I read Nora Goes Off Script earlier this year and really enjoyed it so I was excited to see what came next from this author. When I saw that it was a second chance, childhood friends to strangers to lovers, I knew that I had to read it!

This book is told in both the present day, when Sam is engaged and planning her wedding but runs into her first love Wyatt, and the past with flashbacks to the beginning of their love story. This really gave me a sense of Sam and Wyatt's feelings for one another in both timelines (I also liked that some chapters were from Wyatt's perspective so we understood what he was feeling too), and seeing them rediscover each other was really well written and sweet.

Beyond rediscovering a lost love though, Sam was also rediscovering her old self that she had lost along the way. This felt very relatable and seeing her reclaiming things that she used to love and made her who she was was really moving and you could really see her growth as a character.

Sam's family were great side characters and I loved the setting at the beach house - I can see this being a great read over the summer!

Overall, this was a sweet, nostalgic second chance romance that features great characters and also portrays rediscovering yourself really well.

Thank you for my earc of this book!
I loved Nora Goes Off Script so was excited to see what was next!
I really enjoyed this. I loved the setting (made me want to go to the beach), and loved the teen romance and 2nd chance trope. I loved her family and their messiness.

"You're the most important person in my life, and you're not even the most important in your own."

A brilliant, beautiful summer romance. It's sweet, a bit steamy, and sweeping - brimming with teenage nostalgia and the painfully joyful memories of first loves.

Monoghan absolutely nails the mix of romance, contemporary comedy and heart in his dazzling, dizzying tale of a woman at a crossroads trying to reconcile who she is and who she wanted to be. Sam was SO relatable and made so many witty observations that any woman who has found herself as a background character in their life will find so much connection and catharsis with. She takes us back to her younger years of teenage confusion and the intense feelings that shaped the adult she became - showing us just how much our formative years decide where we go next.

The story is full of vivid nostalgia and bright summery scenes that made my heart ache for carefree sunny days gone by. There's moments of bright clarity and healing as Sam reconnects with her younger, hopeful self for the first time in years. She takes us through the regrets, the expectations, the fond memories and I felt every punch that Sam did as she realised how far from herself she'd strayed. I loved how despite this being a love story, it wasn't just about finding a lost love but finding a lost sense of self too.

The characters were beautiful - I loved her relationships with her family, with the men she's loved and love. They all open up slowly, the story moving at a leisurely pace like a summer afternoon as we get to know people, diving in and out of the past. Sam drives most of the story with a strong voice, switching between her and Wyatt and learning about who they were and are. At times there was a little too much expositing but in general I loved strolling memory lane with them.

This book is the perfect formula for a cosy beach read.

A fun light hearted read. I enjoy every moment,. Just the thing to get me out of a reading slump. Probably one of the top beach reads for this summer...I called it here first.

I enjoyed the juxtaposition of Sam and the storyline between her first love and her current love. I also thoroughly enjoyed her extended family and only wish there could have been more written about them.

A great read and equally as enjoyable as Nora Goes Off Script.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Group for approving me for an early copy.

Really enjoyed this book, loved the writing style and storyline. I adored the characters, such a fun summer read.

I really enjoyed Annabel Monaghan's debut novel Nora goes off Script (the story of a film star who falls in love with a civilian writer), so was keen to read Same Time Next Summer. This latest book has a strong YA feeling -- the love story initially focusses on the romance between two teenagers which, coupled with the seaside setting, was evocative of writers like Sarah Dessen and Judy Blume's ( particularly Summer Sisters). Annabel Monaghan is good at witty dialogue and the plot zipped along, and while I didn't love this book as much as 'Nora', I think it will be an easy-breezy summer read for many, including teenagers.

Officially a new favourite author. If you need a book for the summer this is it. Closed door second chance romance. So good.

Of all the summer themed romance novels I’ve read, this one is the absolute best. It’s a breezy beach read with a fantastic cast of characters, and an addictive story of first love that’s utterly intoxicating from the very first page. I seriously struggled to put it down for even five minutes, and I loved it so much I’ve already pre-ordered a finished copy.

A contemporary setting with flashbacks to the past is my favourite way to tell a story like this, and I was automatically hooked when I realised Same Time Next Summer was going to follow this beloved blueprint. It alternates between main protagonists Sam and Wyatt as teenagers during halcyon summers, and Sam and Wyatt as present day adults in their early thirties, navigating all the hardships that accompany growing up.

Sam is a put together career woman, living in NYC and soon to be married to nice but uptight Jack. The wedding planning takes them to Long Island to see her parents at the family summer house, and when Wyatt also shows up, fourteen years after their relationship ended, she starts to realise that maybe the past doesn’t always stay where it belongs.

What follows is the true definition of a page-turner, in every sense of the word. Lives are re-evaluated, decisions are made, and Sam and Wyatt start to see each other for the people they are now rather than the people they used to be. It’s romantic, dramatic, and occasionally exasperating, but ultimately it’s uplifting, guaranteed to leave any reader smiling (and sighing wistfully, too).

Same Time Next Summer is the best adult book I’ve read so far this year, and it’ll be a difficult one to beat. I can’t wait to read Annabel Monaghan’s previous book, Nora Goes Off Script; I hope it’s even half as good as this, and makes me simultaneously sad and excited to reach the end. I’ve definitely found myself a new auto-buy author, and I’m already hoping she has many more novels like this in her future.

Very excited for this one! Will be sharing a full review and thoughts soon. I love a first love story and this one looks really intriguing….I’m so excited to read abt the upcoming wedding and how Wyatt her first love comes into the picture what caused things to go wrong and hopefully get the happy ending we as readers know we all want. I’m looking for a goid escapist novel to add to our womens fiction section especially for the upcoming summer season and I think this will be my number one beach read pick!