An Invincible Summer - Contemporary Fiction Review

Goodreads:  An Invincible Summer by Mariah Stewart

Rating: Not For Me
Source: Publisher

Description:  It was a lifetime ago that recently widowed Maggie Flynn was in Wyndham Beach. Now, on the occasion of her fortieth high school reunion, she returns to her hometown on the Massachusetts coast, picking up right where she left off with dear friends Lydia and Emma. But seeing Brett Crawford again stirs other emotions. Once, they were the town’s golden couple destined for one another. He shared Maggie’s dreams—and eventually, a shattering secret that drove them apart.

Buying her old family home and resettling in Wyndham Beach means a chance to start over for Maggie and her two daughters, but it also means facing her rekindled feelings for her first love and finally confronting—and embracing—the past in ways she never thought possible. Maggie won’t be alone. With her family and friends around her, she can weather this stormy turning point in her life and open her heart to the future. As for that dream shared and lost years ago? If Maggie can forgive herself, it still might come true.

Genre: Fiction - Contemporary

Why I Picked This Book:  I really loved Stewart's Hudson sister trilogy and I usually enjoy a rebuilding story so I thought I'd give this a try.

My Impression:  I've read a lot of Stewart over the years and I've found that I either thoroughly enjoy them or they land decidedly on the meh side.  Unfortunately, this was a meh for me.  Part of it is that this turned out to be a second chance high school story that I just don't really enjoy.  I get being glad to reconnect with old friends and old places but the dialogue and inner monologues of the characters tended to be heavily focused on the "glory days" of high school which got a little dull.  Really that is kind of the root of my issues with the book.  All of the characters were kind of stuck in who they had been in high school and the relationship between the "golden couple" that had ended literally 38 years before.  The book just seemed to skirt on the surface for me and I never felt really connected to any of the characters of what was going on in their lives.  

Stewart writes a nice story with a good flow but this just didn't end up being one I enjoyed reading.  

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?  If the blurb interests me I will pick it up as I do enjoy her books but she's not an auto-buy for me.

Would I Recommend this Book? This might work out better for you if you enjoy books around high school reunions.

* I received this book in exchange for an honest review.  As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *