Songs of Summer is a story about a woman who searches for her birth mother and finds her soulmate along the way. This is the third book in the Fire Island series and it has a love triangle! I wished I had read the other books in the series first, but I enjoyed the romance and the songs that were blended into the story.

Maggie and Jason were best friends for twenty years and then, seven months ago, they started sleeping with each other after a drunken Halloween party. They have been keeping it a secret from their family and friends because they think everyone will make a big deal over it and they’re not ready for that. They are celebrating their thirtieth birthdays together when Jason suggests they become engaged. Maggie agrees, but she wants to keep it a secret while she searches for her birth mom. (She’s adopted.) She feels like she needs to learn more about her past before she can move on with her future.

When Maggie takes a DNA test, she gets a match and finds out who her mother is. After some investigating, she discovers her mother, Beatrix (Bea), will be at Bea’s friend’s summer wedding on Fire Island and Maggie decides to travel there with hopes of meeting Bea. (She has to go on her own when Jason has to work.) The story alternates between two timelines, Maggie’s story in the present and her mother Bea’s story in the past. The book has lots of short chapters, told through different character’s viewpoints and I liked how the songs were intertwined throughout the story.

When Maggie arrives on Fire Island, there are lots of colorful characters that are part of the wedding party. After she sees some family drama between Bea and Bea’s sister, she is ready to give up and go home. But then she meets Matt (whose mother is the bride) – she tells him her story and why she’s there. He encourages her to stay and he introduces her to everyone as his girlfriend. (No one knows she has a fiancé.) This way she can meet her birth mother and her family and then decide if she wants to share her identity with them. Matt is a journalist for Rolling Stone Magazine and loves record stores while Maggie owns her family’s vintage record store (and loves it) so they have a lot in common. She learns more about herself as she uncovers her past and it was fun to see her get her HEA, with a special grand gesture at the end.

A lot of the story was focused on Bea and her angsty family drama which felt more like women’s fiction than romance. But I enjoyed the romcom moments and I couldn’t wait to find out how it would all work out between Maggie, Matt and Jason and I also looked forward to seeing the big reveal between Maggie and her mother.

I think fans of Rosen’s Fire Island books will enjoy this addition to the series along with readers interested in a story about a woman’s journey to find her birth mother who also finds love when she’s least expecting it.