Isn't It Romantic?

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Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan
Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons on June 6, 2023
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Goodreads

The ultimate summer nostalgia read, about an engaged woman who comes face to face with her first love who she hasn't seen in fourteen years, but who she spent every summer with from age five to seventeen when he broke her heart, calling into question everything she thought she knew about their love story, and herself.

Beach Rules:
Do take long walks on the sand.
Do put an umbrella in every cocktail.
Do NOT run into your first love.

Sam's life is on track. She has the perfect doctor fiance, Jack (his strict routines are a good thing, really), a great job in Manhattan (unless they fire her), and is about to tour a wedding venue near her family's Long Island beach house. Everything should go to plan, yet the minute she arrives, Sam senses something is off. Wyatt is here. Her Wyatt. But there's no reason for a thirty-year-old engaged woman to feel panicked around the guy who broke her heart when she was seventeen. Right?

Yet being back at this beach, hearing notes from Wyatt's guitar float across the night air from next door as if no time has passed--Sam's memories come flooding back: the feel of Wyatt's skin on hers, their nights in the treehouse, and the truth behind their split. Sam remembers who she used to be, and as Wyatt reenters her life their connection is as undeniable as it always was. She will have to make a choice.

I am utter trash for these reunion/second chance romances! In all honestly, this leaned more women's fiction for me since all the present days chapters were told from Sam's point of view, and she was working through a lot of personal stuff. The stress of her pending nuptials, her career crumbling, and returning to the scene of her biggest heartbreak was a lot to deal with all at once. However, being back at the beach breathe life back into this woman who had been hiding pieces of herself in the name of self preservation.

I loved the flashbacks and getting to see Sam and Wyatt's love story play out. I was curious as to how it all fell apart. I will admit, I was a bit disappointed in what happened there. If you read this book, you will understand why it frustrated me, but I could feel the love floating all around Sam and Wyatt when they were once again back at the beach. To be apart for that long and fall back into a friendship that easily shows how strong their bond really was. Obviously this situation was complicated, but the author managed to get me onboard, and I was really pleased with how things worked out for everyone involved. 

The focus of this story was love and forgiveness, but there were great threads about being true to yourself and finding your passion. Needless to say, I had a spectacular summer at the beach!

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Emma of 83rd Street by Audrey Bellezza, Emily Harding
Published by Gallery Books on May 23, 2023
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Goodreads

In this witty and romantic debut novel, Jane Austen’s Emma meets the misadventures of Manhattan’s modern dating scene as two lifelong friends discover that, in the search for love, you sometimes don’t have to look any further than your own backyard.

Beautiful, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse has lived twenty-three years in her tight-knit Upper East Side neighborhood with very little to distress or vex her…that is, until her budding matchmaking hobby results in her sister’s marriage—and subsequent move downtown. Now, with her sister gone and all her friends traveling abroad, Emma must start her final year of grad school grappling with an entirely new emotion: boredom. So when she meets Nadine, a wide-eyed Ohio transplant with a heart of gold and drugstore blonde highlights to match, Emma not only sees a potential new friend but a new project. If only her overbearing neighbor George Knightley would get out of her way.

Handsome, smart, and successful, the only thing that frustrates Knightley more than a corked whiskey is his childhood friend, Emma. Whether it’s her shopping sprees between classes or her revolving door of ill-conceived hobbies, he is only too happy to lecture her on all the finer points of adulthood she’s so hell-bent on ignoring. But despite his gripes—and much to his own chagrin—Knightley can’t help but notice that the girl next door is a woman now…one who he suddenly can’t get out of his head.

As Emma’s best laid plans collide with everyone from hipster baristas to meddling family members to flaky playboy millionaires, these two friends slowly realize their need to always be right has been usurped by a new need entirely, and it’s not long before they discover that even the most familiar stories still have some surprises.

I will preface this by saying I have never read an Austen book, but I have read (and seen) a multitude of Austen retellings. That said, Emma of 83rd Street was an Emma retelling that I would be at the top of the heap (along with Clueless).

This book was packed with sparkling dialogue and tons of humor. I swear, my face hurt from all the resulting smiling. I adored Emma and being part of her journey as she figured out her post college plans. With her friends starting their adulting abroad, Emma was left on her own to navigate the next chapter of her life as well as all the other changes in her world. It was great that a friendship sparked between her and Nadine who was a welcome distraction for Emma, but it was her life long friendship Knightly that critical for Emma.

Knightly. He was definitely a check in the plus column. The chapters told from his point of view were some of my favorites! I felt like I was truly seeing into his heart, and it was a thrill to watch him recognize how his feelings towards Emma were changing. *swoon*

I must admit that if I did not know how this story ended, I would have been frustrated with these two. Miscommunication and assumptions ran rampant and caused quite a bit of drama. BUT! It was all forgivable because this was a retelling with the story getting a fabulous rom-com update.

In case you could not tell, I loved this friends-to-lovers tale which was packed with warmth, wit, and charm. I heard a rumor we will get more books in this world, and I for one, am ecstatic! 

*ARCS PROVIDED BY THE PUBLISHER

Do you have a favorite Emma retelling?
Let us know in the comments!