Songs of Summer (Fire Island Trilogy, 3) - Softcover

Rosen, Jane L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0593818784 ISBN 13: 9780593818787

Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group, 2025

Inhaltsangabe

A young woman crashes the wedding of the summer on Fire Island in search of her birth mother—and gets a whole lot more than she bargained for—in this warm, heart-stopping getaway from Jane L. Rosen

As featured in USA Today · Parade · The New York Post · Woman's World · Katie Couric Media · The Nerd Daily · Zibby Media · and more!

Maggie May Wheeler is living her best life—at thirty, she has big plans for her vintage record shop and is about to be engaged to her childhood best friend. But when she stumbles across a letter she wrote to her future self when she was thirteen, she realizes it may not be enough. The letter ignites a desire to find her birth mother and discover where she really belongs.

Her search takes her to dreamy Fire Island, where her birth mother is a guest at a wedding. As Maggie spies on her biological family, she’s caught between diving into their chaotic lives and returning to her comfortable world. Things heat up when a charming local makes her an offer to crash the wedding as his date.

Is it the island’s magic, the whirlwind of the weekend, or the thrill of a fake beau that has her rethinking everything? Swept away by every love song she hears, Maggie must figure out where her heart truly lies.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Jane L. Rosen is the author of six novels, Nine Women, One Dress, Eliza Starts a Rumor, A Shoe Story, On Fire Island, Seven Summer Weekends, and her latest, Songs of Summer. She has a monthly column in the Fire Island and Great South Bay News called Cake Or Pie? where she whimsically interviews her fellow authors. She is also a screenwriter and New York Times, Tablet, and Huffington Post contributor.

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Track 1

Put Your Records On

May 4, 2025

Maggie

Maggie May Wheeler pressed the last strip of Scotch tape onto the vintage yellow Maggie May Records wrapping paper just as the reindeer bells rang on the front door of her record shop. She looked up and smiled as Jason strolled in. A matching smile lit his face.

"Hey, thirtieth birthday girl!" he proclaimed.

"Hey, thirtieth birthday boy," she responded.

Jason looked around the store to double-check that it was empty before giving Maggie a sweet birthday kiss.

Maggie and Jason had been sleeping together since Halloween, but they were still the only ones who knew about it. It wasn't a planned thing, or even something they'd discussed casually; it was just something that had happened. The fact that they were dressed at the time as Ken and Barbie (wigs and all) had helped her feel bold enough to make the first move, though if Maggie were being completely honest, she would have to admit that it was less about their costumes and more about Jennifer Alexander endlessly flirting with Jason at the party they were at. She had even asked him to sing a duet for karaoke. Suddenly, while watching the two crooning "Islands in the Stream," the possibility of losing Jason, and losing his family, became too much for Maggie to bear. When he dropped her off that night, with the help of some liquid courage, she leaned over and kissed him, really kissed him, and after his initial shock, he kissed her back.

That first time was a frenetic, alcohol-fueled combination of hookup and head trip. Breaking through twenty years of platonic friendship was intense, though they seemed to be in tune. Clearly, they had both been curious over the years about what it would be like for them to fool around, but acting on it felt a bit surreal. Plus, they had kept the wigs on.

The next morning, in her natural brown curls, Maggie had no idea what Jason was thinking.

She slipped out from under the covers, grimaced at the sight of last night's crumpled Barbie costume, and grabbed a Case Western sweatshirt from the back of Jason's desk chair. The two were nearly the same size, both slim and fit, so it barely covered her bum. She scooted to the kitchen, holding the side of her head. She needed coffee.

While the Keurig brewed, so did she.

She knew the next move was up to her. Everything between Maggie and Jason was always up to her. It wasn't that Jason was wishy-washy; he just always put her first.

The thought made her laugh. What could be better than dating your best friend who always puts you first? She weighed the options, from never again to a split-level ranch with 2.5 kids and a golden retriever named Ringo, and decided to keep her mouth shut for now.

Later that day, at a boozy brunch with Jason's family, his sister got right to the heart of the matter with Maggie and Jason.

"What did you go as for Halloween?" she asked, adding, "If you two are still dressing as a couple, neither of you will ever meet someone else."

Maggie had no interest in meeting someone else, and even less interest in a solo Halloween costume. They had already discussed reprising their sixteen-year-old Elvis and Priscilla getups for next year. She pictured herself going alone as Priscilla. No one would even know who she was.

She downed the mimosa she had been sipping and decided to bring up the issue on the ride home.

"Do you think it's true, what your sister said?"

"No. Jennifer Alexander had no problem moving in on me at the party last night."

"Ya, and because of it, I jumped you in the front seat of your car."

"I knew it-you were jealous."

"It wasn't really jealousy. It's just, I don't know, I don't care to share you with anyone else."

"I get that. Me neither."

They braked at a crosswalk for a family of five to cross the street.

"Did you like it-you know, last night?" he mumbled, blushing awkwardly.

"Yes," she laughed, "did you?"

"Absolutely. It may be weird to do it again, though."

"Maybe," she lamented.

"Want to come over and find out?" Jason proposed, flashing his best boyish grin.

They laughed until the car behind them beeped.

While it was a little weird making love to her best friend in the light of day, it was also very sweet, which only brought up a bigger question.

Namely, were they now boyfriend and girlfriend?

Seven months later, when their birthdays rolled around, they were still sleeping together, though Maggie had never done so entirely sober. The one time they attempted it, Maggie found herself laughing every time Jason touched her. She claimed she was feeling ticklish, but he didn't buy it, and it sparked their first lovers' quarrel. That's what Maggie kept calling it, in the hopes of making Jason laugh enough to let it go, but he only moped harder. Beyond that, they were still sneaking around in secret and hadn't made it official in any way whatsoever.

And now Maggie wondered what they were waiting for.


Both Maggie and Jason had moved back home right after college graduation, Maggie to help her then-ailing parents in the store, Jason to save money by living at home during grad school at Case Western, where he was now a professor of ethics. When Maggie’s parents passed away a few years later-her mother from the same heart disease that had prevented her from carrying children, her father six months later from a different kind of broken heart-Jason and his family were with her every step of the way. There was no doubt in Maggie’s mind that they were her family now. It was one reason she never mailed in the 23andMe kit she’d ordered one night at three in the morning, when curiosity about the family origins she had never paid much attention to got the better of her. That, and remembering the tears of relief that had poured down her mother’s face all those years ago, after Maggie learned she was adopted.

Always intuitive, always empathetic, young Maggie had touched her mother's cheek in response to her offer to help find her birth mother and comforted her by saying, "You're my only mom. I'm good." And Jenny was still her only mom, in memory at least. Maggie had no intention of revisiting that question now that she was gone.

On the morning of May fourth, Jason looked at Maggie as she carried in the pile of perfectly wrapped albums she'd put together and asked, "What did we get everyone?"

Maggie was excited to flip through the stack, excited to be with family again on their birthdays and to show off how well she knew everyone by nailing each gift.

"Wanna guess?"

"You know I don't want to guess."

"You may as well give in now." Maggie smirked, but as much as Jason still wasn't a game player, he could never resist Maggie, who would turn anything into a friendly competition if she could.

"Fine, I'll try."

She boosted herself onto the countertop like a gymnast and ruffled Jason's perfectly coiffed hair before planting another quick kiss on his lips. She wondered, if they were ever to settle down together, whether their kids would be fair-skinned with silky straight hair and matching brown eyes like Jason's, or olive-toned with violet eyes and brown curls like her own. She hoped they'd look like her. It wasn't that Maggie didn't think Jason was cute; he was certainly cute, especially when dressed in his little tweed professor jacket. And she wasn't feeling her biological clock ticking or anything like that. It was just a side effect of being adopted. She yearned to see herself in someone else.

Jason feigned eagerness.

"Hit me," he said, slapping his hand on the counter like a Vegas card player.

"OK, record number one, The Cars, Shake It Up?"

"That's easy, Cousin Bobby, the wannabe race car...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2025
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0593818784
• ISBN 13: 9780593818787
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 337
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: BERKLEY; https://www.penguin.com/?s=BERKLEY; ; Unit 2 Limavady Business Park; Limavady; County Londonderry; BT49 0HR; Vereinigtes Königreich
• Verantwortliche Person: preigu; mail@preigu.de; ; Lengericher Landstr. 19; Osnabrück; 49078; Deutschland