All Summer Long

By: Dorothea Benton Frank

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne

Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's Summary

Dorothea Benton Frank novels are filled with smart and witty fiction that every listener wants in their library: soulful, edgy stories about realistic characters familiar to us all that explore the most deeply felt moments of life with wry humor and heart.

All Summer Long follows one charming New York couple - prominent interior designer Olivia Ritchie and her husband, Nicholas Seymour, an English professor and true Southern gentleman. They are seemingly polar opposites yet magnetically drawn together and in love for more than 14 years.

As they prepare to relocate to Charleston, SC, Olivia, the ultimate New Yorker, has reservations about the promise she made to retire in the Lowcountry, where Nick wants to return home and lead a more peaceful life. They are moving north to south, fast pace versus slow pace, and downsizing. Nick is ecstatic. Olivia is not. She can't let Nick know that their finances are not what he thought. Her client list is evaporating, their monetary reserves are dwindling, and maybe that house she picked out on Sullivan's Island needs too much work. Thank God for her assistant, Roni Larini, her right (and sometimes left) hand.

As they find themselves pondering the next step of their lives, Olivia and Nick travel with her billionaire clients and their friends, are swept up into the world of the ultrarich, and explore the globe with a cast of zany eccentrics over one tumultuous, hot summer. All as Olivia grapples with what lies ahead for her and Nick.

This is a story of how plans evolve and lives change in unexpected ways, how even those who have everything are still looking for something more. Even the most successful people can often struggle to keep things together. All Summer Long asks the ultimate question: Can money buy happiness? From Sullivan's Island to Necker Island to Nantucket to the beaches of Southern Spain, we'll come to recognize the many faces of true love - love that deepens and endures but only because one woman makes a tremendous leap of faith. And that leap changes everything.

©2016 Dorothea Benton Frank (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers

Disappointing

Having never read a book by the author previously, I took a chance hoping for a good summer book. Unfortunately, I found the writing simplistic and uninteresting.

4 people found this helpful

A Novel Sans a Story

Other than ultra polite conversation between one couple and the ridiculous immaturity of others, this vapid audio book left me wondering how it ever found a publisher. Clearly not my cup of tea.

3 people found this helpful

Disappointed with narration

If you are like me, and have enjoyed Robin Miles as the delightful
narrator of Dorothea Benton Frank's books, you might be disappointed by the narration by Bernadette Dunne.

Don't get me wrong, she's a fine narrator.

BUT, she's not Robin Miles, who to me, IS the "voice" of Dorothea Benton Frank's books about the low country.

5 people found this helpful

Disappointing

I used to really like Dorothea Benton Frank. In this book she did not flesh out the characters. I felt like a first grader could've written about it -- it was the most boring thing I've ever read. The plot had potential if she had just left out the lifestyles of the rich and famous parts. The characters were boring, one dimensional, and uninteresting. Sorry, Ms. Frank.

1 person found this helpful

Disappointing

I always look forward to Dorthea Benton Frank novels. This one was very disappointing. The story didn't get interesting until 3/4 of the way through the novel. And the story seemed to be written annoyingly basic: she said, he said, she said, etc. I didn't know if I would finish the book. I'm glad I stuck through the first three quarters. The plot finally got interesting around chapter 15. Definitely my least favorite of all her stories.

1 person found this helpful

Not one of Frank's best.

The characters were not well developed. This would have made a better novella than a novel. However, it was entertaining enough.

1 person found this helpful

Nice escape

All Summer Long is great escape, beach book. Although I felt like the lead character is somewhat superficial, I was still rooting for her life to work out well.

1 person found this helpful

Dorothea Benton Frank does it again!

This was a fantastic book with an interesting story. The cast of characters are just that--characters! I really enjoyed every minute of it and couldn't put it down. Great narration for a great book.

1 person found this helpful

Pleasant, Leisurely-paced, Character Driven

All Summer Long is a character driven novel. While the author does use a major life change in her main characters’ lives as an overall plot arc, the feels more about people and relationships.

Readers meet Olivia and Nick as they are moving out of their expensive apartment in NYC and renovating a not-so-small country house in the Low Country where Nick grew up. This huge transition creates a lot of tension and strife in Olivia that later translates to relationship issues such as trust and communication.
Author Dorothea Benton Frank uses Olivia and Nick’s wealthy friends and their dysfunctional lives as a way to further explore relationships. Each couple has their own issues, and Olivia and Nick juxtapose to Bob and Maritza (and their entourage) seem the normal, happy couple even though their marital issues seem to be at the center of the story.

There are a few plot points that are far-fetched, but overall, All Summer Long is a pleasant, leisurely-paced book. It’s filled with vivid descriptions that pull the reader into life in both the city and the country. There are strong underlying messages of “money doesn’t buy happiness” and the power of a trust and love in a marriage.

The audiobook is excellently narrated by Bernadette Dunne.

it started slow

it became very interesting after Maritza disappeared because I did something similar so,yes it does rock a man's boat especially when he loves himself more than you