The Forever Summer

By: Jamie Brenner

Narrated by: Amy McFadden

Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

The discovery of long-buried secrets brings three generations of women together to Cape Cod for the summer homecoming of a lifetime.

Marin Bishop has always played by the rules, and it's paid off: On the cusp of 30, she has a handsome fiancé, a prestigious Manhattan legal career, and her father's hard-won admiration. But with one careless mistake at work, Marin suddenly finds herself unemployed and alone. Before she can summon the courage to tell her parents, a young woman appears, claiming to be Marin's half sister. Seeking answers, Marin agrees to join her on a soul-searching journey to Cape Cod, to meet the family she didn't even know she had.

As the summer unfolds at her grandmother's beachside B and B, it becomes clear that her half sister's existence is just the first in a series of truths that will shake Marin's beliefs - in love and in her own identity - to the core. Filled with shocking revelations, heartfelt romance, and resilient women banding together against the most unexpected twists of fate, The Forever Summer is an emotionally resonant story and a delicious escape for any season.

©2017 Jamie Brenner (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"An engaging and emotional read with characters who stay with you, this is a good fit for fans of Elin Hilderbrand, beach reads, and women's stories." ( Booklist)

"Just when Marin's engagement and career start unraveling, an at-home genetic test confuses things even more - and clues her in to a family she never knew she had." ( Cosmopolitan)

"Soap-opera twists and turns are tempered with the believable goodness of the characters, the messiness of their journeys, and just a hint of unpredictability as events unfold.... Engaging and not too fluffy, an excellent choice for summer vacation reading." ( Kirkus Review)

Wonderful Journey

What a wonderful journey this book took me on couldn't put it down and the ending was the icing on this yummy cake of a story!

great storyline, kept me guessing the whole time

I loved this story. It had a great storyline and talked about real to life family craziness. The narrator was amazing. There were many different voices and they all seemed to fit the characters perfectly ❤

Very enjoyable read about love, family and the difficulties that come along the way.

I usually don’t write reviews, but I really wanted to after listening to this book. The story continued along nicely and was very relatable. I enjoyed the characters and the plot of the story along with the ending. This was my first by this author and I look forward to more.

Enjoyed every moment of this story.

I wanted it to go on for longer or another book. I have already listen twice! Enjoy!!!

I couldn't stop thinking about the story

I would recommend this one. The characters are well developed and all have interesting stories that work together nicely. Between being able to listen to the story, I often caught myself wondering what was going to happen next.

Not what I expected!

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book! I was expecting a cheesy beach read, but I was completely wrong. The story line though complicated was beautiful and the characters are the type that stay with you. It's an eye opener for those who think family dynamics always have to be a certain way and it was beautiful to see that we should accept our families even when things don't fit perfectly together.

So Good!

Wonderfully rich characters! Cried my little heart out! And now I wanna learn mosaic art!

Take This One To The Beach

As we all get more involved with instant communications, it gets harder for authors to get a good conflict going in a contemporary setting since theoretically, any character could get in touch with or find another person/character at just about any time. This book deals with a lot of travel and long distances -- both emotionally and geographically -- so Jamie Brenner could have easily dropped the tension in several plot lines by just giving into a Skype scene or a mobile phone ringing. But she doesn't and the book works.

So I give Jamie Brenner kudos for getting a good plot going. (And for incorporating into the plot and believably utilizing tech contrivances, for that matter.) She also outlines very real characters.

The novel uses intrigues involving genetics and ancestry and what a "family" can be, depending on your definition.. not a new idea but this story is well fleshed out.

A GREAT beach read. Not too heavy and has several layers of romance to keep you going.

Great read ...

Thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Magically evoking summers in Ptown.
Only very minor annoyance was the author calling Ptown an island!

Sweet

A sweet story with ups and downs of all families. Think about your own family drama. Read about this family. You will love it!