Welcome Back, Booklovers! I really enjoyed Summer of the Bluffs when I read it and I'm finally continuing the Summer on the Beach series. William Morrow sent me the last two books so no more excuses! I feel like we've seen more of a spotlight on these popular historical vacation spots for African Americans in the last few years and I'm finding it fascinating to read about it from someone like Sunny who does run in that crowd. So I decided to start Summer on Sag Harbor since it felt fitting with summer fast approaching.
Summer on Sag Harbor builds upon the previous book where we are following Olivia Jones whose relationship with Anderson, the comedian she got engaged to in the previous book is still trucking along albeit having lost a little bit of it's spark. Olivia is now starting to experience some obstacles when it comes to their racial differences which is especially prominent now that they're no longer in their isolated Covid bubble and she's decide to live at her new home in Sag Harbor. Olivia immediate fits into her new neighborhood while Anderson feels out of place and continues to commute to NYC for work. She starts to form relationships with people in Sag Harbor while she also searches for information about the family of her deceased father. With white development companies targeting the area she gets involved with efforts to push back against the gentrification and retain the area's history and Black community.
There's never a dull moment with multiple storylines running at once and appearances and updates from Olivia's god sisters and godmother from the previous book. This is set during the summer of 2021 so Covid is very much a thing that is being addressed on page along with testing and vaccinations. If you're familiar with Sunny from the view it should not be surprising that it's incorporated. However it's still a light beach read and one I could see potentially being adapted into a limited series.
People may question why a seemingly strong woman like Olivia had issues of self doubt and was questioning her life choices. But I found it to be very relatable and refreshing to see a Black woman, specifically a darker skinned Black woman get to be vulnerable and not the bitchy shrew type who just needs a good man. I'm curious to see how her journey continues in the next book since this one ends in a seemingly happy spot for her.
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