The Second Summer: A Planet Rodanthe Novel

by Sue Long

At seventeen, the island gave her the love of her life. At sixty-two, it gave him back. Forty-five years ago, Maggie Farrow waited at her mailbox every single day for the letter Wes Basnight promised to send. It never came. She decided the barefoot island boy had forgotten her, married a good and steady man, and built a good and steady life four hundred miles up the coast. Now she's a widow, back in Rodanthe for one sensible clean out her late aunt Junie's sound-side cottage, sign the papers, sell it, and go home. Then she opens a locked drawer in Junie's old desk — and finds the letter. Her name on the front in a boy's careful hand. Postmarked October 1981. The letter she never got. The letter that would have changed everything. And Wes is still here. Still on the water. Still, God help them both, alone. The Second Summer is a tender, emotional later-in-life love story about the letter that never arrived, the years it stole, and whether two people who each loved and honored someone else can still reach for the one they lost. It's about the coldest word in the language — sensible — and the glorious foolishness of choosing, at last, to be brave. For readers of Nicholas Sparks, Debbie Macomber, and Robyn Carr — and for anyone who's ever been told it was too late. Pour the coffee. Leave the light on. It was never too late. A standalone Planet Rodanthe novel — free with Kindle Unlimited.

111 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 31, 2026

Reviews

[Cheryl Gardina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was my favorite of the series. Quick read would recommend it’s a feel good book.