Book Review: The Summer Pact

Four freshmen arrive at college from completely different worlds: Lainey, a California party girl with a flair for drama; Tyson, a brilliant scholar and aspiring lawyer from Washington, D.C.; Summer, an ambitious, recruited athlete from the Midwest; and Hannah, a mild-mannered southerner who is content to quietly round out the circle of big personalities. Soon after arriving on campus, they strike up a conversation in their shared dorm, and the seeds of friendship are planted.

As their college years fly by, their bond intensifies and the four become inseparable. But as graduation nears, their lives are forever changed after a desperate act leads to tragic consequences. Stunned and heartbroken, they make a pact, promising to always be there for one another, no matter how separated they may become by circumstances or distance. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

Allyson Bales:

“Remember there’s a difference between your history and your legacy.  Your history is what happened.  Your legacy is what you set in motion.”

Emily Giffin will always be a favorite author of mine because her stories always hit that sweet spot of deep and thought-provoking and also fun and uplifting. 

When I saw The Summer Pact was being released, I knew I needed to get my hands on it as soon as possible and am so glad I did.  This story is told from the different perspectives of friends from college, struggling with their hardships.  They come together to support each other and go on a pretty amazing journey.  I loved it.  While some of the story deals with deeper topics like grief and addiction, there is also grace, humility, and humor, and I found myself so invested in these characters.  I binged this one in two days!

While all of the characters really resonated with me, my favorite was Hannah.  She has no clue how strong she is, how much what she carries resonates with so many, how brave she is.  I really was rooting for all of them and really enjoyed the growth in all of the characters but Hannah the most.  

Thank you Emily Giffin for writing another amazing beach read!  Please go read this one and then let me know which character was your favorite!  

Melissa Amster:

I've read all of Emily Giffin's novels and her writing voice has really evolved over time. The Summer Pact is definitely on my list of her top three though!

The story was really engaging the entire time and I loved all of the main characters and cared so much about them. Getting to see each of their perspectives was helpful. There are some heavy topics, but Emily handles them in a sensitive and honest way.  I also loved the armchair adventure aspect and felt like I was in Italy with the friends. It was really easy to visualize people and places.

I was constantly surprised by everything that was happening and had no idea what would come up next. I maybe only guessed at a few things but they were hinted at early on. And Hannah's mother made me so angry on Hannah's behalf. Such toxic behavior! She reminded me a bit of Skeeter's mom in The Help (but also with a lot of Hilly's personality).

This is such a great summer (or even year-round) read and it will definitely make you laugh, smile, and even cry! Perfect for fans of Jane Green and Jill Santopolo, as well. 

(Trigger warnings below.)

Movie casting suggestions:
Tyson: Lucien Laviscount

Hannah: Elizabeth Lail

Lainey: Meghann Fahy 

Summer: Bella Thorne

Grady: Luke Kleintank

Olivia: Adelaide Kane

Thanks to Random House for the book in exchange for an honest review. Enter to win one of 20 copies on Goodreads! (US only. Ends July 31st.)

More by Emily Giffin:
Meant to Be
First Comes Love
Where We Belong

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TW: suicide, death of parent, alcoholism

Spotlight and Giveaway: All We Ever Wanted

We're excited to feature Emily Giffin's latest novel, All We Ever Wanted, which publishes today. Thanks to Random House, we have THREE copies to give away!

Check out Melissa A's review.

Nina Browning is living the good life after marrying into Nashville’s elite. More recently, her husband made a fortune selling his tech business, and their adored son has been accepted to Princeton.

Yet sometimes the middle-class small-town girl in Nina wonders if she’s strayed from the person she once was.

Tom Volpe is a single dad working multiple jobs while struggling to raise his headstrong daughter, Lyla. His road has been lonely, long, and hard, but he finally starts to relax after Lyla earns a scholarship to Windsor Academy, Nashville’s most prestigious private school.

Amid so much wealth and privilege, Lyla doesn’t always fit in—and her overprotective father doesn’t help—but in most ways, she’s a typical teenage girl, happy and thriving.

Then, one photograph, snapped in a drunken moment at a party, changes everything. As the image spreads like wildfire, the Windsor community is instantly polarized, buzzing with controversy and assigning blame.

At the heart of the lies and scandal, Tom, Nina, and Lyla are forced together—all questioning their closest relationships, asking themselves who they really are, and searching for the courage to live a life of true meaning. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

Photo by Emmanuelle Choussy

Emily Giffin is a graduate of Wake Forest University and the University of Virginia School of Law. After practicing litigation at a Manhattan firm for several years, she moved to London to write full time. The author of eight New York Times bestselling novels, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Baby Proof, Love The One You're With, Heart of the Matter, Where We Belong, The One & Only, and First Comes Love. She lives in Atlanta with her husband and three young children. (Bio courtesy of Amazon.)

Visit Emily online:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Pinterest

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends July 1st at midnight EST.

Spotlight and Giveaway: First Comes Love

Today we're celebrating Emily Giffin's pub day for her latest novel, First Comes Love. Melissa A is reading it now and enjoying it so far. Thanks to Penguin Random House, we have TWO copies to give away! This is also part of BookSparks 2016 Summer Reading Challenge, of which Emily is the host.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The One & Only. Two thirty-something sisters find themselves facing the question: if love and marriage and children don't all come together at once, which do you fight for?

Meredith thought she'd done it all right - married the perfect man, had the perfect daughter - but as she grows increasingly restless, she can't help but wonder if she got the love part wrong.

Josie has been happily single for years, but she wants a child of her own so much she's one bad Match.com date away from heading straight for the baby carriage all on her own.

The sisters, whose relationship was strained by the tragic death of their older brother over a decade ago, find that they need each other more than they realized.

Read an excerpt of the prologue and first chapter here!

Photo by Emmanuelle Choussy

Emily Giffin is a graduate of Wake Forest University and the University of Virginia School of Law. After practicing litigation at a Manhattan firm for several years, she moved to London to write full time. The author of seven New York Times bestselling novels,Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Baby Proof, Love the One You're With, Heart of the Matter, Where We Belong, and The One & Only, she lives with her husband and three young children. Visit Emily at her website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter,

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends July 4th at midnight EST.

Spotlight and Giveaway: The One and Only

Emily Giffin's latest novel, The One and Only, is finally here! Thanks to Random House, we have FIVE copies for some lucky US readers!

In her eagerly awaited new novel, beloved New York Times bestselling author Emily Giffin returns with an extraordinary story of love and loyalty—and an unconventional heroine struggling to reconcile both.

Thirty-three-year-old Shea Rigsby has spent her entire life in Walker, Texas—a small college town that lives and dies by football, a passion she unabashedly shares. Raised alongside her best friend, Lucy, the daughter of Walker’s legendary head coach, Clive Carr, Shea was too devoted to her hometown team to leave. Instead she stayed in Walker for college, even taking a job in the university athletic department after graduation, where she has remained for more than a decade.

But when an unexpected tragedy strikes the tight-knit Walker community, Shea’s comfortable world is upended, and she begins to wonder if the life she’s chosen is really enough for her. As she finally gives up her safety net to set out on an unexpected path, Shea discovers unsettling truths about the people and things she has always trusted most—and is forced to confront her deepest desires, fears, and secrets.

Thoughtful, funny, and brilliantly observed, The One & Only is a luminous novel about finding your passion, following your heart, and, most of all, believing in something bigger than yourself . . . the one and only thing that truly makes life worth living. (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.)

Check out a review from Marlene Engel, over at Book Mama Blog (our sister blog).

Photo by Emmanuelle Choussy

About the author:
Emily Giffin, a Chicago native, graduated summa cum laude from Wake Forest University and the University of Virginia School of Law. After law school, she moved to Manhattan and practiced litigation at a large firm for several years while she paid back her school loans, wrote a novel in her very limited spare time, and dreamed of becoming a writer.

Despite the rejection of her first manuscript, Giffin persisted, retiring from the legal profession and moving to London to pursue her dreams full time. It was there that she began writing her first novel. One year later, her gamble paid off, as she completed her manuscript, landed an agent and signed a two-book deal on both sides of the Atlantic. The following summer, Something Borrowed, hailed as a “heartbreakingly honest debut” with “dead-on dialogue, real-life complexity and genuine warmth,” became a surprise sensation, and Giffin vowed never to practice law again.

Dubbed a “modern day Jane Austen” (Vanity Fair) and a “dependably down-to-earth storyteller” (New York Times), Giffin has since penned six more New York Times bestsellers, Something Blue (2005), Baby Proof (2006), Love the One You’re With (2008), Heart of the Matter (2010), Where We Belong (2012) and The One and Only (May 20, 2014).

Giffin now resides with her husband and three young children in Atlanta. You can visit her at her website, Facebook, and Twitter. (Bio adapted from Emily's website.)

Thanks again to Random House for sharing Emily's book with our winners!

How to win The One and Only: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.

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US only. Giveaway ends May 26th at midnight EST.