Summer People

by Sally Blakely

One week. No drama. And absolutely no dating each other.

After graduating college, five friends make a pact. Every summer, they’ll meet for one week at the same beach house on the California coast to relive the golden days of college. There’s just one no dating within the group.

Simple enough, except Everett and Sutton already broke the rule before summer even began… and couldn’t seem to stop. What started as a one-time fling turned into an annual habit neither of them could quit, until the night everything fell apart.

Five years later, Sutton has no interest in seeing Everett ever again. Until one of their friends, newly divorced and looking for an escape, calls everyone back to the beach house. She expects awkward silences and forced smiles, but nothing could prepare her for Everett--still infuriating, still magnetic, and still capable of unraveling her with a single glance.

As the week stretches on and every re-lived tradition, shared meal and outing bring a flood of sun-soaked memories that feed the spark between her and Everett, Sutton begins to wonder if the promise that broke them apart was worth keeping in the first place… and if breaking it again will ruin the delicate balance their friend group has finally started to reclaim.
 

Genres: Romance, Adult, Summer Reads, Contemporary, Summer, Contemporary Romance, Friends To Lovers

336 pages, Paperback

Expected publication July 7, 2026

About the author

Sally Blakely studied theatre, media arts, English, and education at The University of Montana. When she's not writing, she's reading, or making far too many playlists. She lives in Montana with her husband.

Reviews

[Sarah]

I am low-key so excited for this even though I have a feeling the story might annoy me beyond belief lol 😂🤭🧡 But I absolutely love the cover! 😍🫶🏼

[Annie K · Rating 5 out of 5]

TL;DR: Addictive summer romance with insane chemistry, emotional depth, and a powerful message about forgiveness and growing up. Another banger.

Sutton and Everett have undeniable chemistry, but a pact made by five college friends on their first annual beach trip makes their romance off-limits. That doesn’t stop them from getting involved, but as secrets unravel, they’re forced to confront their past—and decide if they can go from “summer people” to forever.

Wow. I’m honestly a little speechless. This book feels like a love letter to anyone in their late 20s to early 30s—the growing pains, the way we cling to old friendships (sometimes longer than we should), and the complicated beauty of forgiveness.

Accountability is important in relationships, but this story really highlights how we can take it too far—punishing the people we love for mistakes long after the moment has passed. We tell ourselves it’s self-protection, but sometimes it’s closer to self-sabotage. There’s so much power in forgiveness—not just forgiving yourself (which we talk about a lot), but extending that grace to others. Humans are messy, and we do messy things. This book captures so well how essential forgiveness is to maintaining relationships and truly growing up.

And honestly—the writing was addictive. The chemistry between Sutton and Everett? OMFG, to die for. There’s just something about a summer romance with dual timelines that scratches my brain in the best way. That slow reveal, the tension from the past colliding with the present—I’m such a sucker for it, and Blakely absolutely delivers.

I always get a little nervous about an author’s second book (the slump is real), but not here. This was another banger, and I’m so glad I got an advance copy.

If you want an addictive summer romance full of chemistry and emotional depth, you’ll love this one.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[tayler · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars!

If you liked Happy Place by Emily Henry, this will be up your alley — a friend group from college that reunites at a beach house every summer, with friendships that have been stretched with tension and a will-they-won't-they romance that leaps off the page.

I loved Everett and Sutton. The things they experienced and the behaviors that were exhibited due to those experiences felt extremely real, leaving their characters well-developed. Their chemistry was fantastic, and I loved the way Everett loved her, and vice-versa. Also, a movie director and a chef? Feels sooo refreshing in this genre. However, I do think the side characters could've been more developed, and I'd have been content with more pages being added to have those developments.

The plot was fast paced and well executed, bouncing between the past and present timelines, but what didn't work so well for me was the conclusion to the conflict -- especially with Laurel's character. She'd been quite cruel to Sutton (and that's not even including what Sutton overheard from one of the other male friends), and I feel as though it wasn't handled well enough for my taste. I do appreciate the insight into Laurel's character by the end, but it just felt like for the sake of the plot, the character was made significantly worse temporarily, then changed back, rather than giving her the necessary nuance to pull it off. Ultimately, she was a mean girl that I had a hard time standing throughout the majority of the book. Unlike Sutton, I did not forgive her by the end! But alas, we’re in fiction!

Overall, a great story with memorable quotes (I found some parts deeeeply relatable), and I'll definitely be tuning in for Sally's next release.

[brie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Sally Blakely and HarperCollins for the ARC in exchange for a fair review!

Sutton and Everett meet spontaneously at a college party and hit it off immediately, but decide not to pursue a relationship and part ways. When Everett then turns up at a cottage weekend held by Sutton’s friend group, they are forced to confront their growing feelings for each other while also navigating the complexities of college friend groups post-graduation.

Plot wise, it felt very similar to Happy Place by Emily Henry. If that is a book that you enjoyed, you may like this!

3 ⭐️! Overall I enjoyed this, but also had some small criticisms that stopped me from rating it higher.

The man thing was just feeling unclear about what the true conflict was between this friend group throughout the story. It’s totally natural for friendships to change after graduation and moving away, but it also felt like there was more complex dynamics going on that were never really addressed by the ending of the book.

I also felt the writing was clunky at times, where I had to go back and reread a sentence to get its meaning and confirm that it was written with correct punctuation. It wasn’t enough to completely take away from my enjoyment of the story, but just something to note.

Overall an average romance read and a good summer book pick.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

I . . . don't know how to rate this book, actually. Sally Blakely can clearly write and develop a story and characters, so, first I will say, I was definitely not the right reader for this book. It was fine but maybe forgettable, it was a little hard for me to feel pulled into the story, and it had a lot of juvenile frustrations.

It's dual timeline, which, looking at Sally Blakely's other book, seems to be the author's style. Which I didn't know going into, and unfortunately, I don't usually love. This particular dual timeline takes you through all of the summers this group of friends spend together, and it alternates pretty 1 to 1. Now, then, now, then. I found this incredibly easy to be pulled from the story, which also meant I found it incredibly hard to get into and easy to put down. Once it stopped really drawing me in, it was very easy to skip around and not miss much because it was a basic concept that repeated.

For this story, the dual timeline also meant it was a different kind of second chance story than I thought I was getting. The dual timeline plays really well into driving up the angst, but I didn't feel the tension between them. It felt more like pining for nostalgia and mad that current time isn't past. I didn't find myself hoping they'd just patch things up and kiss, for example.

I'm sure from a technical sense, the dual timeline works for the pacing, but because I never felt drawn into the story, I didn't buy into the current timeline romance. Like I said, the tension wasn't there for me but the anger and angst was.

At the first summer, the friends, all 22, decide they have to make a pact that none of them will date each other because one of them did, cheated on their partner, and "fractured" the group. Except not. Because the cheater was kicked out of their group and the other 4 remained close friends. This pact is the driving force of the novel, and not only did it not really make sense because they all-but kicked the one friend out of their group, never to be contacted or seen again style, but it was so beyond juvenile. Sutton is 30, still holding onto this pact, even though these people have barely been together in the same room more than a handful of times in the last five years. She has family issues and these are her chosen family, and so she can't give into her feelings and she must hold onto her self-prophesying anger over this.

She creates her own problems because she holds grudges, and she does acknowledge this at the end of the story. But it's still incredibly frustrating and annoying to read. She could've solved her own problem. She could've solved everyone else's problems. The reason it was awkward and weird was literally because of Sutton.

I hate to say this, but the main conflict is also really nothing special. They broke up five summers ago because Everett wanted to be serious and be a thing and tell their friends, and Sutton got cold feet about breaking their dumbass pact to not date within the friend group. Then, when one of the other friends overhears, Sutton blows up at Everett, blaming him for doing it on purpose and saying she doesn't trust him. So then they don't talk for five years. I was hoping for more, for better, when it came to this "what broke them up" question. It's boring, it's clichéd, it's been done. And this didn't feel like anything new.

Because also . . . why would she suddenly trust him five years and zero contact later then? Friend, I do not know. The book doesn't fully explain this to me.

I hated how Laurel was allowed to hide the reason for her divorce for the entire length of the book. Realizing that you've grown apart from your partner is heartbreaking and hearing that they don't want to get to know the new you is devastating, and it felt really disingenuous for this "like family" friend group (who hasn't really seen each other much in five years) to just . . . not ask. Never push. Especially when it was obvious two of the five were feuding. How awkward!! Ask on Day 1 and get it out of the way!! And then don't get me started about the things she said to Sutton the last night when she finally did tell Sutton why she was getting divorced and why she called this beach week . . .

And then to find out at the end that the other three friends all knew about Sutton and Everett's relationship the entire "this summer" week made things even worse. Because the other three didn't push Everett and Sutton either. And locking them in a room for 30 minutes doesn't count. WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE FRIENDS?!?! Howwww are they friends, if they never challenge each other? Why didn't one of them say "hey, we don't care that y'all were hooking up. That's the past."???

I wanted to love the friends-yearly-vacation aspect! I wanted to love the friend group. And I did enjoy the obvious fractured chemistry between the group, but I don't think that was done intentionally, and it wasn't fully resolved, especially not with Laurel's outburst.

The epilogue was a little wah-wah for me because I wasn't fully bought in to them lasting given how much miscommunication/no communication they'd had for ten years.

I didn't fully read People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry and can't speak to similarities there (other than it's a similarly dumb thing that breaks them up back then), but I preferred Jessica Joyce's The Ex Vows and how that author handled the angsty second chance with weaving in the past rather than just dual timelines of it. Those two are also both open door, if you're looking for that. So, like I said, I just wasn't the reader for this one, unfortunately.

[CJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

SUMMER PEOPLE is my kind of romance!!! Tension and angst so good I was holding my breath anytime Sutton and Everett (those names!!) are in the same room, not wanting to miss a single look between them. Emotional depth and complexity so real and layered that I forgot I'm reading fiction (no corny-ness or cheesy-ness here thank god!!) The love and connection so believable and genuine that it felt like a privilege and huge blessing to have read Sutton and Everett's story and to witnessed their love. Vulnerability so sincere you just want to wrap them up in a blanket and hold them telling them they are in a romance, and they will get they happy ending. The heat and chemistry (and even anger too!) so tasteful I forgot to eat dinner and read the book in one evening (so worth it in my opinion!). And lastly, the writing so wonderful I'm wondering how the heck I'm going to wait until I can read the author's next book. (Also read the author's FRIENDS TO LOVERS, which I also recommend!!!)

After a short and unforgettable connection, college grads Sutton and Everett's paths cross once again. But this time it's at the summer house where Sutton and her friends visit annually in which a pact is decided that no dating is allowed with in the group. How many years go by where Sutton and Everett can keep their secret of knowing each other Everett was brought into the friend group? What happens to them and the group when the secret is out? How long or should I say how many years does it take for Sutton and Everett to be able to tolerate each other's presence? What will it take for them to realize that the reason they both don't do relationships is because they are only meant to be in relation that way to each other?! Oh Sutton and Everett will always have a place in my heart and am so, SO glad Sutton went to that party she didn't even want to go to.

5 glowing stars that are so radiant you can't look at them with a naked eye.

Much gratitude to Harlequin Trade Publishing for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

[Sian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really struggle with deciding on a rating for this book because originally I thought it would be a 5 star book… until it started to be revealed that all of the FMCs friends think she’s pathetic for treating them like family and making such an effort to get them all to this cabin every summer.

There is an arc to this storyline that gets resolved but there’s a particular scene with the FMCs best friend where the friend says some of the nastiest and most hurtful things to her (think the scene from the Banshees of Inisherin where Padraic talking about how he may be dull but he’s nice - most heartbreaking friendship breakup of all time imo). I couldn’t find it in myself as the reader to forgive the best friend and so I actually found the resolution of the novel to be quite frustrating. I felt like the message was that you may think your friendships are forever but actually true love trumps all and finding someone will complete you so you don’t have to care as much about your friendships.

Also, we got the obligatory HEA with kids and marriage at the end and it always drives me absolutely nuts but that’s too long of a discussion to have here.

In terms of rating the book critically, I have no notes. Great character arcs, great pacing, beautiful atmosphere, well structured etc etc. my issues with the book were personal and about how much I disagreed with the muddied message.

If I was rating based on personal enjoyment, I’d give it 3 stars but because I think if I were to remove my personal gripes it’d be a 5 stars, I’m going to rate it 4.

[RUTH GUCKIEAN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This book made me feel like I'd been trusted with something delicate and vulnerable—and I held it so carefully.

Sutton and Everett's connection is tender, nostalgic, and achingly earnest. Their chemistry has *range*—tension and softness, history and heat—and it kept me turning pages long past when I should've stopped. What I loved most is that Blakely doesn't rely on clichés or rose-colored glasses. The emotional depth here feels genuinely human: layered, messy, and earned.

The premise—a friend group's annual beach week, a no-dating pact, and two people who've been quietly breaking it for years—could easily tip into trope-heavy territory. But this never felt formulaic. Instead, it's sun-soaked and bittersweet, full of the ache of what was and the terrifying hope of what could still be.

I wanted more. I wanted to stay in that beach house forever. An absolute gem.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good romance! A group of close friends, an annual tradition and a secret romance brewing in the background - it was all great!
I loved Sutton and Everett. I thought the way they originally met was sweet and fun and the way they happened to reconnect at a later date without even trying kind or proved that they were meant to be. I thought the friend group was great too, though I kind of always hated their stupid pact.
I liked how, no matter how many years passed, or what was changing in their lives, Sutton and Everett always connected again with the group. And though they always tried to deny their feelings for each other, their chemistry was undeniable. It felt really genuine which I liked and overall the whole romance never once felt cheesy or over done. I found the ending satisfying as well. Would recommend checking this one out!

[Mia Alvarado · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars all around, I couldn’t put this book down! Read it in the span of a few hours throughout the day🤍

A tight knit group of college friends meeting every summer navigating life fresh out of of college with life changes. As the story is told from Sutton’s pov (FMC) not quite ready to let go pushing to keep everyone together while figuring out her feelings after a big blow up 5 years earlier from her and Everett’s choices she is figuring how to get things back to normal only to come to realize she is not who she was back then.

Such a full circle moment of realization that time is moving forward and learning to navigate life with the changes that adulthood brings ❤️

[Ria Camden · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sand bucket of frustration, but hey, look—it’s a cute summer print?

I get it—when life gives characters lemons. But when they pick them up themselves and try to feverishly bite into them? I’m talking in riddles tonight, but yeah, no.

It wasn’t bad per se. I fairly enjoyed the setting and the past–present perspective, but all of the relationships—even the front-and-center friend group—were, at best, questionable.

Thank God the last few chapters happened. They really changed the experience—I even cried.



Thank You to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the DRC!

[Madeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you liked Happy Place by Emily Henry, this will probably be your kind of read. Summer People follows a group of college friends reuniting at a beach house for their once-a-year trip. The story moves between past and present, gradually revealing more about Sutton and Everett’s secret relationship while also unpacking the tension within the friend group.

[Kerri Satterlund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect beach read

[Anna (annareadit)]

I can't wait to read it!

[Tanis DeMille · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you liked Happy Place I think you'll like this! (less emotional)