dog days and pantry cleansings

Ali Morris decided to make oatmeal cookies for breakfast for her kids. It’s her mother’s recipe, and it has a lot of oatmeal, so it does seem appropriate for breakfast. But also, it’s the two-year anniversary of her mother’s death, and Ali wants to feel her close. It’s also the one-year anniversary of the day her husband Pete had told her that he wanted a divorce, and Ali knew that it hadn’t been easy for the kids.

She lives with her 3 kids in the small town of Beechwood, where she had grown up. She had moved away to go to college and then lived in Manhattan, working as an accountant after that. But then she met Pete and about a year in, she got pregnant, so they got married. After her second baby, the family moved back to Beechwood so Ali could be closer to her mother. And then her mother had gotten sick. And then Ali had gotten stuck.

In Beechwood, Ali worked as a professional organizer. She would go into other peoples’ homes and fix the problematic areas of their houses, the overstuffed pantries, the neglected basements, the cluttered closets. Se had a strategy for helping her clients move through the emotions that held them back from fixing their homes and left them feeling stronger and more in control of their environments. However, it had been a long time since she’d been able to do that for herself. Exhausted by grief and loneliness and ashamed of her inability to organize her own home, Ali dragged herself through her days, focusing on her kids.

And then one day, as she was letting her dog run around the local dog park, she meets a handsome stranger. Well, her dog peed on his leg, but after that she introduced herself and apologized for her dog. The man was kind enough to laugh it off, and Ali felt the first spark of attraction she’d felt in a very long time. He said his name was Ethan and asked her out. Ali was nervous—it was her first date since her husband had left—but she ended up having a really good time. But he hadn’t asked for her number. And he hadn’t kissed her. And Ali felt like she was a disappointment all over again.

The next night, at dinner at her best friend’s house, as her kids were about to jump into the pool, Ali looked up and saw Ethan. She couldn’t understand it at first, but her friend reminded Ali that it was her little brother Scooter who had come back to town for a visit. As Ali was putting the pieces together—her friend’s screwup of a little brother had become the smart, funny lawyer she’d had a great date with—Ethan came over to apologize to her. He explained that he’d always had a crush on her, and he was afraid that if she knew who he was, he’d never have a chance to spend time with her.

Ali was reluctant to see Ethan again after that, but then things changed. The amicable divorce she was looking forward to became more difficult when Pete announced that he was moving into a bigger apartment with their shared money, and he had that tell that Ali knew meant he was lying. Ali needed an attorney, fast, so she asked Ethan for help. He agrees and tags along to their first mediation in a light blue tuxedo he’d found in his dad’s closet. With Ethan’s help, Ali finds herself wanting to stand up for herself against Pete and his passive aggression.

Ali decides to give Ethan another chance, and she finds herself lightening up as she spends time with him. He knew her when she’d been a strong young woman in high school, and he encourages her to be more herself. Ali finds that her confidence is growing and her grief is easing as she uncovers this part of herself that had gotten neglected during her marriage.

But the more time she spends with Ethan, and the more her feelings grow towards him, she understands that there is only so far their relationship can go. He’s only in Beechwood for the summer, and she can’t move her kids away from their home. Can she be in a relationship only for the summer, or should she end things now, before she gets in too deep?

Summer Romance is a charming, effervescent story of a woman rediscovering herself after years in a marriage to a man who felt trapped and took it out on her. The healing that Ali finds after the years of grief and emotional neglect is a beautiful journey, as she learns to take chances and open herself up to possibility again. There are a lot of genuinely funny scenes as well as many heartfelt painful, cleansing scenes. The journey through grief is never easy, and while author Annabel Monaghan adds some humor along the way, there are also tears.

I had a lot of fun with this story. I liked these characters a lot and wanted things to work out for them. I did think that there was some awkwardness in the plotting, especially in the story of Scooter’s parents, but I still enjoyed this ride and would love to take it around again. Overall, this is a warm and revealing story, and it left me feeling hopeful and joyful, both for these characters and for myself. And also, I could really use Ali’s help with my cluttered basement. I feel like she’d know just what to say to help me get it cleaned out.

Egalleys for Summer Romance were provided by G.P. Putnam’s Sons through NetGalley, with many thanks.