Summer Romance

Starred review from April 8, 2024
Summer romance, writes Monaghan (Same Time Next Summer) in this light and sunny contemporary, is “a love affair with no reality check.” People pleaser Ali Morris has spent her whole life putting other peoples’ happiness above her own. Stuck in a loveless marriage, she’s still grieving her mother’s death two years prior and juggling the schedules of her three kids when her husband asks for a divorce. She’s exhausted, numb, and reeling—until her lust for life is reawakened when her dog pees on the gorgeous Ethan at the dog park. Their attraction is palpable and when she learns that Ethan is “Scooter,” the younger brother of a good friend from high school, she struggles to reconcile the teenage screwup she knew in her youth with the dreamy man who sees the real her. But if Ethan, who had a crush on Ali all through high school, wants more than just a summer fling, he’ll need to convince her that he’s no longer the flaky, unreliable boy he was. Monaghan makes the blossoming love between Ali and Ethan both believable and heartwarming as they grow together out of painful past experiences. It’s the ideal beach read. Agent: Marly Rusoff, Marly Rusoff Literary.

May 1, 2024

Ali Morris, a professional organizer with a less-than-organized personal life, is startled when her soon-to-be-ex-husband Pete announces it is time to file for divorce, on the second anniversary of her mother's death. Ali has been going through the motions of life for their year of separation while trying to hold it together for their three children, but she feels like she's failing. Social media keeps telling her what she should be doing for self-care, but Ali feels paralyzed by heartbreak, grief, and clutter. Then a chance meeting with a handsome stranger at the dog park at the beginning of the summer lifts Ali's spirits. When the stranger turns out to be Ethan, the younger brother of her childhood friend, the awkwardness of their initial attraction fades as he begins to remind Ali of her strength and confidence. She might not be able to stick to her plan of a no-strings summer fling with Ethan. VERDICT In this sweet romance, Monaghan (Same Time Next Summer) has created believable characters who are multidimensional, while her touches of humorous dialogue enhance the story and make the characters even more likable.--Nicole J. Suarez

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 15, 2024
Ali Morris organizes people's lives for a living, but she can barely handle her own. She spends her days in her ex-ish husband's sweatpants, trying to keep her three kids alive (with little help from the ex-ish). Her best friend, Frannie, finally convinces her to put on some hard pants and get out there in the world, and Ali meets handsome Ethan at the dog park when her dog pees on him. It's not an auspicious meet-cute, but it works, even after Ali learns that Ethan is actually Scooter, Frannie's loser younger brother, in town for the summer. Turns out Ethan has had a crush on Ali since they were teenagers, and he hardly recognizes the barely-hanging-on woman he sees now. As the two get to know each other as adults and embark on a summer fling, Ethan helps Ali relearn how to stand up for herself. Monaghan (Same Time Next Summer, 2023) again presents a compellingly relatable main character in Ali, and the romance strikes the perfect balance of stomach-butterflies and the realities of dating with kids. Sweetly satisfying, with themes of found family and the real love story of a woman coming back into her own.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.