Welcome to Romancing the Stacks. This is a series of reviews featuring one of my favorite genres: Romance Novels! Nothing is better than curling up with a good romance. This review will explore Surfside Sisters by Nancy Thayer.

I have read a few Nancy Thayer before and enjoyed them. They tend to make for a quick nice read. I liked the summary of two best friends torn apart and seeing if they make it back together. Add in a romance and it is a good read in my book

Surfside Sisters Summary:

A Nantucket woman returns home to find that reunions aren’t always simple, in this heartwarming novel from the New York Times bestselling author of A Nantucket Wedding and Secrets in Summer.

Keely Green always dreamed of leaving the beautiful shores of Nantucket to become a writer. Now she’s a bestselling novelist living in New York City, attending glamorous cocktail parties and mingling with the literary elite. Keely is also dating a charming, perfectly fine pediatric surgeon who looks good on paper but isn’t “the one.” She just can’t bear to break it off—until he declares his desire to settle down. Then Keely’s editor rejects her latest novel. With her personal and professional lives suddenly in shambles, Keely longs for the soothing island way of life.

Growing up, Keely and her best friend, Isabelle, were inseparable. Nothing could come between them—except, as it turned out, Keely’s high school boyfriend, Tommy. Returning home would mean facing Isabelle’s bitter betrayal and seeing for herself the family Tommy and Isabelle have created, the life that might have been Keely’s.

But when Keely’s mother falls into a deep depression, Keely knows what she must do, even though she is reluctant to face her estranged friend. And encountering Isabelle’s older brother, Sebastian—Keely’s longtime crush—only complicates things.

In one incredible summer, Keely must confront the mistakes of the past if she has any chance of finding true happiness in the place she will always call home. Nancy Thayer shines yet again in this uplifting tale of forgiveness and self-discovery.

Book Review:

I have read this book before. I have never read Surfside Sisters, but I have read books that have the same plot points, same conclusions, same relationships. The worst part of it is I have read so much better than this book. I have read Nancy Thayer before and her books were not the best, but they were pleasant read. This is not a pleasant read. It is a frustrating read. There are no surprises. Every event that happens in the book is the most obvious path.

Perhaps the worst offense of this book is the treatment of depression. Keely’s mother, whose husband died a few years of ago and was forced into retirement, has not left her house in weeks, so Keely returns to the island to take care of her which will reunite the “sisters”. Keely cleans the house, helps her mother get dressed, takes her mother out, but you know what Keely doesn’t do? Take her mother to the doctor’s to get a proper diagnosis.

Keely just appearing should have not had made her mother’s depression go away. Depression is a serious and dangerous condition that should be treated by a professional. Keely was literally told that her mother seems depressed, she should have asked her mother to consider going to a professional.

I know this is just a work of fiction, but treating mental illness properly is important in fiction, especially popular fiction! People who have never been affected by these illnesses gather information from popular culture and if that knowledge is wrong – misinformation spreads like a wildfire.

Isabel the other half of the sisters was the worst. She is a spoiled rich girl who never learned her lesson. I was expecting maybe her marriage was on the rocks, perhaps she had postpartum depression or any twist, but nothing.

The romance was awful. Keely started dating her BEST FRIEND’S ex boyfriend even though she was in love with someone else. I wasn’t rooting for anyone to get together, just for this book to end. I just wanted a fun beach read, but instead I got Surfside Sisters. If you like Thayer’s other books, maybe you will like this, but I cannot recommend it.

My Rating