“Bockoven is magic. Don’t miss Another Summer.” — New York Times bestselling author Catherine Coulter
Georgia Bockoven’s enthralling Another Summer—the sequel to her phenomenal bestseller The Beach House—is a must for fans of Jodi Picoult and Marian Keyes. It is the moving and powerful story of four families, the conflicts that tear them apart…and the house that brings them together. Bestselling author Kristin Hannah says, “It will appeal to anyone who believes in the healing power of love,” and Mary Jo Putney advises you to, “Read Another Summer on a day when you want to laugh and cry and feel better about the world.” If you’re looking for the very best in heartbreaking, heart-soaring, uplifting fiction…come in.
Georgia was a Army child, who after a successful career as a freelance photo journalist before she turned to fiction writing. Published since 1983, she is an award-winning author whose books have sold more than four million copies worldwide. Her romance novel, A Marriage of Convenience, became a CBS movie in October of 1998 starring Jane Seymour and James Brolin.
Married wich John Bockoven, she is the mother of two, and resides in Northern California. When her husband retired from the fire department, she decided to take a break from writing and spend more time together. The result was a nature photography business that is both challenging and filled with creative energy.
An interesting take on the anthology of short stories. The main character is a beach house, rented by month, over the course of the summer. With the exception of Andrew, whose character is woven throughout the stories, each section is a separate story of love, loss, and healing set around the characters renting the house during their respective month. Feel good endings and a breezy writing style make Another Summer a easy summer read. Although I hadn't read the first book in the series, I didn't feel I missed anything.
Okay, so maybe 2 stars is a little harsh. I bought this because it was on sale and it wasn't bad for a summery vacation read. But it could not have been more blandly predictable. And, quite frankly, there wasn't a single non-straight couple in a book with 5+ different romance plots, so that's minus a star and a half right there. That said, the story with the little boy and the cat was very cute.
I think this book just touched a nerve - in this time of the covid-9 pandemic, it is a novel that contains stories of hope. I became teary eyed at least three times. : ) It is the story of a beach cottage in Santa Cruz, CA that is used as a summer rental and the people who rent it one summer. First, you meet neighbor to the beach cottage, Andrew, nervously waiting at his 20 year high school reunion to see the woman he had callously thrown aside at the age of 21. At first Cheryl is angry at Andrew, but eventually decided to make him work for her love and trust. Their story runs throughout the novel. The June renter is a young lawyer, sent to Santa Cruz to take a class from an environmental warrior so that they would be able to defend against him successfully in court. (loved it) The July renter is a young family devastated by the loss of their three-month-old baby during the previous year. They are healed by guardian angels and a feral cat (tears). The August renters are Cheryl and three inner city teenage girls from Oakland. Cheryl is hoping to show them that all life is not the hard streets of Oakland.
If you are in the mood for something to show you that there really are wonderful people in the world and hope for humanity, this is an excellent choice.
Pg 237 ‘It isn’t in our nature to accept that sometimes things just happen, and there isn’t anything we can do about it. We want answers. We want to blame something or someone. It gives us some kind of perverse comfort to be able to point a finger because we think it will keep us safe.’
Pg 265 ‘Life went on, no matter how heartbreaking the journey.’
Liked most of the chapters. Not crazy about one though. Ending did wrap up loose ends. However, like in many ebooks, while the ending is good, it could be much better.
Got this on amazon for a couple of dollars, so I thought I'd give it a try. Plus, it takes place in my home town of Santa Cruz. It wasn't really my thing. There were 3 different story lines. I read the first 2, skipped the third. The book finished with the first people, so finished out that story.
I liked the way the author tied so many characters to the one beach house. Definitely a story that makes you smile and feel good about fate and how everything works out for a reason.
I enjoyed getting three stories in one. The same place, different time and people. I enjoyed the three different stories and yet they had roots that were common. Just sit back and enjoy!
An interesting concept, writing sections of the book by month. It kind of thre threw me at first because I was reading this on vacation. Anyway, it's an entertaining book but not wow over the top.
Beautifully written! This is actually a collection of short stories centred around a “magical” beach house and the people who rent it for the months of May, June, July and August. Touching!