One of my favourite Hilderbrand books ever. A unique love story that undoubtedly raises a lot of moral issues. Nevertheless, it is written with a lot of sensitivity. The structure of the book is one of my favourite ones and it will stay with me. The idea of "what are we talking about?" at the start of each chapter is fantastic and unique and made me a little bit nostalgic. It will definitely make you fall in love with Nantucket. Unforgettable. Unputdownable. Huge 5 stars.

I Wanted to dislike this book after the first few chapters. Here is why, in a short rant, but I could go on. There are spoilers here.

Firstly, the author seemed to think that infidelity could be excused if you re-eally love the other person and if everyone else you hurt along the way isn’t that nice. Let’s take Jake. So he is meant to be a great romantic hero but he marries a woman knowing he doesn’t love her and that she probably has an eating disorder (Although let’s just make her seem fussy) that just annoys him. No wonder she has an affair, though this seems like a ploy to make us think his indiscretion is just fine. He is a grown man. He needs to take responsibility for his Life and take some kind of positive action to just be with the woman he loves. There were literally no barriers to this at the start.

And Mallory, in true insipid heroine fashion, complains her ‘best friend’ thinks she is weak and then proves it every step of the way. Why didn’t she ditch her friend in the college years if she was so hideous? (She really was). Why did she think 84 days in a whole life time is the same thing as love? She even admits herself that life would probably be bland with Jake if they had to work on a marriage. I suspect, as demonstrated by all the hapless fools that try to woo her, it’s because she thinks an illicit affair is real and never really knows what a real relationship is. And don’t even get me started on her being ‘one of those teachers’. Am I to really believe these Hollywood portrayals of teachers who swoop in and inspire entire schools of previously reluctant yobs by being young, pretty and ignoring the rules of their trade? Is America really full of disenchanted teachers who don’t inspire children, leaving any old whippersnapper wide open to come in and look like a modern day hero? Thank goodness she didn’t win that money! And good on Jeremiah who seems to be the only character who eventually sees through her.

And please tell me Link and Bess don’t strike up a love affair, especially after the author tells us they are based on her own children (ok, ok, I realise they’re not actually related but since I’m complaining let’s just get that out there.)

But. But... I still read on til the end. I admit I wanted some kind of telling off for Jake - he must realise he behaved appallingly? But even then I cried at the end and sort of ended up buying into it all a smidge. And for that, I am furious!

I also liked the chapter headings (‘what are we talking about?‘ I don’t know, Elin, I will google it and find out! This was a fun game and if you think you detect sarcasm there, you’re a cynic). And I wsvery curious about how she chose the song lyrics- her own memory! Some kind of charts? Who knows!

All in all it was an engaging read but I just don’t like cheating. Why ever did I pick this one up?

I had never ready this author before - this is not generally a genre I seek out - and I was pleasantly surprised to find myself unable to put the book down!
I like the structure of the book, the way the story is told, the beautiful landscapes (unlike many other reviewers though, I find the food descriptions boring and useless, who cares about the details of recipes that are been prepared??). I did find Mallory a little one-dimensional, maybe Jake too to an extent, but overall their story is beautifully told and it kept me captivated to the very end.
A thoroughly enjoyable summer read.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the arc, which I have enjoyed reading.
This book by Elin Hilderbrand is a fascinating and enjoyable read, 28 summers is a story of love and life, it is Mallory and Jake’s story.
I found the storyline interesting and the idea that two people would just meet for a weekend every year for 28 years and not communicate in between those times fascinating. The whole book told the stories of Mallory and Jake, their families, friends and children and who they became as they moved from childhood to adulthood.
Highly recommended.

I absolutely loved this book. I was virtually transported from COVID-19 lockdown to Nantucket and could almost smell the ocean breeze. Such a heartfelt, well written story that triggers many emotions. I would recommend.

I love Elin Hilderbrand’s books so was delighted to have the chance to read 28 Summers. It was a perfect holiday read and I was totally engrossed in the lives of Mallory and Jake, who only meet once a year, on Labour Day weekend. The setting of Nantucket is so appealing. I was lying on a beach in Cornwall reading this novel but felt as though I was in Nantucket, in Mallory’s beautiful coastal house, eating the delicious meals she shares with Jake. The structure of the novel is so clever and I enjoyed the start of every chapter, where the author tells us what was making the headlines in that year. I grew fond of Mallory and Jake and, as the story progressed, was desperate for the Labour Day weekend to happen, no matter what! 28 Summers is a big, sweeping, enjoyable novel and one that I won’t forget.

Can one hide a love affair for 28 years. Mallory and Jake have done just that. Jake is now married, with a family. He comes every weekend just one weekend mind you to live with Mallory and he has done that for 28 years unknown to his friends, to Mallory's own family and to his own wife.

The circle is close, they are all known to each other and one thinks what is the love that binds Jake to Mallory but that is not sufficient for him to actually leave his wife (now a US Senator) and an aspiring Presidential candidate to boot.

The story set in Nantucket in a quiet town and then going back and forth over
the lives of each character appearing now in one city and then the next, the cross referencing between all of them and underneath it all the thread of Mallory and Jake's love story.

Very poignant, sad and emotional this was inevitably a sad story of a different kind of love story.


It has to end it cannot continue - one begins to feel that from midway through the story.

This is one of the author's best ever books.

28 Summers is a whirlwind romance that happens only on Labor Day weekend and describing each year based off of events that happened. This is definitely a tear jerker and you know from the prologue how it will end. While I’m definitely not a fan of infidelity Mallory and Jake are made for each other.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

5 ⭐️

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.I have read all of Elins book and I was on a staycation in Ireland reading this and if was just perfect.Someday I hope to visit Nantucket as the way Elin describes it is always is beautiful..

This is the first book by this author I have read and it packed an emotional whallop that I didn't really expect. I am not usually a fan of books that feature infidelity, but for some reason this story just works and definitely made this reader cry.

I loved the character of Mallory, so much. She is such a wonderful human being, a great mother, a fabulous teacher, fantastic cook......and borrows someone else's husband once a year. It is a surprisingly complex tale, actually. I don't think that Jake and Mallory are automatically terrible people for doing what they do. They both try to do the best they can, every step of the way.

I liked the recap of each year that started each chapter, that was very interesting. Not being American, I had to look up some of them but it brought back lots of memories for me, I have to say.

All in all, this was a story worth reading and I am very happy that I did. Have some tissues handy for the ending though, you will need them!

5 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company.

This is my first book by this author and I doubt it will be my last. Beautifully written with a prologue that makes me want to dive right in. I loved the beginnings of each year with the summary of what was topical that year. The names and song lyrics took me back to my childhood, through my teens and into adulthood. Very well done and a great way of setting the scene. The way everyone's lives played out over the 28 years was good and well thought out with fashions, relationships, careers and opinions evolving over time. Little to fault with this book. Highly recommended.

This was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. It was so well written, a real page-turner and a perfect summer read.
I'd definitely recommend it.

Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

Elin Hilderbrand is a fantastic storyteller and 28 Summers shows that. This book was brilliant. It was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. I normally hate books that involve affairs but this was smartly done. This might be the only book I have ever liked that had an affair. Elin's writing was top notch in this book and I cannot recommend it enough.

Mallory decides to leave New York behind to live in Nantucket after inheriting a house from her aunt. Her life is blissful and she loves her teaching role there. After meeting a college friend of her brother, Jake, she embarks on a one weekend a year affair spanning many decades. Life suddenly changes when Mallory is told she is dying.

Oh my how I LOVED LOVED LOVED this book! The writing was just gorgeous,
I felt like I was on a warm beach with the summer breeze blowing and the scent of the sea every time I was reading. Ive been meaning to read this author for a while and loved her writing so much Ive added all her books to my amazon basket.
The scene setting is beautiful, the people are flawed, summers in Nantucket! it just makes me want to go right now and live on the beach.
Jake and Mallory's story is unusual and beautiful, I love the 'What we are thinking about' paragraph at the start of each summer, so unusual and quirky.
Elin has an absolutely gorgeous style, warm and absorbing, I made myself ration this book each day so I could make it last. One of my favourite books of 2020, just fabulous!
Thanks so much to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the ARC of this wonderful book.

I am around the same age as Mallory so this book was a nostalgic look at each of the 28 years. I read this book in one sitting. I got totally caught up in the characters lives. This is a story about love, family, friends, loyalty, and politics. I liked the way the book was written and that Jake and Mallory’s relationship comes across as real.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This was a really different read for me. It's told from many different perspectives over a 28 year period. It's a one summer a month love affair that takes place no matter what else is going on in their lives. Wife's, boyfriends, children or work, once a year nothing else matters. I truly loved Jake and Mallory and their love affair was wonderous and life altering. I have no idea how they did it, or could live with the life they chose. I could have settle for something less than everything. At times it just about broke me. The chemistry and love between them was unforgettable. It was what we all strive for, search for, sacrifice for. And when Mallory finds herself at the end and her son stumbles upon her hard kept secret, nothing else matters. The journey and the people who love you are all that matters when your time comes and I hope you enjoy their story just as much as I have.

Thank you to NetGalley, Elin Hilderbrand and Hodder & Stoughton for this ARC copy. This is my honest personal review.
Mallory and Jake are what romance is made of and the are together only once a year, but their feelings are what make them who they are.
Elin Hilderbrand is one my most favorite authors and she brings me into this story and leaves me with every emotion there can be while reading about Jake and Mallory.
Thank you, Elin Hilderbrand, for giving me an escape to Nantucket!

A romance that should of stopped but carries on for one weekend every year. Your one and only but life and commitments mean that you can never be together full time and forever.
How it feels, the joy, the dispear and the ramifications for family and career.
A real tear jerker. Keep a hanky near by.

It's the first book i read by Elin Hildebrand and won't surely be the last.
It's engrossing and enjoyable, the author is a talented storyteller and I loved the plot and the character development.
The romance is sweet and the story is heartwarming and heartbreaking.
An excellent read, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.