I am grateful to BookTrib for the opportunity to learn about authors I might otherwise miss. That’s certainly the case with Seven Summer Weekends by Jane L. Rosen. Rosen has published six novels. I will be exploring Rosen’s other books. I chose Seven Summer Weekends because I wanted a feel-good story, and I am glad I did. In “Behind the Book,” at the end of Seven Summer Weekends, Rosen explains, “My goal – after breaking your hearts a little with On Fire Island – was to present my readers with a full-on happy ending.” To be candid, I needed that kind of ending!
What will happen when a woman’s whole life goes down the drain with one, inadvertently inappropriate comment her boss should never have seen? Addison Irwin is on the fast-track to success in her firm, Silas and Grant Advertising Agency. She is certain she will be promoted to the youngest employee to become art director, and the first woman to boot. Addison and her friend Emma are both on a Zoom call with their boss and others when Addison makes a comment about the boss that she intended ONLY for Emma, but she mistakenly sends it to everyone on the Zoom. Anyone who has been on the Zoom chat knows that one can send a direct message to another person or to the whole group.
Addison’s mistake is a major one, so she finds herself packing up her belongings instead of celebrating her big promotion: Fired! Wallowing in self-pity in her apartment, Addison keeps getting calls which she ignores because she does not recognize the number. Finally, one of her friends answers the call and discovers it is from an attorney who tells Addison she has inherited a house on Fire Island from her long-estranged Aunt Gicky, her father’s sister.
Addison immediately thinks she will sell the property and use the money to buy her NYC apartment. Once at the old house, however, she learns that Aunt Gicky rented it out on weekends. For the next seven weekends, the house is rented, so Addison cannot do anything until those rentals have been fulfilled.
Neighbors hope to persuade Addison to keep the house. Only one curmudgeonly guy seems determined to puts up roadblocks. Too, his dog keeps showing up in the house because Aunt Gicky kept a jar of treats for the dog so the dog habitually returns for treats.
Addison has some choices to make. Does she try to return to her old life with a new advertising firm? Should she sell the house? Readers will enjoy the ride with Addison as she enters a totally new phase of her life.
Bustle calls Seven Summer Weekends a “transporting romance … perfect for reading on the beach – or for readers whose only access to the beach is through a novel’s pages.” That would be me, living in landlocked OK.
Book club leaders will be happy to see a list of questions at the end of the story. Seven Summer Weekends is a terrific summer read for book clubs. At the end of the book, Rosen provides “Jane’s Rom-Com Booklist.” It includes some titles that may surprise readers!
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