“It’s one of those special places where you feel like time doesn’t exist. Where it will always be summer, where I’ll always wake up with you.” – 3/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: wedding festivities, meditation sessions, old videos, donuts, Instagram posts, #HoorayShesADupree hashtags, delicious pies, assassins, trophies, and plenty of Taylor Swift references.

Meredith Fox has been going to Martha’s Vineyard for the summer as long as she can remember. But this summer is the first one back since the death of Meredith’s sister. It will all be overwhelming, but even more since since the entire extended family will be together for her cousin’s big wedding.

Unfortunately, Meredith’s longtime boyfriend unexpectedly dumped her two weeks before the wedding, leaving her dateless. Luckily, she has the perfect distraction. Her family has a tradition of playing the ultimate game of Assassin every summer, and this year it will take place during the week of wedding festivities.

But her target just happens to be a very cute groomsman. She’s determined to not let herself get distracted, not let herself be lost in another doomed relationship. But as the week progresses, she can’t help falling for him, which may cost her not only the game, but also her heart.

Meredith’s family’s annual game of assassin at Martha’s Vineyard during a summer wedding is the perfect chance to honor her sister’s legacy, and finally join the world again. But when she forms an alliance with a cute groomsman, she’s at risk of losing both the game… and her heart.

Oh boy, this was… an interesting reading experience. I was a little conflicted with my feelings on this book, but now that I gathered my thoughts, let me tell you all about them!
Let’s start with the big romance in this book. Well, it was not my favorite because it was too “insta lovey” for my standards. The entire book happens in one week, and the main character Meredith spends most of the nights in the bed of someone she met at the beginning of the week. Yup, they lived a full-on deep romance… in a week. Call me old-fashioned, but this kind of romance is not my cup of tea. (Spoiler alert) Oh, and did I mention that after that single week, she decided to go to New Zealand with him? I wish I was joking! (end of spoiler) With that said, I did like Wit as a character and love interest – probably a little more than the main character Meredith if I’m being honest.
Now we have to talk about that silly game they played. What I think it’s the most unbelievable thing about it is that if this had happened in real life, I’m sure almost no adult would play. I’m sure that some cool uncle would still want to play with the kids, but all the adults want to play an assassin game? For a whole week? 24/7? That to me is too unbelievable – or maybe I come from a family that is not fun, idk. 🙂 Meredith wanted to play it and win it for her sister, and that I understand – but having every single person of the family being so into it and making such a big deal out of it… I thought it was silly.
What I did like about this book, is in regards to the family dynamics. Having everyone gathered to spend a summer week together and celebrate a wedding was one of the best parts of this book for me. I love to read about big families and everybody getting along and spending time together, so this was a treat! I just wish the focus wasn’t so much on the game, but more on things like meals together and group activities.
I was conflicted with my rating because I was unsure about what I felt about this book. I’m not a fan of “insta love” romances or the game they played in the book, and since those are the biggest parts of the book, that would mean this was mostly a negative experience, right? But at the same time, I liked the sibling story and how their entire family was gathered for a wedding week and spent time together. Ultimately, I decided I would give this a 3 out of 5 star rating instead of a negative rating. With that said, I’m not sure I would recommend this book because I feel like the book’s focus on the game the characters were playing is something that some people may not enjoy in a beach read. But to each their own!