Description:

On this island, hearts open under the summer stars and secrets float in the **sweet salt air***....* ** Charlotte and Nicole were once the best of friends, spending summers together in Nicole's island house off of Maine. But many years, and many secrets, have kept the women apart. A successful travel writer, single Charlotte lives on the road, while Nicole, a food blogger, keeps house in Philadelphia with her surgeon-husband, Julian. When Nicole is commissioned to write a book about island food, she invites her old friend Charlotte back to Quinnipeague. Outgoing and passionate, Charlotte has a gift for talking to people and making friends, and Nicole could use her expertise for interviews with locals. Missing a genuine connection, Charlotte agrees. **"If the title alone doesn't put you in a summer mood, the setting will." -*Boston *magazine** * * * But what both women don't know is that they are each holding something back that may change their lives forever. For Nicole, what comes to light could destroy her marriage-but it could also save her husband. For Charlotte, the truth could cost her Nicole's friendship, but could also free her to love again. And her chance may lie with a reclusive local man, with a heart to soothe and troubles of his own. **"Delinsky captures the magic of coastal Maine in this beautifully written book about friendship and redemption... a fantastic summer read!" -*RT Book Reviews* (Top Pick)** ** ### From Publishers Weekly Set on the fictional Maine island of Quinnipeague, Delinksy's novel centers on two childhood friends, Charlotte and Nicole, who reunite to coauthor a cookbook about the local cuisine. (Warning: there are tantalizing food descriptions in this book. Don't listen to it while hungry.) Narrator Marguerite Gavin's voice is low and sensuous. This serves her well in narrating the story and in voicing Charlotte, the more worldly and assertive of the two friends. But it fails to adequately capture Nicole's childlike nature. Early in the novel, Nicole's voice is described as being close to that of a 10-year-old girl, but Gavin sometimes provides her with almost the same resonant, wry tone she gives Charlotte. Also, Gavin's down east accent is on-again, off-again, with some local characters having no discernible accent, and others sounding almost like caricatures. However, Gavin's rendition of Leo, the surly bad-boy neighbor up the road, is spot-on and quite entertaining. A St. Martin's hardcover. (June) ### From Booklist Delinsky’s latest won’t disappoint her fans. Friendship, romance, and her trademark New England setting—this time, an island off the coast of Maine—are all present and accounted for. The focus is on Nicole and Charlotte, girlhood friends who’ve been estranged for the past 10 years. They reunite at Nicole’s family’s summer home to collaborate on a cookbook, both of them harboring secrets. When Nicole reveals her husband, Julian, is suffering from multiple sclerosis, Charlotte comes clean that she and Julian shared a drunken one-night stand before he married Nicole. The affair resulted in a baby Charlotte gave up for adoption, a child whose stem cells hold the key to Julian’s recovery. Complicating matters further, Charlotte has fallen for the island’s enigmatic bad boy, Leo, who, it turns out, has penned a best-selling novel with a plot that closely mirrors their “lovers from different worlds” relationship. Leo’s tale ends on a sour note, placing his future with Charlotte in doubt. Never fear; Delinsky knows when a happy ending is in order. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Delinsky’s popularity increases with each book, so this novel is being rolled out with a gigantic print run and a similarly far-reaching promotional campaign. --Patty Wetli