Amanda’s review ~ These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean

Posted July 8, 2025 by Sharon in Amanda, Mainstream, Reviews / 0 Comments

Amanda’s review ~ These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLeanThese Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean
Published by Random House on July 8, 2025
Genres: Fiction / Family Life / General, Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, Fiction / Women
Pages: 400
Format: ARC, eBook, Paperback
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4 Stars

From New York Times bestselling author Sarah MacLean, a razor-sharp, wildly sexy novel about a wealthy New England family’s long-overdue reckoning . . . and the one week that threatens to tear them apart.

“Deliciously impossible to put down.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult

“An addictive, engrossing story that combines generational drama, mystery, and sizzling romance.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Ali Hazelwood

Alice Storm hasn’t been welcome at her family’s magnificent private island off the Rhode Island coast in five years—not since she was cast out and built her life beyond the Storm name, influence, and untold billions. But the shocking death of her larger-than-life father changes everything.

Alice plans to keep her head down, pay her final respects (such as they are), and leave the minute the funeral is over. Unfortunately, her father had other plans. The eccentric, manipulative patriarch left his family a final challenge—an inheritance game designed to upend their world. The rules are clear: spend one week on the island, complete their assigned tasks, and receive the inheritance.

But a whole week on Storm Island is no easy task for Alice. Every corner of the sprawling old house is bursting with chaos: Her older sister’s secret love affair. Her brother’s unyielding arrogance. Her younger sister’s constant analysis of the vibes. Her mother’s cold judgment. And all under the stern, watchful gaze of Jack Dean, her father’s intriguing and too-handsome second-in-command. It will be a miracle if Alice manages to escape unscathed.

A smart and tender story about the transformative power of grief, love, and family, this luscious novel explores past secrets, present truths, and futures forged in the wake of wild summer storms.

These Summer Storms is a cross between Succession and Survivor and a whole lot of drama that shouldn’t be missed. ~ Amanda – Simply Love Books

 

These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean is her contemporary debut and I have mixed feelings about the story. I jump at the chance to read a story written by her because they are written so well. This one was different. I loathe stories in which there is manipulation and dysfunction to the nth degree and this one had it in spades. Yet she brought a dysfunctional family together again, to spend the week playing an inheritance game and hopefully bring them back together as a real family. It was an interesting plot to balance a one-night stand turn into a possible relationship for a couple, a few tasks to complete to play the game for a few, and truths to be exposed between family members to get it all out in the open.

Alice Storm has returned home after being estranged from her family for the last 5 years; to be with her family after the death of her father. The father that kicked her out of the family for exposing sexual harassment in the workplace. His workplace. Now she walks a fine line with her two sisters, brother and mother because she is reengaging into this sometimes toxic and an unemotional place she’s left behind. Told from her point of view, the reader is shown the state of each sibling and what their father wants from them in order to inherit. The one-week stay was fraught with drama and tension. Jack, his father’s fixer/right-hand-man, was a conundrum because he had the power over all of them and was labelled the villain in this drama. Or was he?

Sarah MacLean by reputation is a historical romance writer and one of the best in this genre. She can lyrically write a beautiful setting and set the plot in motion to engage the reader into a story. She used an actual weather storm to bring the characters together and bring the story to its dramatic climax. For this reviewer, her writing saved the story from the manipulative plot theme that I wasn’t thrilled for at all. The story ended with some loose ends and a happy for now kind of feeling. These Summer Storms is a cross between Succession and Survivor and a whole lot of drama that shouldn’t be missed.

4 Stars

Posted July 8, 2025 by Sharon in Amanda, Mainstream, Reviews / 0 Comments