A fun summer time read. Bring it to the beach and you'll never put it down. It does start slow. ( )

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this book.

I usually don't read ebooks but reading the plot and being Jewish and a lover of Jewish fiction, I had to read it.

The Summer of 1960 in Philadelphia and the beach in Avalon, New Jersey with Marilyn, a 20 year old, and got “stuck” with her great Aunt Ada, who is a matchmaker with her rules and really bossy with Marilyn. She does have a good heart and it finally shows after a while. Marilyn is sassy too but Ada always has retorts back and she's afraid to say them. There's no “love” between them at first and then it starts to change little by little as they get to know each other I guess you can say.

This maybe a spoiler and I won't give it totally away, but one of my favorite scenes is when Dan the Rabbi's son goes to New Jersey and takes her out to dinner. What happens next is hilarious and Marilyn is “testing” him in the restaurant. Priceless.

Two coincidences with me and this book. My middle name is Marilyn (okay, now everyone knows) and my Dad, who I loved dearly, used to say “Don't Forget To Write” when I left the house sometimes. However, in the book, it's a totally different meaning.

Such a fun read all the way through (almost). I had a few tear soaked tissues by the end of the book.

I'm a stickler for giving 5 star ratings on Goodreads but this is one of them. ( )

I loved this book. Great characters. Quick read. And the ending was perfect. ( )

Thanks to Amazon Prime and Lake Union Publishing for a digital advance reader's copy. All comments and opinions are my own.

I’ve read Sara Confino’s other two novels, so knew the minute I saw this one that I had to read it, and I was not disappointed. It’s a cleverly written, laugh-out-loud, coming of age novel (enough adjectives? Here’s two more) that was entertaining and poignant.

Set in pre-feminist 1960 New York and the Jersey Shore, the story begins with 20-year-old Marilyn Kleinman getting caught in a very public way kissing Daniel Schwartz, the rabbi’s son. Her father banishes her to Great-Aunt Ada’s for the summer, and staying with Ada turns out to be the opposite of what Marilyn fears. Not only is Ada the premier matchmaker of Philadelphia, but she is also “fierce and ferocious and feminine all at the same time.”

Ada embodies Marilyn’s dream – “the idea of being my own person – of doing what I wanted when I wanted and bossing everyone else around…more than that though, when Ada spoke, everyone listened.”

The key to the novel is when Marilyn tells Ada, “I don’t want to be someone’s wife. I want to be myself.” Ada’s reassuring response, “When it’s right, you’ll find you can be both.”

Some parts of this novel were predictable, some parts were a surprise, but it was fun, heartwarming, and I highly recommend. ( )

Sara scores another best seller with this book. I absolutely devour her books in one sitting. Instantly, I was transported back in time to Philly. I knew I was going to love Ada when during my first introduction to her, she was accusing Marilyn of looking like a "tart" with her lipstick color and in the next moment, she was applying on her own lips.

Everything that came out of Ada's mouth had me laughing and smiling. Ada is my hero. She calls things like she sees them and lives her life the way she wants with no regrets. Thus, the reason I love her so much.

"Live the life you want. Love whom you want. And don't forget to write." ( )