscent of those essays we had to write at the beginning of the school year that detailed what we did over the summer. Summer Love is a lighthearted tale about the scattered sand, the hot summer sun, the open ocean, plethora of parties, boastful bragging, a sinful secret, unsatisfied visions, and summer reunion.