These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean

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These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean

Contemporary fiction

These Summer Storms

by Sarah MacLean

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Quick take

Think your family has drama? The Storms may have you beat with their twisted inheritance games and summertime antics.

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, Romance

    Romance

  • Illustrated icon, Multiple_Viewpoints

    Multiple viewpoints

  • Illustrated icon, Family_Drama

    Family drama

  • Illustrated icon, Salacious

    Salacious

Synopsis

Alice Storm hasn’t been welcome at her family’s magnificent private island off the Rhode Island coast in five years—not since she was cast out and built her life beyond the Storm name, influence, and untold billions. But the shocking death of her larger-than-life father changes everything.

Alice plans to keep her head down, pay her final respects (such as they are), and leave the minute the funeral is over. Unfortunately, her father had other plans. The eccentric, manipulative patriarch left his family a final challenge—an inheritance game designed to upend their world. The rules are clear: spend one week on the island, complete their assigned tasks, and receive the inheritance.

But a whole week on Storm Island is no easy task for Alice. Every corner of the sprawling old house is bursting with chaos: Her older sister’s secret love affair. Her brother’s unyielding arrogance. Her younger sister’s constant analysis of the vibes. Her mother’s cold judgment. And all under the stern, watchful gaze of Jack Dean, her father’s intriguing and too-handsome second-in-command. It will be a miracle if Alice manages to escape unscathed.

Read a sample

Get an early look from the first pages of These Summer Storms.

These Summer Storms

CHAPTER 1

There was something about trains.

If she marked the minutes of her life, Alice Storm would not be surprised to discover that she’d spent nearly a third of them in transit:

  • The shiny crimson bicycle that had been her seventh-­birthday present and most prized possession, until her brother had sent it flying into Narragansett Bay, never to be recovered.
  • The white rowboat her father had captained into that same salty sea every Saturday in July for her entire childhood, because he insisted on facing nature as God intended.
  • The endless line of nondescript black town cars with silent drivers that ferried her from private school to private art classes to the Storm family’s Park Avenue penthouse, New York City muffled and dim beyond the window.
  • The skateboard she’d ridden into a tree one Sunday morning during her first year at Amherst—­determined to prove herself a completely ordinary eighteen-­year-­old—resulting in an arm broken in three places.
  • The helicopter that airlifted her to Boston to be pinned back together and returned her to school in time for a nine A.M. Art History midterm, before her classmates could discover there was nothing ordinary about her.
  • The private jets that took her around the globe whenever her father issued an international summons on a whim.
  • The commercial jet that had taken her to Prague eighteen months earlier, diamond ring tucked into her boyfriend’s carry-on bag.
  • The subway car she’d been on that afternoon when her phone had rung and stolen her breath—Incoming call . . . Elisabeth Storm (never Mom)—all beige walls and harsh lights and advertisements for clear skin and uncluttered apartments and that one William Carlos Williams poem about plums and iceboxes and forgiveness and the parts of us that will never change.
  • And still, there was something about trains.

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    Why I love it

    Here is my recipe for the perfect beach read. First, start with a seaside setting. Then, add in a hefty dose of family drama and a dash of romance. Top it off with a sharp, loveable main character and find a relaxing spot to luxuriate in the narrative. Alternatively, put These Summer Storms in your BOTM box, wait (impatiently), and fast-track your way to reading in the sunshine!

    For many, being stuck on a private island sounds pretty dreamy. For Alice Storm, it’s a nightmare. She likes the life that she’s created for herself, disconnected from her wealthy family’s fame and fortune. So, when Alice’s father passes away and she has to return to Storm Island for the funeral, she’s less than thrilled. Drama ensues immediately upon Alice’s arrival as an inheritance game begins, family gossip is stirred up, and an unforeseen romance starts to blossom.

    These Summer Storms strikes that feel-good, summer-read sweet spot. With flawed and relatable characters, captivating sibling rivalries, and swoony romance, this novel has it all. Whether you need a fun book for vacation or simply a little day-to-day distraction, a visit to Storm Island will do just the trick!

    Member ratings (337)

    July 2025
    Finding Grace
    How Freaking Romantic
    Among Friends
    You Belong Here
    These Summer Storms
    Maggie; or, A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar
    July 2025
    View all
    Finding Grace
    How Freaking Romantic
    Among Friends
    You Belong Here
    These Summer Storms
    Maggie; or, A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar