Two former best friends each find love at an adults-only summer camp in this romantic and nostalgic novel that proves “once a camp person, always a camp person.”
Growing up, Jessie and Hillary lived for summer, when they’d be reunited at Camp Chickawah. The best friends vowed to become counselors together someday, but they drifted apart after Hillary broke her promise and only Jessie stuck to their plan, working her way up to become the camp director.
When Jessie learns that the camp will be sold, she decides to plan one last hurrah, inviting past campers—including Hillary—to a nostalgic “adult summer camp” before closing for good. Jessie and Hillary rebuild their friendship as they relive the best time of their lives—only now there are adult beverages, skinny dipping, and romantic entanglements. Straitlaced Hillary agrees to a “no strings attached” summer fling with the camp chef, while outgoing Jessie is drawn to a moody, reclusive writer who’s rented a cabin to work on his novel.
The friends soon realize this doesn’t have to be the last summer. They’ll team up and work together, just like the old days. But if they can’t save their beloved camp, will they be able to take the happiness of this summer away with them?
Growing up, Jessie and Hillary lived for summer, when they’d be reunited at Camp Chickawah. The best friends vowed to become counselors together someday, but they drifted apart after Hillary broke her promise and only Jessie stuck to their plan, working her way up to become the camp director.
When Jessie learns that the camp will be sold, she decides to plan one last hurrah, inviting past campers—including Hillary—to a nostalgic “adult summer camp” before closing for good. Jessie and Hillary rebuild their friendship as they relive the best time of their lives—only now there are adult beverages, skinny dipping, and romantic entanglements. Straitlaced Hillary agrees to a “no strings attached” summer fling with the camp chef, while outgoing Jessie is drawn to a moody, reclusive writer who’s rented a cabin to work on his novel.
The friends soon realize this doesn’t have to be the last summer. They’ll team up and work together, just like the old days. But if they can’t save their beloved camp, will they be able to take the happiness of this summer away with them?
Title: Until Next Summer
Author: Ali Brady
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Expected Publication Date: July 9, 2024
Review:
Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Two former best friends find each other again at a summer camp where they spent their childhoods. When they learn the camp is being sold, they come together, along with other former campers and some new to the camp, to create an adult summer camp for one last hurrah. When the two friends learn it doesn't have to be the last summer, they do everything in their power to ensure the camp will live on for others to enjoy.
This book was a bit of nostalgia for me. Having gone to sleep away camp for many summers of my young life, I immediately connected with the main characters and understood their love of all things camp. It was so much fun to see things I used to do during the summers written on the page. It made my camp loving heart truly happy and brought me back to those carefree days where all you worried about was when you were going swimming, what was for dinner, and who was becoming romantically involved with who. It made me miss those days!
Jessie is a sweet character. She has built her life around the camp. Coming from a broken family who didn't show her as much love as she wanted, the camp was always her refuge. A found family for someone who needed to feel a part of something. Hillary, on the other hand, has molded her life to be as different from the person she was at camp as she could be. But there is hope in her coming back to camp. Hope that she can find herself again. Hope that she can realize who she was at camp and how that was her true self.
The other characters in this book were just so much fun. And watching the friendships grow and blossom was really great. Each played an essential part in the plot and how it developed. Each had a distinct personality.
The romantic aspects of the book were nice, though a bit too convenient for me. But they were sweet and I liked watching them develop. I also enjoyed the fact that the author didn't make it just about the romance. It's very much about the plot but also about the rekindling of friendship and forgiveness.
I love the plot of having an adult camp. It makes me want to actually look around and see if this is a real thing. I would love the opportunity to go back to my sleep away camp and experience it all over again as an adult. I think that would be so much fun!
The authors created so much atmosphere in this book. She took us on a roller coaster ride of emotions: love, grief, pain, happiness. Her descriptions of the camp, the camp activities, the relationships were all spot on. I felt like I was, once again, experiencing camp in all its glory. Right down to the pranks we would always pull on each other! It made me feel like I was right there, as a camper. And I remember the feeling of having to leave after the summer was over and the anticipation of the next summer not coming quite quickly enough!
If you have gone to sleep away camp or grew up in any sort of camp at all in the course of your life, you are sure to enjoy this title! "There's no place like camp." Though those who have not experienced camp are bound to love the friendships and romance in this book, as well.
Author:
Ali Brady is the pen name of writing BFFs Alison Hammer and Bradeigh Godfrey. The Beach Trap is their first book together. Alison lives in Chicago and works as a VP creative director at an advertising agency. She’s the author of You and Me and Us and Little Pieces of Me. Bradeigh lives with her family in Utah, where she works as a physician. She’s the author of the psychological thriller, Imposter.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AliBradyBooks/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AliBradyBooks/
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