The Summer Sail - Wendy Francis

The Summer Sail by Wendy Francis

First Paragraph(s):

Abby slid the invitation into the envelope.  It was a lovely invitation, on sturdy cream card stock with blue script and a jaunty little boat sailing across the top.  She knew it was silly to have ordered special cards in this day and age when everything got sent electronically, but a twentieth wedding anniversary seemed to demand a certain amount of decorum.  And it was the perfect reason to celebrate.  Every year, she and her two college roommates tried to meet up for a reunion somewhere in the States, but this year, she wanted to propose something different: a cruise, an island getaway to Bermuda.  What could be more idyllic?
     She sealed the envelopes, affixed the stamps, and addressed them in her loopy handwriting, one to Ms. Lee Minor in Charleston, South Carolina, and the other to Ms. Caroline Canton in New York.  Abby smiled at the thought of her roommates' spotting the invitation in a sea of advertisements and magazines in their mailboxes.  It was good to try something different every so often, and as she'd said to her husband, Sam, when first pitching the idea, If not now, then when?

My Thoughts:

The Summer Sail is the first book I've read by Wendy Francis and, truthfully, it's a little outside the type of book that I tend to read as a general rule.  However, as you might have noticed from my recent 'Bookish Nostalgia' post, I do read some 'women's friendship' books and thoroughly enjoy them when I'm in the mood.  Lately, I've been in the mood.

First of all, I am very much not a person who takes an ocean cruise.  I can barely be on a boat at all.  Motion sickness is a problem for me.  I did enjoy reading this story of three college roommates and 'forever' friends who take a cruise from Boston to Bermuda in order to celebrate the 20th wedding anniversary of one of them.  Abby, Caroline, and Lee have stayed close and each of them comes to this trip with issues they are dealing with.  Some of the issues are more serious than others, but all deserve some thought by the worrier.  I liked all the characters and also liked the descriptions of not only the cruise, but their time in Bermuda.  A charming book that was perfect for the beginning of summer. 

Blurb:

Three college roommates are celebrating a twentieth wedding anniversary by taking a cruise to Bermuda. As the ship pulls away from the pier, everyone is looking forward to lounging by the pool, sipping sunset cocktails, and reminiscing. Abby, the mother hen of the group, will be celebrating her wedding anniversary in style, even as she and her husband keep a secret from the group. Ambitious career woman Caroline happily anticipates several stress-free days away from her magazine job with her boyfriend, Javier, who may or may not be finally inspired to propose. And single mom Lee (annoyingly gorgeous and irresistibly popular in college) hopes she’ll win back the affections of her formerly sweet daughter Lacey, who after her first year in college, has inexplicably become a little bit of a monster.

As the balmy pink shores of Bermuda come into view, tensions simmer, and old jealousies flare, sending the temperature from soothing to scorching in this engrossing tale of three best friends on a vacation they won’t soon forget—but not for the reasons they expect.