Mini Reviews: Backlist Beach Reads

 

Every summer, I like to pick up some of the beach reads collecting dust on my shelves. I always seem to gravitate toward Elin Hilderbrand’s backlist of novels I haven’t read yet. I also picked up a summery romance that filled the Bridgerton void.

 

Silver Girl by Elin Hilderbrand

Pages:

Genre: Adult Fiction/Romance

Pub. Date: November 8, 2011

Publisher: Little, Brown and Co

Source: Personal Copy

Other Books By Author:  The Five-Star Weekend,

Golden Girl,  The Hotel Nantucket, Swan Song,

Winter Street, 28 Summers,  Summer of '69,   

Beautiful Day, The Island, The Blue Bistro,

The Perfect Couple, The Castaways, and Winter in Paradise 

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

 

 

Goodreads says, "Meredith Martin Delinn just lost everything: her friends, her homes, her social standing - because her husband Freddy cheated rich investors out of billions of dollars.

Desperate and facing homelessness, Meredith receives a call from her old best friend, Constance Flute. Connie's had recent worries of her own, and the two depart for a summer on Nantucket in an attempt to heal. But the island can't offer complete escape, and they're plagued by new and old troubles alike. When Connie's brother Toby - Meredith's high school boyfriend - arrives, Meredith must reconcile the differences between the life she is leading and the life she could have had.

Set against the backdrop of a Nantucket summer, Elin Hilderbrand delivers a suspenseful story of the power of friendship, the pull of love, and the beauty of forgiveness."

 

 

 

 

Meredith Delinn is living in the lap of luxury at her Park Avenue apartment along with her husband and two sons. Her husband, Freddy, is a self-made businessman, but one fateful day her world is turned upside down. Freddy is arrested as he is the creator of a Ponzi scheme; it's a financial disaster for her family, not to mention all the families he swindled money from. She flees her Park Ave apartment for her best friend's beach house on Nantucket. Things with her best friend, Connie, have been shaky for the last few years, but Connie knows her friend needs her, so she opens her house to her. Plus, Connie has been dealing with her own problems; her husband has died of cancer, she is all alone now, and her daughter isn't speaking to her. These two women need each other, and Nantucket is the perfect spot to hide from the world. Elin Hilderbrand's Silver Girl is a beach read that tackles heavy topics, but keeps it light overall and keeps the focus on strong female friendship as well as the chance to start over after tragedy.
 
Meredith is now living as an outcast in New York City, where people recognize her and give her grief; she can’t even visit her hairdresser. Once she arrives in Nantucket, she hopes to fly under the radar, but soon people start to notice her there as well. Her husband has embezzled so much money that she has become a national figure, leading to her recognition on Nantucket, which adds stress to Connie. Also, the story alternates between the perspectives of Meredith and Connie as both women navigate difficult issues during the summer. It also includes flashbacks to their childhood and adolescence on Philadelphia's Main Line. As someone who is very familiar with the Main Line, I got a kick out of all the references to local landmarks included in the story.  To complicate matters further, Toby, Connie's brother and Meredith’s first love, is also coming to Nantucket for the summer. It becomes a season for new beginnings, second chances, forgiveness, and rebuilding their lives step by step. While Silver Girl wasn’t my favorite of Hilderbrand’s beach reads, it was still a solid tale set in a memorable location.

 

 

Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas

Pages: 384

Genre: Romance

Pub. Date: October 26, 2004

Publisher: Avon

Source: Personal Copy

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

 

Goodreads says, "Four young ladies at the side of the ballroom make a pact to help each other find husbands . . . no matter what it takes.

Proud and beautiful Annabelle Peyton could have her pick of suitors—if only she had a dowry. Her family is on the brink of disaster, and the only way Annabelle can save them is to marry a wealthy man. Unfortunately her most persistent admirer is the brash Simon Hunt, a handsome and ambitious entrepreneur who wants her as his mistress.

Annabelle is determined to resist Simon's wicked propositions, but she can't deny her attraction to the boldly seductive rogue, any more than he can resist the challenge she presents. As they try to outmaneuver each other, they find themselves surrendering to a love more powerful than they could have ever imagined. But fate may have other plans—and it will take all of Annabelle's courage to face a peril that could destroy everything she holds dear."

 

 

 

Annabelle Peyton is tired of being looked over. Her family, once extremely wealthy and part of the aristocracy, is going through difficult times. This is making it hard to find an advantageous match. She, along with three of her friends, are referred to as The Wallflowers as they are always left aside towards the wall of the ballroom. The Wallflowers decide they will work together to help one another find a successful match. Annabelle has her sights set on a wealthy aristocrat, but she is constantly distracted by Simon Hunt, a brash entrepreneur not entirely accepted by society. At first, he wants to make Annabelle his mistress, but soon, he is getting more serious with his propositions, and it gets Annabelle thinking about what she wants, not what society dictates. Lisa Kleypas tackles the Regency period as well as the issues in society during this time in Secrets of a Summer Night, the first installment of her Wallflowers series.  
 
I am a huge fan of the Bridgerton series, and I thought that Kleypas's Wallflower series might fill that void. And while I don't find it as compelling as Bridgerton, it was still very similar and enjoyable. In Secrets of a Summer Night, I enjoyed Annabelle and had high hopes for her quest to find a match as she is without a dowry. Also, I enjoyed her friendship with the other wallflowers, Dasy, Lillian, and Evie; they are all unique and each character gets their own book going forward in the series. This was my first novel by Kleypas, and I enjoyed it, especially the audiobook, which I occasionally listened to as it is narrated by the fantastic Rosayln Landor, who also narrates the Bridgerton series. 

 

Have you read either of these backlist books? Let me know in the comments below. 

Best Books of the Summer

This post is always a little sad to write. I can’t believe summer and beach read season is coming to an end. Of course, beach reads can be enjoyed any time of year, but there’s something especially nice about reading them in the summer. 

Spooky reads and thrillers are already hitting shelves in anticipation of September, so I’m trying to lean into that shift. But before we transition to fall reads, I want to recap my favorite books of the summer — and as always, I’d love to hear yours too!

 

Best Books of the Summer: 

 

My Two Favorite Books of the Summer:

 

Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan

 

When You Loved Me by Beatriz Williams

 

 

 

 

 Also Enjoyed:

 

The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson

 

Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune 

 

 

 

A Few More:

 Change of Plans by Sarah Dessen (favorite YA novel)

Worse Than Strangers by Kyleigh Leddy

 

 

 

Best Audiobook:

 The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett (favorite audiobook)

 

So, did we share any favorites? Be sure to let me know your favorite books of the summer in the comments below.  

 

Mini Reviews: A Touch of Magic

 

Sometimes some of the best romances are the ones with touches of magic in it. That's the case with these two new romances that are perfect for a light summer read.

 

 

An Infinite Love Story by Chanel Cleeton 

Pages: 352

Genre: Adult Fiction/Romance

Pub. Date: July 7, 2026

Publisher: Berkley

Source: Publisher for review

Other Books By Author:  The House on Biscayne Bay,

The Last Train to Key West,  When We Left Cuba, Next Year in Havana, Our Last Days in Barcelona, The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes,

The Cuban Heiress,  The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba, 

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

 

 

Goodreads says, "When Joe Mitchell launches into space, the world is watching. It’s 1968, and the country waits with anticipation and excitement for another successful mission, another celebration as America sets its sights on the Moon. And then comes the knock at the door.

Joe Mitchell’s spacecraft has lost contact. He and his fellow astronauts onboard are feared to be dead. It’s his wife Vivian’s worst nightmare come to life, her grief suddenly taking center stage as the nation waits and mourns. In her quiet moments, Vivian relives their memorable story, unable to accept that this is the end to a love that felt as though it was written in the stars.

As the investigation surrounding Joe’s lost spacecraft intensifies and the mishap is written off as an operator error, Vivian is determined to clear her husband’s name and uncover the mystery of what happened in space. When someone starts sending Vivian messages—messages she believes only Joe could send—she begins to wonder if their love is stronger than space and time, and she’ll do whatever it takes to bring her husband back to her."

 

 

Vivian Mitchell is a former journalist from D.C. and is now married to Joe, an astronaut at NASA. It's the 1960s, the peak of the Space Race, and her husband is on a mission to the moon. Joe's spacecraft loses contact with mission control. NASA says that Joe and his crew are now lost in space and is pointing the blame at Joe, who was the mission commander. Vivian knows this can't be right, and from talking for countless hours with Joe, perhaps NASA rushed this mission, and things weren't as safe as they thought. She plans on partaking in an interview with a top journalist in D.C. about this very issue, but then Vivian starts to get weird and unexplainable messages from Joe, who is supposed to be dead. One message says, "Wait for me," and now it has Vivian thinking about wormholes, time travel, and more. How could Joe be communicating with her? Chanel Cleeton's An Infinite Love Story is just that. It's a swoonworthy romance set during the space race of the 1960s. It's compelling, emotional, and a perfect summer escape. 
 
I really loved Joe and Vivian's romance from the start in An Infinite Love Story. Cleeton provides flashbacks to the start of their courtship and Vivian's time working as a journalist. Cleeton does a really great job bringing to life the 1960s and the excitement around astronauts, NASA, and the race to get to space. The real star of the show is Vivian and Joe's romance, which was oh-so-sweet and memorable. Even when the story started to venture into magical realism with the discussion of wormholes and time travel, I was still entirely invested. While it wasn't my favorite of Cleeton's historical novels, I thought it was a solid novel about a most compelling time period in America.

 

 

Every Version of You by Natalie Messier 

Pages: 368

Genre: Adult Fiction/Romance

Pub. Date: July 7, 2026

Publisher: Gallery

Source: Publisher for review

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

 

 

Goodreads says,  "Joey Vasquez’s life is the definition of good on paper. At thirty-two, she’s a Los Angeles lawyer on the cusp of making partner, but while she’s a professional success, she’s a personal disaster. Her social life mostly consists of nights spent watching TV with her elderly cat. Life isn’t quite what she dreamed when she was younger, but really, whose life is?

But a dinner party with the best friend she’s secretly pined after for years and its aftermath changes everything.

When Joey is given a second chance at life, she finds herself in college again. Armed with memories from her first life, Joey is certain she’s come back to finally convince the one man she ever loved to love her back—so why does she find herself strangely drawn to the man she thought she hated?"

 

 

 

 

Josephina Vasquez, or Joey for short, is a corporate lawyer living a most uninspired life. She isn't talking to her best friend, things with her family are strained, and she has so many regrets. Regret number one: never sharing her feelings with her college crush, Elijah Aarons. She missed her chance, and Elijah, or Ellie for short, is now married. During a dinner party at his house, she finds out that he and his wife are expecting a baby, and to top it off, she finds herself in an argument with another college friend, Alex, who drives her nuts. Feeling rather forlorn, she drives home in a cloud of sadness and gets into an accident. Then she finds herself in a strange room being offered a second chance at her life. So Joey finds herself able to start fresh again; she is back at college and able to do everything all over. Maybe she doesn't want to be a lawyer anymore, and maybe this time she will pursue Ellie differently and make her feelings known. But what is even more compelling is the fact that she finds herself hitting it off with Alex this time around. Every Version of You by Natalie Messier is a lovely story involving some magical touches and second chances.
 
Who doesn't wish they could wake up and re-do parts of their life again? Knowing what you know now, maybe you would play it out differently this time? Well, Joey gets this chance due to her many regrets, and she finds herself back at college, where her regrets really started. She has a chance to pursue Ellie, change things with her family, and even switch her major, ultimately starting a different career. Who says she wants to be a lawyer anyway? Every Version of You examines life and how every moment counts and makes you think about the decisions we make. It tugged on my heartstrings for sure, so if you are looking for an emotional and contemplative summer read, this fits the bill.

 

 

Have you read An Infinite Love Story or Every Version of You? Let me know in the comments below.  

 

Book Review: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Pages: 400

Genre: Adult Fiction

Pub. Date: April 7, 2026

Publisher: Knopf

Source: Personal Copy

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

 

Goodreads says, "Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle – and her followers are sick with envy. Her charming farmhouse on her working ranch is artfully cluttered, her husband is a handsome cowboy, her homemade sourdough boules are each more beautiful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers and industrial-grade ovens behind the scenes? What her followers don’t know won’t hurt them.

Then, one morning, Natalie wakes up in a strange, horrible version of reality. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Is this a hoax? A reality show? A test from God? Natalie knows just two things for sure: this isn't her perfect life, and she must escape, by any means possible.

As darkly funny as it is shocking and gripping, Yesteryear is an electrifying examination of tradition, fame, faith and the grand performance of womanhood, from a thrilling new talent in fiction."

 

 

 

Natalie Heller Mills is living what looks like the perfect life online. She has married into a powerful political family; she and her husband share a bunch of kids on an idyllic farm in Idaho, and she has scored a ton of internet followers by peddling her tradwife life on her ranch, Yesteryear. She isn't your usual country wife though; she churns her own butter, makes her own bread, takes care of the farm, and lives (what appears to be) a life on her sprawling farmhouse. Except behind the scenes, she has two nannies, a marriage that is crumbling, and a team of producers to film her. She doesn't even spend time with her kids; instead, she cultivates her online presence and exploits the children for her online fame. When a new producer, Shannon, comes on board, she threatens to expose online Natalie versus offline Natalie, and in turn, her world threatens to come crumbling down. Plus, there's the huge problem that after some indeterminate amount of time, Natalie wakes up at Yesteryear, but in 1855. Her kids look like her kids, but aren't, and same with Caleb, her husband. She is trapped in a different and dangerous time, and she wants out. Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke is a sizzling debut that is satirical, compelling, and at times, very dark.
 
Natalie is a character that you can't help but dislike right from the start in Yesteryear. I knew this going into Yesteryear, but her character really bothered me. She is so tragically flawed that I found it difficult to get through the book. It's clear that she struggles with mental health issues, and I didn't enjoy being immersed in her world. The stress! The flashbacks to her childhood and college years do help to illustrate her background and how she ended up to became an online tradwife influencer. I don't know much about tradwife influencers. I've heard that Ballerina Farms inspired this novel, but perhaps that lack of knowledge affected my understanding of the story. It felt like the book was trying too hard to convey a message about women, MAGA culture, unconventional society, and a specific group of individuals who believe this is the superior way to live. Natalie appeared to be deluded, and I found it uncomfortable to navigate her existence, which involved medicating just to get through the day and dissociating from reality. 
 
Nonetheless, Yesteryear made for a compelling novel. It was like a car crash on the side of the road. I knew it was going to be rough, but I couldn't stop looking as we drove past. I will give Burke a lot of credit, though; she created a novel that is compulsively readable and crafty. I just wish it was easier to stomach. I look forward to reading more of her work in the future. 
 
Have you read Yesteryear? Many people feel it is one of the best books of the year, but ultimately, it was just ok for me. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.  

 

Blog Tour and Giveaway: The Boy and His Higher Self and My First Day of School

Summer isn’t over yet, but for many, the carefree days are slipping by—and that means back-to-school season is here! Around here, we’ve already started shopping, fall schedules are taking shape, and a few back-to-school jitters are probably starting to emerge. 

Today I’m sharing two new picture books that are perfect for this time of year and remind kids to be authentic, trust their inner voice, stay positive, and be self-confident. Every student could use that reminder right now.

 

Learn More About the Books:

 

The Boy and His Higher Self

Written by Ricardo Santa Cruz

Illustrated by Yuko Kondo

Ages: 4-8 | 38 Pages

Publisher: Mascot Kids (2026) | ISBN: 979-8-99068-351-8

Publisher's Book Summary: And have you always been here right by my side? I have always been with you, living inside. Have you ever listened to the little voice inside your head? What does it say to you? The Boy and His Higher Self is the story of a boy who discovers and learns to trust his higher self, a presence that has always been with him. Dedicated to the inner child and higher self within young children and adults alike, this book offers guidance and tools to help children overcome feelings of insecurity and sadness and gain self-confidence and positivity. 

You can purchase your own copy of The Boy and His Higher Self at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop. 

 

 

My First Day of School

Written by Ricardo Santa Cruz

Illustrated by Yuko Kondo

Ages: 4-8 | 38 Pages

Publisher: Mascot Kids (2026) | ISBN: 979-8990683501

Publisher's Book Summary: "I'm afraid to be myself and don't know if I can. Relax and remember to be yourself. There's no need to try to be someone else. My First Day of School, the second book in a series dedicated to the inner child and higher self, tells the story of a boy on his first day of school. Nervous about making new friends and being accepted by his peers, he confides his insecurities in his higher self. With insight and guidance, his higher self shares with him that having the courage to be your authentic self inspires others to do the same and create a positive environment."

 

You can purchase your own copy of My First Day of School at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Bookshop. 

To learn more about Ricardo Santa Cruz by visiting his website as well as the Xala Foundation. All proceeds from The Boy and His Higher Self will be given to The Xala Foundation, aimed at helping to educate and bring opportunities to marginalized communities from the region.

 

The Giveaway: 

 

I have partnered with Ricardo Santa Cruz to host a giveaway to celebrate the publication of these two wonderful picture books. Readers who follow along on this virtual book tour will have the chance to win one of three book sets, each featuring both The Boy and His Higher Self and My First Day of School. Good luck!