May 11, 2021
A SUMMER TO REMEMBER
Erika Montgomery
St. Martin's Press
5/11/21
Fiction
Hardcover, 320 pages
For thirty-year-old Frankie Simon, selling movie memorabilia in the shop she opened with her late mother on Hollywood Boulevard is more than just her livelihood—it’s an enduring connection to the only family she has ever known. But when a mysterious package arrives containing a photograph of her mother with husband and wife film stars Glory Cartwright and Mitch Becket at a coastal film festival the year before Frankie’s birth, her life begins to unravel in ways unimaginable.
What begins is a journey that reveals buried family secrets, betrayals between lovers, and bonds between friends. And for Frankie, as the past unlocks the present, the chance to learn that memories can show us the meaning of home and the magic of true love. 

"An unforgettable tale of love, loss, and finding your place that glitters as brightly as the golden age of Hollywood."
-author Kristy Woodson Harvey

“The perfect read for summer. A novel with depth, real emotions, lyrical writing, and flawed characters with whom to fall in love.”
-author Karen White
Dearest Readers,

Food has always played a huge part in my own story, so there was no question it would find a large role in my novel. At its core, A Summer to Remember celebrates connections of the heart, whether they be with family and friends, or the match of true love, and few things draw us together—and keep us there—as intensely as the sharing of a great meal. 

Growing up near the coast, I know there is a special kind of magic in food enjoyed together by the water’s edge. Whether it’s an extravagant day-long clambake on the beach, or a simple PB&J enjoyed on the deck of a sailboat (like the one Gabe and Frankie enjoy on their first date), everything just tastes better when you’re oceanside. 

I’m so honored and grateful that you’ve chosen to put A Summer to Remember on your reading menu, and I hope you’ll reach out to let me know what you think. 

In the meantime, please take care, and may our shared appetites for wonderful stories never be sated.

Warmly,

Erika
A SUMMER TO REMEMBER
Book Club Menu
Although the novel opens in Hollywood, the real feasting doesn’t begin for our heroine, Frankie, until she travels across the country to Cape Cod. A book club menu for A Summer to Remember should offer a spread of beach food at its simplest and saltiest best! 

Since a clam bake—while great fun and mighty tasty—is awfully high-maintenance, I suggest a delicacy that is far easier but evokes the same coastal flavor: crab balls. These one-bite crab-cakes never fail to put me into a beach state of mind—even in the middle of winter! 

For a beach picnic side dish, you can’t miss with a cool and refreshing potato salad. My mother’s favorite recipe favored more vinegar than mayonnaise (making it far more beach-picnic-in-the-hot-sun friendly) and unskinned red potatoes, but whatever you prefer!

Every good beach picnic needs a sweet ending —and since we’re on the Cape, what could be a more fitting dessert than a cranberry cobbler? While delicious on its own, I’m sure it would be even tastier served warm with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream.
And, finally, no menu for A Summer to Remember would be complete without a tall glass—or maybe even a pitcher?—of the Stardust Film Festival’s signature drink: the Stardust Margarita. Gold tequila, lime juice, and Blue Curacao are blended to a stunning galaxy blue, topped with ginger ale, and garnished with a kick of heat from serrano peppers (optional, of course!). It’s the perfect way to feel the magic and sparkle of the movies with the refreshing fizz of a warm ocean breeze.

-Erika Montgomery
A PICNIC AT THE BEACH
*Crab Balls

*Potato Salad

*Cranberry Cobbler

*Stardust Margarita
FOR YOUR BOOK CLUB:
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