I loved the characters. Interestingly you don’t choose a part at this book: everybody is right from their side of the story. 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? A "captivating and bittersweet" novel by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Summer of '69 : Their secret love affair has lasted for decades—but this could be the summer that changes everything ( People ). I was expecting to read a feel-good, summer read but right now, I don’t feel any good and during my read, I already consumed a dozen paper rolls so there is no tear left to shed for me. I feel just numb.

28 Summers (28 Summers, book 1) by Elin Hilderbrand 28 Summers (28 Summers, book 1) by Elin Hilderbrand

Can’t we just pretend that we’re the only two people in the world and that this weekend is going to last forever?” I love that each year starts with a what are we talking about in ..... that particular year as it takes us through some momentous events, those who caught the headlines that year, music and films and so on. Doesn't take a genius to figure what the main topic of conversation for 2020 will be. The characters of Jake and Mallory are so likeable and it’s so frustrating that they have real love that is secret and hidden and you just want them to be together! Some of the characters are selfish, self centred and career driven such as Leland and Ursula but they make a great contrast to Jake and Mallory. The story is very well written with personal touches that makes you feel as if the author is talking to you or reading the words aloud just for you which makes you even feel more invested in the storytelling. The dialogue is smart, sometimes funny, at times it’s sad, there’s tragedy too so there’s the whole range of aspects of real life. I guess their relationship was meant to be one-and-done every year kind of thing. Maybe the magic would have worn off if they would have been together longer. We just don’t know because they never gave it a try. Storylines galoreAs I said before, the biggest determinant of whether you’ll like this book depends on how you feel about cheating in relationships. If you think the cheating won’t bother you and you like romance novels, you will probably like this book. And Jake, oh my goodness. What a spineless, useless loser. Instead of supporting his successful wife (who is competing with men that have wives that support them), he “punishes” her for anything he doesn’t like by cheating on her. Every time she does something he doesn’t like, his response is to use it to justify his cheating.

28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand - Book Club Chat Review: 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand - Book Club Chat

I just read 28 Summers, my first book by the amazingly popular Elin Hilderbrand, and almost immediately fell in love with it. I'm ready to read all of her books now! Normally I don’t like to read about cheating or lying couples and of course I always feel bad for both of the women: who has been cheated and who has been labeled as other woman. It is at times, beautiful, desperate, devastating, heart-wrenching, intense, lovely and unbelievable.

First up is my chat with Matt Newbury (@matt_newbz) and Sophie Pierce (@mssophiepierce|) - friends and wild swimmers - talking about the growth in popularity of wild swimming and tips on how to get involved if you are tempted to give it a try! I think because of that, I found Jake and Mallory each so unlikable. I couldn’t believe Mallory was indignantly screaming about what a good person she was after learning that a guy she’d dated was married. Wasn’t she was cheating all the time with Jake anyway? Cheating’s okay, but only if you’re in on it, is that the rule? I also couldn’t deal with book telling me how “kind and sympathetic” Mallory was for offering some basic sympathy after seeing Jake’s pregnant and retching wife in the bathroom. Are you kidding me? She’s screwing that pregnant woman’s husband, don’t tell me how kind she is! I can’t think of anyone better to help bring Season 3 to a close than my guest today - Karen Darke @handbikedarke. Karen lives life as a modern-day ‘Alchemist’, passionate about turning challenge into opportunity and transforming the difficult stuff into ‘gold'. She loves to explore, have adventures, stay healthy, and to write about her experiences. As a young woman, Karen was a keen runner, climber and orienteer but fell of a cliff whilst climbing and became paralysed from the chest down - aged just 21. In her own words, at first she thought she would rather be dead than paralysed but she soon learned that with friends, creativity and perseverance so many things are still possible in a wheelchair. Karen has had a pretty extraordinary life and I really hope you enjoy this chat as much as I did!

28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand, Review and Summary - The 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand, Review and Summary - The

Overall, I loved it! Although the love between Jake and Mallory is a secret, it’s the real deal and so they do ‘fill their cups’ . The setting is wonderful and gives a fairy tale feel to the storytelling and like a lot of fairy tales there isn’t always a happy ending. stars. I recently enjoyed a different book by this author, The Perfect Couple. My high expectations for this book were dashed. Mallory is in love with Jake and because of that, every relationship she tries always ends in her breaking it off before the weekend with Jake. What did you think about Mallory’s decision making? Did you wish she would have broke up with Jake? My guest today is Keith Burnet (@keithaurnet). Keith is a father, husband, executive and former colleague from the fitness industry - a place where I spent more than two decades of my working life. Since beginning this wonderful 28 Summers journey I have discovered some incredibly rich stories of everyday folks doing amazing things all around the world. The deeper I get into this world the more I realise that incredible stories exist all around us, we just need to look for them. Keith is someone that I have admired from afar for many years but never had a deep relationship with. Professional interactions never made way for more meaningful connection and yet, in chatting to Keith recently I realised just how much we are kindred spirits. We share a similar journey and mindset on life and adventure and I feel so grateful to have found this new level of connection with him. Keith has completed the Marathon des sables, rowed the Atlantic Ocean and, later this year, plans to cycle across North America. He has a calm, thoughtful view of the world and I absolutely loved reconnecting with him for this chat The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.This brings me to my greatest and only real grievance with 28 Summers: very little of the actual narrative is dedicated to covering Mal and Jake's time together. While the events of the story take place over 28 Labor Day weekends, we only see them together for maybe a quarter of those long weekends—and even that is a generous estimate. Most of the narrative focuses on their lives apart and covers their major life events each year, with only intermittent and brief accounts of their annual Labor Day encounters, which only grow more infrequent and briefer as the story goes on. But, we never found out if Bess was really Jake & Ursula's child or Anders? I know her hair was dark like J & U and A was blond, put that doesn't prove paternity. Nice dedication for Dorothea Benton Frank who passed last year...so young. I've read many of her Sullivan Island novels; 28 Summers would have been right up her alley. melted milk chocolate; it’s a roaring fire on a snowy night; it’s a double rainbow; the green-glass barrel of a wave; the first sip of ice-cold champagne. And then…he arrives,” Make sure to use lots of sunscreen because this beach read is going to keep you glued to your towel! By adultery Summer #3, I grew tired and was just not "getting" why the female protagonist didn't give her lover an ultimatum.