These Summer Storms: A Novel
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 (Editors’ Choice)
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.
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Community Reviews
I love Sarah MacLean's historical romances, so I was eager to pick up her first contemporary novel. This is a Succession-style family drama with a Steve Jobs-like pater familias and a dysfunctional cast of siblings. It features an inheritance game of sorts and a romance between the black sheep daughter and her father's fixer. It was a quick, easy read, and a page turner, but somehow lacked oomph for me.
The deceased father felt more like a plot device than a character with any discernible motivations. The siblings and mother were not quite terrible enough to be interesting. It all just fell a little flat for me.
The Storm billionaire family behaves badly and has lots to gossip about. These Summer Storms follows Alice Storm as she returns to her family’s private Rhode Island island after five years of estrangement. Her billionaire father has died and left his widow and children with one final manipulation. They must spend a week together, complete his assigned tasks, and decide how much humiliation they are willing to endure for their inheritance.
Alice’s return home comes after she has spent years trying to separate herself from the Storm name, money, and influence. Coming home forces her to reconsider the father she knew, family she left behind, and person she became after leaving them. Her healing was the best part of the story. The complicated relationships between the siblings also had strong moments. Money cannot fix what Franklin Storm did to his children, but watching them recognize and heal the damage was touching.
The extreme wealth occasionally makes their problems difficult to connect with. These are people arguing about billions of dollars while living on a private island. Some of the family drama had me thinking that rich people really do live on another planet.
Jack Dean was a big problem for me. Jack knew who Alice was before sleeping with her on the train. Alice does not know his connection to her father or that he will soon control the inheritance game she is being forced to play. The power imbalance relationship contrasted with a familial healing story bothered me immediately. Alice is rightfully angry after learning the truth, but the betrayal is brushed aside too quickly for a romance that depends on trust. I never recovered enough confidence in Jack to enjoy their relationship.
The romance takes attention away from Alice’s stronger healing arc. There was a lot of ground to cover with her relationship with her father, complicated place within the Storm family, and attempt to build an identity outside their money. Alice did not need a romantic entanglement to make her journey meaningful. I felt more satifsfied watching her repair relationships, confront her grief, and decide what she wanted her life to look like. I did not need the addition of Jack becoming part of her future.
These Summer Storms would be much better if it focused on the family drama rather than the romance. Alice’s journey through grief, identity, resentment, and forgiveness has plenty to explore. Pick this up if you enjoy dysfunctional billionaire families, inheritance games, messy sibling relationships, and complicated family secrets.
B
2.5 stars rounded up. When I got this book, didn't know that I'd read a couple of MacLean's books, her historical romance books- clearly not memorable. Still was excited to read this book. Book started off very strong, but after about 100 pages in- I lost interest in the romance (not sure that there was much), the characters (OMG! just blah blah blah saying the same things over and over- I am getting older but not demented yet), and the plot (who the f' cares)- just wanted the book to be over. Very sad.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“These Summer Storms” pulled me right into the mess and drama of this family, and I loved every bit of it. The way the tangled relationships and secrets unfolded was really impressive — it felt like peeling back layers one at a time. Some parts moved a little slower than I’d hoped, but overall it was such an engaging and emotional read. Definitely worth picking up if you enjoy complex family drama with plenty of twists.
“These Summer Storms” pulled me right into the mess and drama of this family, and I loved every bit of it. The way the tangled relationships and secrets unfolded was really impressive — it felt like peeling back layers one at a time. Some parts moved a little slower than I’d hoped, but overall it was such an engaging and emotional read. Definitely worth picking up if you enjoy complex family drama with plenty of twists.
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