Book Review
Sep. 10th, 2026 01:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariThese Summer Storms
by Sarah MacLean
This affecting novel concerns Alice Storm, middle daughter of Franklin Storm, a billionaire tech CEO and clearly modeled after Steve Jobs. Franklin exiled Alice from the family several years ago in response to her whistle-blowing on sexual harassment at Storm, Inc. An artist, she is now supporting herself as a painter and art teacher. When her father dies suddenly, Alice returns to the family's private island off the coast of Rhode Island for the funeral. There, she, her mother, and her siblings find themselves thrown into an inheritance game embedded in her father's will, bound to stay on the island for a week and complete their tasks or get nothing. Alice must thus face her family and her relationships with each of them while also dealing with her attraction to and growing connection with Jack, her father's second-in-command tasked with overseeing the game.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable novel. MacLean really nails the sibling and family dynamics and the dysfunction. Alice is such a great and relatable character, especially the ways she is both deeply hurt and liberated by her estrangement from her family. Jack is a good romantic lead in that he comes to deeply care about Alice in a way that is protective without being stifling. He listens and always treats Alice's concerns and feelings as important. I very much liked how the resolution of the story does not provide a perfect reconciliation between Alice and her family - some unease remains, and it feels more real that way.
by Sarah MacLean
This affecting novel concerns Alice Storm, middle daughter of Franklin Storm, a billionaire tech CEO and clearly modeled after Steve Jobs. Franklin exiled Alice from the family several years ago in response to her whistle-blowing on sexual harassment at Storm, Inc. An artist, she is now supporting herself as a painter and art teacher. When her father dies suddenly, Alice returns to the family's private island off the coast of Rhode Island for the funeral. There, she, her mother, and her siblings find themselves thrown into an inheritance game embedded in her father's will, bound to stay on the island for a week and complete their tasks or get nothing. Alice must thus face her family and her relationships with each of them while also dealing with her attraction to and growing connection with Jack, her father's second-in-command tasked with overseeing the game.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable novel. MacLean really nails the sibling and family dynamics and the dysfunction. Alice is such a great and relatable character, especially the ways she is both deeply hurt and liberated by her estrangement from her family. Jack is a good romantic lead in that he comes to deeply care about Alice in a way that is protective without being stifling. He listens and always treats Alice's concerns and feelings as important. I very much liked how the resolution of the story does not provide a perfect reconciliation between Alice and her family - some unease remains, and it feels more real that way.
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Date: 2026-09-10 07:12 pm (UTC)