Review: An Invincible Summer by Mariah Stewart

An Invincible Summer

by Mariah Stewart

Publisher: Montlake

Pages: 373

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  It was a lifetime ago that recently widowed Maggie Flynn was in Wyndham Beach. Now, on the occasion of her fortieth high school reunion, she returns to her hometown on the Massachusetts coast, picking up right where she left off with dear friends Lydia and Emma. But seeing Brett Crawford again stirs other emotions. Once, they were the town’s golden couple destined for one another. He shared Maggie’s dreams—and eventually, a shattering secret that drove them apart.

Buying her old family home and resettling in Wyndham Beach means a chance to start over for Maggie and her two daughters, but it also means facing her rekindled feelings for her first love and finally confronting—and embracing—the past in ways she never thought possible. Maggie won’t be alone. With her family and friends around her, she can weather this stormy turning point in her life and open her heart to the future. As for that dream shared and lost years ago? If Maggie can forgive herself, it still might come true.

Kritters Thoughts:  Maggie Flynn is a widow and isn't feeling at home in the city where her and her late husband made a home, with a reunion that takes her back to her hometown, she wonders if a move would "move" her into her next phase of life.  At the same time, her friends and her two daughters are going through drama of their own and the author gives them "screen time" to share with the readers their own struggles. 

For me this book had to live up to my current love of Mariah Stewart.  I have read a few books of hers and flew through them, so the pacing of this book was disappointing as at some moments it just meandered on.  It felt as though there were times where extra detail was given that could have been omitted and the need for action made it hard for me to concentrate on the story.    

The characters kept me reading this book.  I loved that the author not only concentrated on Maggie Flynn, but her friends and daughters.  There were moments when I was enjoying one daughter or the other better than Maggie's own story, but throughout the book, I loved the character development and interactions and was connected to them throughout the book.  

Before reading this book, I was a Mariah Stewart fan and although this book didn't live up to my love for her other books, I will definitely continue to read in her hopes of finding that initial spark!

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2021 Challenge: 42 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.