Summer by the Sea

I have read a few Susan Wiggs books over the last few years. I always find her books to be light, fun reads with no heavy sex or violence, but she always includes a sweet romantic tale in there somewhere. This is the case with Summer By The Sea. It’s a great story about childhood friendships, family loyalties, social differences, misunderstandings, secrets and their consequences. The characters were very warm-hearted. Unfortunately I did find the book a little boring, just because it was not heavy with suspense. What I loved most about the book was that it includes lots of Italian recipes. Pretty much at the start of every chapter there was a recipe for something yummy! That was just a nice little touch. Sure make us all hungry well show more we’re reading.:) show less

Winslow is a fictional Rhode Island sea town where the very well to do have large summer homes and live separate lives from the locals. When Rosa is 9 she loses her Mother to cancer and must accompany her Father to his job as gardener to the big houses. At one place she meets a pale sickly 10 year old boy. Alex has severe asthma and has been extremely protected. But Rosa gets him out of the house and into trouble. So begins a friendship that persists despite family objections on both sides. At 14 Alex goes off to boarding school and summer camps and does not return until the summer after high school. This is a momentous year and it is covered in flashbacks at the end of which they separate again. The main story takes place 12 years show more later when Alex returns after the death of his Mother. They have a lot of issues to resolve and the story is well told. The ending is dramatic with lots of revelations. Really enjoyed this. Lots of great secondary characters. show less

I've never read this author before, but I will again.
Great story, great characters.

I wondered when I started this, how can they make Rosa and Alex's breakup so upsetting that she's still mad at him over a decade later but still make him forgivable and loveable enough that we want them back together?
Mission accomplished.

Very entertaining story, I really couldn't put it down till I finished it.

Well written, interesting characters, both moral and plot complexity, somewhat predictable, but not annoyingly so.

Enjoyed reading about the comparisons of the rich people vs the locals. Felt happy for Alex to have found a childhood friend for his summers when so asthmatic and that he was able to find ways to overcome it. Liked that he could see his parent's faults in a so-so marriage but really had a hard time with him forgetting Rosa so completely after the accident with her father. Admired Rosa for her determination and belief in helping family over everything else.

I just enjoyed this book so much. So many emotions and layers to the characters. And as wonderful as the story played out.....I so loved the recipes. I have used a couple and they were great. I think this was my first experience with Susan Wiggs and it was just a great read.

They were approximately nine years old when they met. Rosa Capoletti was the daughter of the gardener and Alex Montgomery was the asthmatic son of the mansion’s owner. As they played together each summer their friendship grew deeper and deeper. Then Rosa’s father was hit by a car and it all seemed to fall apart, their friendship, her dreams of college, the thought they could overcome the differences in their backgrounds. Now Alex has come back to town and Rosa, owner of a popular restaurant in town, finds the feelings she has worked hard to push down are starting to rise up again. And as much as she tries, Alex won’t be pushed away.

Susan Wiggs writes very nice romances. You can sense the connections between the characters. With show more just enough heat to be interesting but not blatant. And you find yourself in a community of people you would like to know outside of a book. show less