Review by Deb Czajkowski
Marin Bishop is about to celebrate her
thirtieth birthday with her parents. She
has reasons for this to be a happy
birthday dinner: She is a lawyer for a prestigious Manhattan law firm and has
just been assigned to a high-profile case ─ a big deal for a junior lawyer at
the firm; she knows her father ─also an attorney who is highly respected in the
legal world─ will be proud of her, and his approval is extremely important to
her. There is also one reason that this will be an unhappy birthday dinner: Marin has just broken her engagement to
Greg ─Greg, from a prominent Manhattan family, Greg, the successful Wall Street
Financier. That is unhappy! Actually, Marin is fine with her decision to end the
engagement; it’s her mother who will be unhappy!
Oh, and there’s also a (birthday?)
surprise coming her way!
Rachel Moscowitz was born and raised in
Los Angeles. Well, that’s a tad
misleading. Rachel’s mother ─”Call me
Fran, don’t ever call me Mom!”─gave birth to Rachel, but that was her largest
role in Rachel’s twenty-three years of life.
And Rachel’s father was, literally, a sperm donor. Rachel has always wanted a family ─really, to
know her family!─ and now, with the
help of a friend, Rachel learns the name of her father ─and that she has a
half-sister! Rachel can’t wait to make contact with them and to get to know her
family. Will they feel this same way?
Amelia Cabral runs the family B&B,
the one that’s been in her family for generations ─at least five! But her husband and son are deceased, and
she’s been estranged from her daughter for over thirty years. Now, at age seventy-five, for the first time
ever, she’s not opening the inn for this summer’s guests ─even the regulars,
the ones who book next year’s week at the end of this year’s. Worse yet, she’s tired, so tired that she’s
wondering if this is really closing the inn for good. Can she really do that? After so many generations, can she be the
last in the long line of her family history to own and operate this special
summer home for visitors? Unthinkable. But still….It’s what she’s thinking!
Author Jamie Brenner paints three very
different pictures: Three strong women who are independent and perhaps more
resilient than they even know. All
three, coming from diverse and separate scenarios, are about to collide,
learning lessons about life that none see coming. The author, in The Forever Summer, clearly delineates the fierce personalities of
her leading ladies. She shows us through
their actions that they have flaws and vulnerabilities but also fortitude in
facing newly revealed truths, and working through the clouds to find the sunshine
once again.
If your family is unconventional, you
might see yourself, or your family, in The
Forever Summer. Or maybe your family
isn’t like any of those in The Forever Summer, but you can identify
with the uniqueness that comprises every family unit. Large or small, extended
or just you; it’s still a family ─your family.
If you wouldn’t define your family as unconventional, The Forever Summer will peek into the
lives of those who do.
Life can ─and usually does!─surprise us
at one time or another. The Forever
Summer has its share! If you’re in
the mood for intriguing surprises, start turning the pages of The Forever Summer.
Purchase the book at:
About
the author:
Jamie Brenner is the author of The Wedding Sisters, coming June 14, 2016 from
St. Martin's Press. Her previous novels include the historical The Gin
Lovers (St. Martin's Press), named by Fresh Fiction as one of the Top
Thirteen Books to read in 2013, and Ruin Me, a coming-of-age story
set in the art world. She lives in Manhattan with her husband and two
daughters.
Connect with the author at:
Little Brown & Company is
giving
One lucky winner a print copy of
The Forever Summer by Jamie
Brenner
