These Summer Storms

A Novel

By: Sarah MacLean

Narrated by: Julia Whelan

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From author Sarah MacLean, a razor-sharp, wildly sexy novel about a wealthy New England family’s long-overdue reckoning . . . and the one week that threatens to tear them apart.

“Deliciously impossible to put down.”—Jodi Picoult

“Addictive.”—Ali Hazelwood

“A gripping inheritance drama, wrapped around a swoony summer romance.”—The New York Times Book Review

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: TIME, THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, NPR, KIRKUS REVIEWS, LIBRARY JOURNAL

Alice Storm hasn’t been welcome at her family’s magnificent private island off the Rhode Island coast in five years—not since she was cast out and built her life beyond the Storm name, influence, and untold billions. But the shocking death of her larger-than-life father changes everything.

Alice plans to keep her head down, pay her final respects (such as they are), and leave the minute the funeral is over. Unfortunately, her father had other plans. The eccentric, manipulative patriarch left his family a final challenge—an inheritance game designed to upend their world. The rules are clear: spend one week on the island, complete their assigned tasks, and receive the inheritance.

But a whole week on Storm Island is no easy task for Alice. Every corner of the sprawling old house is bursting with chaos: Her older sister’s secret love affair. Her brother’s unyielding arrogance. Her younger sister’s constant analysis of the vibes. Her mother’s cold judgment. And all under the stern, watchful gaze of Jack Dean, her father’s intriguing and too-handsome second-in-command. It will be a miracle if Alice manages to escape unscathed.

A smart and tender story about the transformative power of grief, love, and family, this luscious novel explores past secrets, present truths, and futures forged in the wake of wild summer storms.

Loved all but the end

I KNOW these people!! Best dialog in years. And I loved that it made me laugh out loud, and gasp with shock at unexpected twists. BUT I knew what the argument between Mike and Lizzy meant and from that moment on, the magic faded. And much as I enjoy rom-coms and bodice-rippers, all of these true-true once in a lifetime love stories were too much. Maybe just my dismay that I will never know that. And my decades of therapy that have let me understand why my childhood meant I had to build adamantine walls around my heart in order to survive, and those walls repelled any and every man who might have been moved to be a Tony or a Jack. So this story, which was so hilariously, horribly true about people rarely accurately described in fiction ended up a Disney princess story. Will make a great movie!! Sarah MacLean deserves every success.

Great summer read!

This was a great summer beach read. There were elements of romance, family drama, and bits of mystery. The characters were well developed, and the author did a beautiful job of describing the Rhode Island coastal setting.

Great summer read

Great book with romance and unexpected twists. Enjoyed from the start. Recommend, finished over a weekend, I enjoyed it that much.

Very good story and of course, this is my favorite narrator

Very good story nice twist at the end would definitely recommend purchasing and listening to

I always say yes to a book narrated by Julia Whelan

I’m so glad I said yes to this one. It was beautiful, heart wrenching, and redemptive.