3 disco balls

Publish date: May 22, 2018 by Random House
Category: Women’s Fiction, Contemporary, Summer, Beach Read

A quiet, family oriented town – Orient Point, Long Island – was slowly being infiltrated by frequent visitors of the more glamorous Hamptons. “Was” being the choice word because this summer season the town will be overrun by outsiders looking to take stock in the quiet beach town. They will bring along their “new” ideas for how the town should run and are not quiet about it at all.

Being from Long Island and reading countless books on Hamptons life in my twenties (i.e. Four Blondes and Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell), I find stories describing the Hamptons socialite scene to be rather old. I look back at those stories as someone in my late thirties and now feel they were rather vapid, certainly not something I would reread. Like looking back at my early 2000’s wardrobe: I question my judgment.

But that is my opinion and not a reason to stay away from this book. I’ll provide a brief, spoiler free synopsis and you can decide if this would be your beach read jam:

Ruthie and Mike consciously uncoupled, but still share the beach house they inherited. In order to afford to live in the beach town they have to rent out their home during the busiest months of the summer. This year they rent out their home to billionaire Adeline Clay; who always gets what she wants, and she wants Ruthie’s life. Insert a whole slew of other characters: wealthy artists, social ladder climbers, trust fund babies and you have one interesting summer.

I liked Ruthie a lot, the people around her though: not my cup of tea. There is one scene involving Ruthie and a lilac tree and all I will say is “Go Ruthie!”

Author, Judy Blundell, is a well-known young adult author; I believe The High Season is her first adult novel. Her YA roots will come through during Ruthie’s daughter Jem’s scenes.

I received the arc of this book from Random House as a participant in their Spring Open House book club discussion on said book. Thank you Random House!