Summer by the Sea by Jenny Hale
Published by Bookouture on June 12, 2015
Pages: 339
Source: Purchased, Audible
Narrator: Teri Schnaubelt
Length: 10 hours, 12 minutes
Buy from Amazon|Buy from Barnes & Noble|Buy from Book Depository|Buy on Audible
Goodreads

They say there’s always one summer that changes you.

For Faith the one summer she can’t forget is when she fell in love as a teenager – only for her sister, Casey, to steal her man. Now, at the request of her beloved ninety-year-old Grandmother, Faith has agreed to a family holiday – at their childhood beach house, where it all began.

Faith hasn’t seen her sister in years but is finally ready to forgive and forget, enjoy the sunshine and relive happy memories. What she’s not ready for is meeting Jake Buchanan – the owner of the beach house – or the long-forgotten feelings he ignites in her.

Can Faith overcome the hurt of the past, rekindle the close bond she had with Casey and make this summer THE ONE to remember?

Review:

It’s almost a little bit funny to me how I found Summer by the Sea by Jenny Hale: I was browsing the internet, searching for “summer” books to add to my summer reading list for this year, when I saw that some of Jenny Hale’s titles are set on the North Carolina beaches. Oh hi there one-click button! I can never resist a good North Carolina setting. (#home)

Summer by the Sea features a sweet, slow-burn romance between Faith and Jake. Faith has joined her family at a beach house where Jake is doing some renovation work. Faith’s sister is also down for the vacation-the sisters have had a tumultuous relationship for the past several years since they had a major disagreement years before the book began. Faith’s grandmother, Nan, has requested that the entire family gather for her 90th birthday at the Outer Banks in North Carolina, a place they all enjoy vacationing. Each character has a bit of a backstory and a specific relationship with Faith. Great story, great ending, and I love the epilogue.

What I love most about this book is the time that Ms. Hale spent on the family relationships: Faith and her sister, Faith and her grandmother, etc. The importance of family is woven throughout the story as is the importance of forgiveness and second chances. A slow-burn romance between Faith and Jake is also there and I enjoyed it almost as much as I did the interaction between Faith and her family.

While this is clearly Faith’s story, she is not quite my favorite character. I found myself gravitating to the rest of Faith’s family and to Jake in just about every scene. I just felt like Faith was a little difficult; she was hard on her sister for their falling-out years ago and she was hard on poor Jake for some of his thoughts and opinions. Faith’s feelings may have been absolutely justified but I wish she had shown a little more maturity in how she handled herself in a few circumstances. Sure, there was eventual talking by all parties and everything was worked out, but I’m not entirely convinced that Faith made much development in her way of thinking over the course of the story.

Overall, the story and the setting and majority of the characters made Summer by the Sea a wonderful summer read and a great addition to my summer reading list. I wouldn’t hesitate to reread this story in the future and I would love to read more by Jenny Hale.

Audiobook Notes:

I loved Teri Schnaubelt’s narration with this audiobook. She made the story very easy and enjoyable to listen to, reading at a nice pace with no frustrating sighs, noises, or clicks. I have listened to other work by this narrator and have always had positive experiences, so when I saw that she read Summer by the Sea, I had no hesitation in deciding to alternate this audiobook with reading the book on my Kindle.

Title: Summer by the Sea by Jenny Hale
Series: Standalone
Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
Publisher: Bookouture
Length: 10 hours, 12 minutes, Unabridged