REVIEW: Until Next Summer by Ali Brady

Until Next Summer by Ali Brady: Jessie and Hillary became best friends at Camp Chickawah and looked forward to all the fun they had each summer. Hillary promises Jessie that they can become camp counselors once they are old enough. Hillary breaks her promise and does a summer internship at her father’s insistence. This starts their estrangement from each other. Hillary starts a job with her father insisting she should marry a man who is doing well in his business. In the meantime, Jessie works her way up to camp director as the owners get older. After the owners pass away, their grown children plan to sell the property of the camp and the brother wants to build himself a lake house.

Jessie finds out this will now be the last summer for the camp. She decides there should be camp weeks for former campers of various age groups. She invites them and is amazed how fast reservations fill up.

She is surprised when Hillary shows up to help. Can they get past hurts and be friends again? Several longtime workers stay on to help. Cooper who’s a chef becomes the camp cook. He’s taking a break from a stressful episodes at his Boston restaurant. Writer Luke gets Jessie very annoyed when he asks for many caveats for his stay. He and Cooper had once been campers and the subject of crushes.

Things move along and the first batch of adult campers are a true success. It’s fun and exciting to help with all the adult geared activities, but also very bittersweet. The future always casts a pale over the nostalgia. Is there some way to keep the camp alive?

Yes, there is a vivid look at camp and found family which is really heartwarming. At the same time there is some hot and heavy romance that develops over the course of the summer between Cooper and Jessie and Hillary and Luke. Will these just be summer flings or can it lead to more?

Ali Brady is actually the pen name of two different women authors. It’s always amazing when you read a collaboration that flows so smoothly. The authors allow us to see below the surface of all the characters and what has formed them.The setting comes to life with lovely descriptions.

I only was able to go to summer camp once when I was young. It was a fabulous experience and I still remember a great deal more about it than other events at that time in my childhood.

Whether you went to camp and loved it or have never been, this novel will provide you with an unforgettable experience.

Book Info:

Publication: July 9, 2024 | Berkley |

Two former best friends each find love at an adults-only summer camp in this romantic and nostalgic novel that proves “once a camp person, always a camp person.”

Growing up, Jessie and Hillary lived for summer, when they’d be reunited at Camp Chickawah. The best friends vowed to become counselors together someday, but they drifted apart after Hillary broke her promise and only Jessie stuck to their plan, working her way up to become the camp director.

When Jessie learns that the camp will be sold, she decides to plan one last hurrah, inviting past campers—including Hillary—to a nostalgic “adult summer camp” before closing for good. Jessie and Hillary rebuild their friendship as they relive the best time of their lives—only now there are adult beverages, skinny dipping, and romantic entanglements. Straitlaced Hillary agrees to a “no strings attached” summer fling with the camp chef, while outgoing Jessie is drawn to a moody, reclusive writer who’s rented a cabin to work on his novel.

The friends soon realize this doesn’t have to be the last summer. They’ll team up and work together, just like the old days. But if they can’t save their beloved camp, will they be able to take the happiness of this summer away with them?