It’s warm and sunny and I am in beach read mode. It’s hard to get beachier than Elin Hilderbrand and my latest selection by her certainly fit the bill. 28 Summers is not a super recent EH book, but I hadn’t wanted to read it because I have a huge issue with the plot and I just didn’t think I would be able to get into it. I was wrong. Before I get ahead of myself, here’s a synopsis on Amazon:

When Mallory Blessing’s son, Link, receives deathbed instructions from his mother to call a number on a slip of paper in her desk drawer, he’s not sure what to expect. But he certainly does not expect Jake McCloud to answer. It’s the late spring of 2020 and Jake’s wife, Ursula DeGournsey, is the frontrunner in the upcoming Presidential election.

There must be a mistake, Link thinks. How do Mallory and Jake know each other?

Flash back to the sweet summer of 1993: Mallory has just inherited a beachfront cottage on Nantucket from her aunt, and she agrees to host her brother’s bachelor party. Cooper’s friend from college, Jake McCloud, attends, and Jake and Mallory form a bond that will persevere – through marriage, children, and Ursula’s stratospheric political rise – until Mallory learns she’s dying.

Based on the classic film Same Time Next Year (which Mallory and Jake watch every summer), 28 Summers explores the agony and romance of a one-weekend-per-year affair and the dramatic ways this relationship complicates and enriches their lives, and the lives of the people they love.

28 Summers

One of my dearest friends and also my mother both said this is their favorite Elin Hilderbrand novel. I finally caved and read it and, although I still maintain that I am NOT okay with this subject matter, I loved the story. The Notre Dame references were the cherry on top. I don’t want to give anything away, but unpopular opinion: I am not a fan of Jake. Am I alone?

If you’re looking for a fun page turner, get it here: https://amzn.to/4cAR8ug