An Invincible Summer

Wyndham Beach, Book 1

By: Mariah Stewart

Narrated by: Kate Marcin

Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

An endearing novel of friendship, forgiveness, and second chances by New York Times bestselling author Mariah Stewart.

It was a lifetime ago that recently widowed Maggie Flynn was in Wyndham Beach. Now, on the occasion of her fortieth high school reunion, she returns to her hometown on the Massachusetts coast, picking up right where she left off with dear friends Lydia and Emma. But seeing Brett Crawford again stirs other emotions. Once, they were the town’s golden couple destined for one another. He shared Maggie’s dreams - and eventually, a shattering secret that drove them apart. 

Buying her old family home and resettling in Wyndham Beach means a chance to start over for Maggie and her two daughters, but it also means facing her rekindled feelings for her first love and finally confronting - and embracing - the past in ways she never thought possible. Maggie won’t be alone. With her family and friends around her, she can weather this stormy turning point in her life and open her heart to the future. As for that dream shared and lost years ago? If Maggie can forgive herself, it still might come true.

©2021 Marti Robb. (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Anti-feminist drivel

I am so confused at the overwhelming positive reviews of this book, and so frustrated at the genre name "Women's Fiction". If you can get past the narrator's terrible Massachusetts accents and the extremely bland, predictable plot, I hope you get stuck on the gross caricatures of middle-aged women. The fixation on appearance (labeled "taking care of yourself") came to a distressing head for me when the character who has steadfastly refused make-up because she's happy with her looks "realizes" she should wear make-up and change her clothes to "make herself feel good" - totally coincidentally when she's trying to attract the attention of the 2-dimensional men who are completely in thrall to the woman with the lowcut dress. Fiction should lift us up while it entertains. This kind of nonsense drags us all down.

SO DISAPPOINTED IN MARIAH STEWART

I've read almost every book Mariah Stewart has written and this book doesn't seem to have been written by the same person! I persevered to Chapter 7 but had to stop because I could tell the content wasn't going to improve nor was the fake Northern accent of the narrator. Not worth a credit or my time.

Total Disappointment

I have listened to many of Mariah Stewart’s books. Her books narrated by XE Sands are exceptional! I was so excited waiting for the release of An Invincible Summer only to be so disappointed. I could not even get past the 3rd chapter!
The narrator was ok, but the story was so poor. The accent from Rhode Island was so annoying...I just could not listen. I was born and raised in the NY city area and am well aware of the accents surrounding NY. It should not have annoyed me so much, but it did. I decided I would try to get through it but the story in itself was horrible. Who wants to read about or listen to women in their late 50s or 60s who really do not have anything to offer. They still were portrayed as if they were in high school. So disappointing.

Too Long

Way too long and filled with many unnecessary details. The reader/listener does not need to know every piece of clothing or jewelry a character puts on for every event or day. ! Sounds like word filling and it's ridiculous. Second, while I love that the main characters are older, why make them sound so insecure or dumb? They are smarter for having lived and gone through life experiences and the writer should've portrayed that better. This story had so much potential but with all these unnecessary things, it makes it hard to concentrate and listen.

Robotic Reader

I believe this may have ended up being a good story, however, I gave up on it after only a few minutes. I felt like it was being read by my car’s navigation system. Disappointing.

Invincible it was not

Not the best book but okay to listen to while walking but that is all

1 down 2 to go

I have to admit that I started listening to book 3 and then realized there was two other books, so I stopped listening to book 3, which is killing me because I am I am most good halfway through and I said listen to book one so now I’m on table to loving these characters. Thank you so much.

loved it

I really enjoyed reading this author.  I look forward to reading more books by this author in the near future.

3.5 Stars

This book is the definition of women’s fiction. At least, as I often think of the antiquatedly-named genre.

Featuring:

* Older women friendships (45-50+) ✔️
* Major life changes (widowed, divorced, etc)
* Adult children of said older women ✔️
* Generational and domestic conflict
* Small town (bonus points if it’s a beach town) ✔️
* Very light romantic elements (often featuring a “second chance” trope) ✔️
* Happy ever after or equivalent✔️

An Invincible Summer had each of those elements but handled with a very light touch. Light on conflict. Light on romance. Heavy on multiple character references and POVs. It was quickly a 3-star read with its lightly entertaining and easy reading style. Yet, with its lack of a deeper dive into the meatier subjects, I can't rate it any higher. While Maggie's story was foremost, it also flitted around many other characters - family, friends, and otherwise. At times, the details were superfluous and prevented some of the depth the story could have taken. I would have enjoyed this book much more if there was a deeper dive into Maggie’s personal story with lighter touches of those around her. I have to say that I’m still curious about the next two books which, in all likelihood, will feature Maggie's two friends along with ongoing stories of other characters introduced in this story.

I recommend this series for readers who enjoy light and fluffy reads that only graze deeper topics of loss, love, and conflict.

The audio presentation was well done.

Very slow and tedious

Not what I expected from Mariah. Book was disappointing and difficult to finish and could not stand the whining from Grace.