I wanted to love this book, I am a sucker for summer camp type stories, but I was sadly disappointed. The story is told in present-day, as well as flashbacks from 1951 and centers around Betty/Boop and how her summer in 1951 is still affecting her life in present day. I did enjoy the flashback portions of the story, but felt that the entire story moved along at too frenetic a pace and felt rushed. The characters were vapid and lacked any kind of development.

EXCERPT: Summer 2017

Boop Peck had looked everywhere for her favourite lipstick. It wasn't in the bathroom, or in her purse, bedroom, or her pocket. She shuddered at the injustice: Boop remembered her first telephone number - 359J - but not the whereabouts of the lipstick she'd worn the day before. Or was it the day before that? She peeked around and patted herself again. Nothing. A lost lipstick wasn't the end of the world. Unless it was Sly Pink, her discontinued colour of choice, which it was.

Enough with the lipstick.

The girls would arrive soon. No, the ladies would arrive soon. Boop chuckled. Ladies sounded so stuffy, boring, and inaccurate. Even at eighty-four Boop and her friends would always be girls - and they'd never be boring.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: Everything seemed possible in the summer of 1951. Back then Betty Stern was an eighteen-year-old knockout working at her grandparents’ lakeside resort. The “Catskills of the Midwest” was the perfect place for Betty to prepare for bigger things. She’d head to college in New York City. Her career as a fashion editor would flourish. But first, she’d enjoy a wondrous last summer at the beach falling deeply in love with an irresistible college boy and competing in the annual Miss South Haven pageant. On the precipice of a well-planned life, Betty’s future was limitless.

Decades later, the choices of that long-ago season still reverberate for Betty, now known as Boop. Especially when her granddaughter comes to her with a dilemma that echoes Boop’s memories of first love, broken hearts, and faraway dreams. It’s time to finally face the past—for the sake of her family and her own happiness. Maybe in reconciling the life she once imagined with the life she’s lived, Boop will discover it’s never too late for a second chance.

MY THOUGHTS: What a delightful read! I really didn't want to close the rather beautiful cover on The Last Bathing Beauty by Amy Sue Nathan. I finished reading with tears in my eyes and a smile on my face.

This is a story of family and friendship, hope and disappointment, owning your mistakes, taking control over your own future and making it the best future it could possibly be.

The summer Betty was four, her parents had dropped her off with her grandparents in South Haven for the weekend - and had never come back for her. Her Jewish grandparents have raised her with love, a strong work ethic, and big dreams for her future. But the summer of 1951, the year Betty is crowned Miss South Haven, just when it seems that all her dreams are within reach, something happens to change her life.

The Last Bathing Beauty travels back and forward in time between 1951, when she was still Betty Stern, a smart and sassy girl on the cusp of a great future, and 2017 when she is Boop Peck, widow, mother of one son, grandmother of two girls, and great-grandmother of 2 point something great-grandchildren.

Betty is quite wonderful. I fell in love with her character. I aspire to be her should I make the great age of eighty-four. Actually, I aspire to be her long before then. She is going to be my role model.

Amy Sue Nathan has created a vivid and captivating picture of life in a Jewish family at a holiday camp in 1951. The summer romances, the morals and mores of the time, so very different from now, when mixing outside your social/religious/racial circle was frowned upon, and young women were expected to marry to please their families and improve their social status.

This is a lovely story, told with both humour and empathy. I will be reading this author's other books. Highly recommended.

❤😪❤😪.5

'You're never too old to find love and throw a good party.'

'Sometimes it takes a long time to get things right.'

THE AUTHOR: Amy Sue Nathan is Writer of novels, lover of cats, morning coffee, dark chocolate, and bold lipstick. Former vegetarian, occasional crafter, adequate cook, loyal friend, proud mom to two awesome adults.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Lake Union Publishing via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of The Last Bathing Beauty by Amy Sue Nathan for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This was a lovely book that really brought to life experiences of holiday camps in the 1950s - it reminded me of Dirty Dancing. I thought it was very sensitively written and the love story unfolded slowly and beautifully. The two different stories told - of Betty young and old - were really well intertwined and, even though I had already guessed the ending, I still enjoyed reading every page. A great, comforting read

The charming writing of Amy Sue Nathan and the even more charming heroine she gives us deflect all of The Last Bathing Beauty’s sins. Though the plot has some predictable points, the utterly disarming story is a page turner and a great summer read.

In the summer of 1951, eighteen year old Betty Stern is an ambitious, go-getting gal – blonde, sun-worshipping, fun-loving - with an attitude and spunk that grabs the reader and makes them take notice of her from the first page. We first meet her as she’s preparing to enter into a not-entirely happy shotgun marriage. Betty is going to take a bad hand and turn it into a winning one with time, but she doesn’t know that yet.

In the summer of 2017, Betty is known by the nickname Boop, and she’s a lively eighty-four-year-old whose twenty-six-year-old granddaughter, Hannah, arrives at the cusp of a major life change.  Hannah – much like Betty was all those years ago – is pregnant, and torn between entering into a marriage with a man she doesn’t love or trying life as a single mother.  Boop knows that the road she took is one that eventually satisfied her, but she’d rather Hannah not make the same mistakes she did.

Both parts of the story take place in South Haven, a Michigan town in the Catskills of the West along Lake Michigan, where the Stern family lives year-round and runs a resort every summer.

There, Betty will grow from a girl set to go to Barnard, who dreams of becoming a fashion magazine editor, into the kind who makes meatloaf on Tuesdays and runs away with her son to Lake Michigan in the summers.  From a childhood at her Nannie and Zaide’s home, and rejected by her wannabe, show-business-obsessed parents, she moves into a house of her own, a style of her own.  To a life in which her best friends Georgia and Doris – who love her deeply – are ever present, but who harbor secrets from her.  From her longing for a last summer romance to a true-love tangle with half-Jewish college guy Abe Barsky, and a choice between him and the safety of a union with her dependable childhood friend, Marv Peck.  All the while, the Miss South Haven beauty pageant looms in the background, teasing Betty with possibility. What happens to Betty at the pageant will both allow her a place in history and give her major room to reflect upon her life years down the road.

The worst thing I can say about The Last Bathing Beauty is that its plot is a little predictable.  But you won’t notice, once you’re in the embrace of Betty, seeing the world through her eyes and experiencing life in her enclave of resort-dwellers.  Nathan gives us a glimpse into Jewish life in the ‘50s that rings true and sings beautifully, and even though Betty’s predicament – and its resolution – is made clear within the first few chapters of the book, it’s no less absorbing a read.

Its characters are mostly well drawn, though Abe doesn’t get enough time to develop layers, Doris fades into the background (she could have been eliminated from the narrative to afford more time to Georgia, who has a crucial role to play), and Hannah is particularly entertaining and interesting.

But it’s the right kind of fluffy, the right kind of sentimental – and the right kind of lively.  Though Boop has a few regrets, she’s not even a little bit self-pitying, and her unique voice is captivating. But the book also makes a point about how sexism and narrow-mindedness combined to limit her choices and circumscribe her life down to something smaller.

The Last Bathing Beauty is just as toasty and lovely as a beach in the summertime.  It comes with a high recommendation and is well worth losing yourself in for a few hours.

Buy it at: Amazon/Audible or shop at your local independent bookstore
Visit our Amazon Storefront

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book. I knew it would be a light read filled with love and laughter. But it has so much more. It’s a story that will make your heart fill, make it ache, make it beat fast and make it break. This is my first book by Amy Sue Nathan and I was not at all disappointed. It had so much going on that I could not put it down. Turning the pages to see what happens next and having such deep emotions is what makes a book great. This book is great.

Betty was a teen who seemed to have it all. She lived with her grandparents who adored her and gave her all they could. They owned a resort and Betty worked helping them out and had many friends. Two best friends who shared everything. The summer of 1951 was the best and worse year of Betty’s life. She fell in love, she competed in a beauty contest, she married and she got pregnant. But she had planned on going to New York and going to college. Becoming a fashion editor and living the dream before marriage and a family. She planned on marrying the love of her life and living happily ever after with him. But time was not in her favor. The year was a time when she would make hard decisions and give up her dreams for something else. She married and had a child. She fell in love with her husband and had a good life. But it wasn’t the life she planned.

Betty married Marvin and became Boop. Marvin had always called her Boop and thus it stuck. They had a long and happy marriage. Boop’s granddaughter comes to her with a big problem that is much like the one Betty faced when she was eighteen years old. The difference here is Boop stood by Hannah where Betty’s grandmother didn’t. As much as she loved Betty she thought she was doing what was right. Betty had a different plan and things did work out ok. Betty/Boop lived a good life but still you get the feeling something has been missing all these years. As she tells Hannah her story in 2017 this book goes back to 1951 and so much is revealed to Hannah. Things that will help her to move on with her life and have the love she so desperately wants.

This story is told in two different timelines and is done to perfection in my opinion. The things that happen in the 50s make you glad you didn’t have to go through that kind of thing. Women were truly not treasured very much. I mean that they had husbands who were more their bosses then partners. They had not choices in many things, including having babies, marrying for love, going to college. Having a life. It was unfair but was how it was. Betty/Boop had a good life but not the life she could have had if her grandparents would have stood by her no matter what. If they would have considered her feelings and not just how it might look or how things were being Jewish. It didn’t seem like love was to be the most important part of their arrangement for her. She did what she had to and did find a happiness eventually. Love did happen.

This book is such a good one. Filled with love that is found, lost and found again. Family who should be there no matter what and isn’t always. Friends who know all there is to know about each other with a couple of secrets thrown in but found out late in life. Betty/Boop at age 18 then at age 84. I enjoyed this book so much and hated for it to end. Though it ended with perfection. I loved this story. It’s one that will lift your spirits while bringing big tears to your eyes too. It made me laugh and cry. I had some serious tears in places. The characters are all very likable and so well developed. The storyline will keep you turning pages and rooting for love. It’s a very serious but also a lighthearted book.

Thank you to #NetGalley #LakeUnion, #AmySueNathan for the ARC of this book. This is my review as I see it.

A big 5 stars and very high recommendation..

This was a joy to read, it’s fun & entertaining and has the old beach bingo vibe! So great to relive Betty’s younger years, the good and the bad. Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an ebook copy. This is my honest review.

I did not want this book to end. From the beginning when she has her friends come down to the end you didn’t expect. You never know how your life will turn out and what you think you missed you just have to wait longer for.

I loved this fictional story of "Betty Boop" not to be confused with the cartoon character. Love the main character Betty and reading her life story. She had a hell of a story to tell..

The Last Bathing Beauty is the story of Betty "Boop" Stern. Betty is a young Jewish woman living with her grandparents at their Catskills resort. Betty falls for handsome Abe and they plan a life together over a few weeks in the summer. Things don't go as planned though and events happen to change the course of Betty's life forever. This was the perfect quarantine escape!

The Last Bathing Beauty was such an enjoyable read. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this delightful story. The author did a great job with the dual timelines set in the current day and the 1950s. It was nice to read historical fiction that was not focused on World War II. The resort setting is great for fans of Dirty Dancing. It's a perfect, fun read for summer.

Betty has grown up with her grandparents, as her parents were “too young” to raise her. Her grandparents owned and ran a Jewish resort on Lake Michigan. The story begins with the resort opening for the 1951 summer season as Betty is looking forward to meeting the new staff and working the summer before she heads off to college. She immediately notices someone special Having worked at a Jewish resort in the Catskills for two summers, Nathan evoked the ambiance, along with the work involved to run a resort. Betty’s life changed forever that summer. This is a perfect “coming of age” story that has been told so many different ways. Loved her relationship with her friends that lasted a lifetime. Well done! Many many thanks to Amy Sue Nation, Lake Union Publishing, and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to read this ARC of a recently published book. Read this one and ponder how life has changed so dramatically in the last 70 years.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

I'm not typically a historical fiction reader, but this time I must admit I totally fell for the cover. The warm-hue retro photograph of a gorgeous girl on the beach awakens memories of joyful summers in the unspoiled pre-digital age. The novel itself doesn't fail to deliver a similarly blissful sentiment as we are transported into a South Haven vacation resort during the summer of 1951.

The novel tells the story of first love and big dreams of Betty, an eighteen-year-old beauty who lives with her grandparents, helping out at their Jewish resort. It's the last summer before she heads to college in New York, so she is going to make the most out of it - Betty plans to have a fling with a boy and compete in the annual Miss South Haven pageant. However, as an unexpected event sweeps Betty off her feet, she is faced with devastating consequences of her decisions.

The narrative of the story alternates between the teenage Betty and herself at 80 years old, now known as Boop. As her two childhood friends and her pregnant granddaughter come for a visit, Boop is compelled to recall her difficult past and reveal the long buried secrets she'd been hiding from herself and the world.

With the vivid descriptions flying off the pages, "The Last Bathing Beauty" is a lovely feel-good novel that makes you forget about the world and emerge yourself in the retro American spirit.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately the pacing of this book was way off for me. I found myself skipping pages which is not something I like to do.

The premise was nice and I thought the way the story revolves around the 2 distinct periods in Betty and later Boop's life was nice and a clever concept but it wasn't executed very well. Unfortunately, although I found the book well written, the characters really lacked depth and thus I had no empathy for them.

Might be ok for a quick read, but sadly I'm not a fan.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Boop Peck is in her 80's. She was born with a different name, and spent her early years ready to live a different life. But then, one summer changed everything. Even after almost 70 years, she still find it exciting to spend time with the people she treasures the most. Her two beloved friends and one of her granddaughters. The four will embark together to make the past walk right into the present.
The author works the story going back to the past and back to the present in a very neat way. The characters are absolutely lovable, even under different points of view offered by the time setting.. In the end, it gets clear that age comes with knowledge. And love always is a good answer to every single challenge, no matter the age or time.
I liked this book very much. Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Love, friendships, family, second chances ... that's what this book is all about. It was a pretty good read even though it started out slow for me but once I got involved with the characters it picked up speed. It was neat reading between 1951 when Betty was 18 and 70 years later when she went by the name Boop. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is a story about friendship, love, secrets and family told through the past and present. I loved the 1950s summer resort era setting of the past, totally reminded me of Dirty Dancing! When Boop's two best friends come back for a visit, they reminisce about that summer as her granddaughter Hannah faces some similar struggles. Boop decides to share some secrets from that summer to help her.

The plot was well written, though a little slow at times and the ending quite predictable but an enjoying read!

This was a sweet love story, split between 18-year-old Betty set in 1951 and 84-year-old Boop in modern time. Young Betty lives with her Jewish grandparents on their South Haven resort, where she dreams of being crowned a beauty queen, going to college in NY, and having a successful career as a fashion magazine editor. But life throws her a curve ball when she meets and falls in love with the handsome Abe, who could only be more perfect (and acceptable) if he was Jewish.

Boop is living in her late grandparents home having one last visit with her best friends from her childhood before she moves across the country to live with her son now that her husband, Marv, died a few years back. But when the three women get together, along with Boop's granddaughter, secrets are revealed and nothing goes as planned.

I really enjoyed this book, although it helped that I understood the Yiddish terms, already knew what is required to be considered born Jewish, and am familiar with that part of Michigan (and Skokie, which is also talked about a lot.) It might lose a bit if you don't have some sort of background like this, but I think the story still works regardless.

There isn't much true depth to any of the characters -- I really wanted someone to fight against the stereotypes, and I was so sure something else was going to be revealed about Georgia, which -- but it was still a nice story to get to spend some time with.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review. It has not influenced my opinion.

What a fantastic read! Boop is a character that I would love to know in real life. I imagine her as a Dame Maggie Smith!
I smiled, I laughed, I felt sad and happy. I would definitely recommend this to any historical fictional fan as well as any lover of a well written novel!
Thank you NetGalley and Amy Sue Nathan.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and author Amy Sue Nathan for providing me with an ARC of this novel!

Betty Stern was such a fun character to fall in love with throughout this novel. My wife is from Michigan, so the fact that it was set there made this all the more fun for me to read. The themes of love, friendship, family, hope and faith bring this story together beautifully. The fifties are a favorite time period of mine, and this was the perfect escape for me right now with how chaotic our world is. The characters were lovable and relatable, and I didn’t want this book to end!

Thank you again to those mentioned above for the chance to read and review this ARC!