I wanted to like this book. I mean… a summer book club with 4 reunited besties and a handsome new guy around too, it sounds great. Unfortunatly it left me unfulfilled. There wasn’t really much of a bookclub at all… just brief mentions of maybe doing one again… and the love story was just too quick for me. They met and were on a date talking about how serious they were for each other right away and they are professing love within days. It all just seemed unrealistically fast and serious for me. I also wanted to know more about the characters - more of the ladies backstories. If you’re in the mood for a very wholesome, clean, small town read then you may enjoy this.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. A very cute romance. I enjoyed the characters and the book even made me laugh out loud in some parts. Very witty..would read from this author again!

A fun, easy summer read. Julie is a widow turning 50 and feels stuck in her life. Or so everyone keeps telling her. Her daughter rounds up Julie's childhood friends, the Summer Island Book Club, to come back for a visit and soon things are getting crazy! Throw in a new-comer, Trevor, a handsome divorcee starting up a charter boat tour company on the island and one crazy ferret and it's a lot of fun. Fun, loveable characters - could easily see this being a great series!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

Summer Island Book Club is the perfect summer read! Julie is almost 50 and her daughter decides to help her get out of the stagnant life she seems to be living. She invites her best friends from high school to help her Mom celebrate her big day. Julie meets a new man named Trevor and you see the romance develop between these two characters. A great story of female friendship and a second chance at love!

I love to read books that has a main female character is older and close to my age. It makes it much easier to relate to what the character is experiencing. This book fit that perfectly. I wish there were more!
A nice clean, uncomplicated, well-written storyline about a widow and her new future with reacquainted childhood friends, her daughter and a new man in her life. This would be a perfect book to read while enjoying the sunshine at the beach or in your backyard. I recommend it!

Thanks to the publisher, Author Collective 20 and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this delightful book!

First, let me say I loved the outdoor shower scene and the comments that followed! Too funny, just enough sexual tension without getting naughty. There is so much I enjoyed about this book, a middle aged couple, a daughter cheering on her Mom, long lost friends reconnecting, the best guy friend who holds him accountable, gives good and bad advice, but most, I loved that Julie and Trevor seemed like real people with real life problems.

Without any spoilers, the ending was adorable. Julie and Trevor are meant to be. Both have loved, suffered and grown from their past. They are willing to try again. This is a great light-hearted read to relax with for your ‘beach’ or summer vacation reading that is clean with just the right amount of sexual tension. The rest of the series has a great beginning here with such diverse characters.

Julie has been a widow for three years and is content with her life. Her daughter comes home and throws her a fiftieth birthday party. Three of her closest childhood friends also return for the party and Julie realizes it is time to move on with her life. It doesn't hurt that there is a new resident on the island who catches her eye. I enjoyed this book and loved how the characters were middle age. Great summer read.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
-----
Widow, Julie Boone has lived her life and is content, so she thought until her daughter gives her the perfect nightmare of a fiftieth birthday gift-her three childhood besties. The arrival of her wildly successful, buttinski friends, overwhelms Julie when her life goes from peaceful to melodrama, makeovers, and matchmaking. Especially when they make her believe there is still life to be lived with one handsome sailor who’s just moved to town.

Trevor Ashford retreats from big city life to sunny Florida after a failed marriage and damaged reputation. His only wish is to open a small boat charter company in peace, but when Houdini-a mischievous pet ferret-steals an engine part and leads him on a merry chase into the arms of Julie Boone, he has to choose between being a recluse or embracing a new love.
-----
This was a sweet summer read, enjoyable especially to me because the characters were a little different than your average romance novel. Instead of a dog (and I love almost nothing more than I love dogs), the book featured a pet ferret. Instead of a protagonist in her 20s or 30s (and I have nothing against women in their 20s and 30s), the book featured someone quickly approaching 50. It was refreshing to read about someone who was entering a new phase in her life, instead of someone who was experiencing her first great love story. And the supporting characters were all delightful as well. Whether you read this one sitting on a deck overlooking the ocean, out on the beach listening to the waves, or curled up in your living room, as I did, letting your imagination take you there, this is a fun, entertaining book that anyone would enjoy. I absolutely recommend it.

I kindly received an eARC advance copy of this book to read and review though NetGalley.

Recently widowed, Julie is approaching 50. She lives in a small seaside town in Florida where she grew up, married Joe and had her daughter at a young age.

Her daughter Bri returns home to write a book and summons Julie’s childhood girlfriends (the Summer Island Book Club) to come be with her for her 50th.

Around the same time, Julie meets Trevor a new to town single and recently divorced guy.

The friends and Julie’s daughter encourage her to get to know him better. There are some stumbling blocks between their past hurts and the interfering ex wife but there is a happy ending in this story.

It’s a cute, quick read that kept me occupied on a lazy Sunday with trip to the beach and Spring sun. 🏖 😉

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

A small town contemporary romance novel about an almost 50 year old recently widowed Jewels and the recently divorced Trevor (similarly aged!). The secondary story line followed Jewels reuniting with her high school best friends and restarting their Summer Island Book Club. A special beach, an alligator and old stories helped make this book one I couldn't put down. The angst and issues over Trevor's' exwifes pregnancy and appearing randomly to cause drama were well written and the beach scene was absolutely hilarious!

I normally don't read or like what I would term middle aged romance or clean romance (aka no sex). Having said that this book was fantastic. The camaraderie ad witty banter between the Summer Island Book Club members was funny and realistic. I barely noticed the middle aged thing and the caring and tenderness between Jewels and Trevor was so sweet that I didn't miss the sex in the story.

My only criticism was that Jewels daughter Bri was prominent in the story and the mystery surrounding her reasons for returning home were not really explored in any way.

I can't wait to read the next in the series!!!

A nice light hearted read. I read through this rather quickly.

Julie, widowed and adapting to life as a single woman is surprised when her daughter, Bri, shows up back home. Worried about her mother and that she is not loving life to the fullest has decided to throw a 50th birthday bash for her mom. Including inviting all her former high school best friends.

Trevor, recently divorced has come to the small Florida town to hide away and begin again by opening a charter service. His side kick Derek is dead set to bring Trevor back to Seattle with him.

As the ladies start arriving and Julie meets Trevor, hearts are turned upside down.

There is nothing better than lifelong friends and I love the fact that this book is about middle age people. I could identify with each character to an extent. The ferret annoyed me and I felt was totally unnecessary, but the story was clean, not too sexy but just the right amount of all different kinds of love we encounter throughout our life. It’s worth the read.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced readers copy!

Thank you NetGalley, Ciara Knight and Author Collective 20 for the ARC of Summer Island Book Club. This is my personal review.
This is a perfect book to spend a few hours with as you relax and get to know the characters in this book.
The combination of friends to help Julie celebrate turning 50 that were invited by Julie’s daughter makes for an interesting time for all of them.
I became so connected with everyone in the book and I look forward to reading more from Ciara Knight in the future.

Too much of everything. Too many similar characters, too many storyline offshoots, general confusion about what is going on with whom-not the book for me.

A great summer read about moving on with life after loss. Julie's daughter Bri knows her mom needs a push to start living life again and has arranged a reunion with Julie's oldest friends. What wasn't planned was for Julie to meet Trevor and fall in love. Both are hurting with the pain of loss and divorce, and must deal with their baggage if they want a future together.

Summer Island Book Club is a story of the reunion of long time friends and new relationships. Widow, Julie Boone still lives in her hometown while her three childhood best friends have moved out of town and haven't visited in a while. She feels that they are all so much more successful in life and love than she is but she is content with her routine life. As a surprise for her 50th birthday, her daughter invites the 3 besties for a weekend birthday celebration. Julie is overwhelmed when her peaceful life becomes a crazy time of makeovers, drama and matchmaking with her friends,

To make things interesting, Trevor Ashford has just moved to Florida to open a small boat charter company in peace after escaping the big city life and a failed marriage. Things get interesting when Trevor and his visiting friend encounter the three women, This is a fun book and I recommend it,

This was a cute, sweet and clean summer romance book. I like that it had characters that were a little older than typically are found in romance novels.
Julie had been a widow for 3 years and had been going through the motions of life. Leading up to her 59th birthday, her daughter comes home and tells her she’s arranged a meeting of her mother’s old books club with her best friends that she hasn’t seen in many years.
Trevor has moved to town after a messy divorce and wants to start life over in a much simpler way. He meets Julie one day when her per ferret steals a tool from his boat shop and he chases it to Julie’s store. They are both attracted to each other, but are both hurting and not ready to get hurt again. Until the friends come back to town and help Julie and Trevor see that their friendship is meant for the long run.
It was nice that the characters didn’t jump into bed as soon as they met, and also that they were real about their feelings. And I always love a story set in a beach town and then add in a book club and what more could you want?
Thanks to Netgalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

Julie is about to turn 50 and with her parents gone husband died and her daughter moved on with her own life julie was feeling left out. When her daughter walked in the door as a surprise things started to happen. First she knew her daughter was silently needing her as much as she needed her daughter. But Bri was determined to show her mom that just cause your a widow and 50 life can go on. So she went behind her moms back and invited the group to a reunion and things heated from there.

Thank you #Netgalley for advanced copy!

This was a fun quick summer read, just wish I was on an island or beach! This novel follows Julie, an artist, widow, mother who lives on summer island. Her husband unexpectedly passed away three years ago and she has been slowly trying to get her life back together. Growing up she had a group of close girl friends, but unfortunately over time they lost touch. But with Julie's 50th birthday quickly approaching, her daughter Bri decided to bring them all back to the island for a birthday celebration. Meanwhile, Julie runs into a new man on the island, Trevor. Trevor has escaped his old drama filled life to develop a charter company on the island. There is an instant connection between Trevor and Julie. This novel follows Julie slowly opening up to her first relationship after her husbands death.

Really enjoyed this book. I feel it was written really well and shows the true love and friendship between friends and the characters. Really recommend this one.

Well written book loaded with fun characters. Learning to let go and move on with your life after losing someone you've loved isn't easy. Julie was lucky because she had the love of her daughter and friends to hold her up till she could on her own. I'd like to thank netgalley for the advanced copy.