On Fire Island Paperback – May 23, 2023

This book has it all. It was, at turns, poignant, bittersweet, joyful, funny and hopeful. I found myself fully invested in each of the characters and their stories - most especially Julia & Ben’s, Matty’s and Shep’s. I didn't want the book to end! That’s why the epilogue was such a gift - I NEEDED to know how Ben and the rest of his FI family fared after that first Summer without Julia.Adding to my enjoyment was Ms. Rosen’s spot-on depiction of the FI vibe. Having been born and raised on Long Island, I’ve spent many a day trip or weekend at FI - most often at Sailor’s Haven marina (home of the Sunken Forest) from which my friends and I would walk to “The Grove” to have a Pina Colada or a Rocket Fuel at Cherries - often sticking around till the sun set and the dancing began - so many fun memories!Long story short, this book was excellent; a fantastic summertime (or really anytime) read! Highly recommend!

The narrator, Julia, is dead from the very beginning. She tells of the deep love she had with her husband Ben. While this is a love story it’s about two brilliant adults, not young love. The characters are delightful to get to know.

Fun Summer read

I loved the way the story progressed. The author developed theCharacters personalities is slowly but it all came together at the end. It was sad but not sad.

I've only started reading and finding missing/blank pages and frustrating to read since I'm coming into the middle of the story. For $10.99 I want a complete book. I will be contacting Amazon to report this.

I know some of you will stop right now when I tell you the main character of Jane L. Rosen’s novel, On Fire Island, died of cancer. That’s not a spoiler. Julia Morse is the narrator of the book, and she starts the story at her funeral. But, cancer will be a trigger for some readers, so I wanted to get it out of the way immediately.Julia Morse was a book editor, and she landed the author she always wanted, Benjamin Morse. She read his first manuscript, but didn’t have the clout to get her oily boss to buy it. When she finally met Ben, they were both shy, but she privately fangirled over him. They eloped to avoid her mother’s plans for a big wedding, and they were married almost ten years when she died.Julia knew Ben would be lost. He agreed to sit shiva for seven days, but he couldn’t even handle the crowds at their house, and he took their dog and escaped. Julia knew where he was heading, and she wanted one last summer at Bay Harbor on Fire Island. So, like Ben, she caught the ferry. No one expects to die at thirty-seven. A summer of Fire Island will give her one last season with the people she loves.Julia recounts her love of the island. Now, she can observe Ben as he mourns, her best friend, Renee, after the brutal breakup of her marriage, and two teenagers experiencing summer love. Then, there’s Shep, the eighty-year-old man from across the street who has moved into Ben and Julia’s house, mourning his own wife. He’s one step ahead of Ben, and together they get through every day, sometimes with music and laughter, sometimes drowning their tears. Julia tells of a small community where everyone knows each other, roots for the local baseball team, shops at the only market in town. The gossip isn’t a secret, but people can choose to laugh at it, or cry.Although the narrator is dead, On Fire Island is actually just a summer beach read with a few losses, disappointments, and successes. There’s also several hilarious scenes. It’s a story of mourning, and learning to get on with life despite loss. It’s obvious the author shares her love of a community and an island, and shares a few secrets with her readers. If you can move beyond Julia’s death (Julia does), it’s an enjoyable beach read.

I could not put this book down. I enjoyed it so much I bought a copy for my daughter. I highly recommend this book to anyone that has lost a loved one. The characters are well rounded. I laughed out loud, and cried throughout the story. The ending was satisfying. (I was tempted while reading several different chapters, to cheat and skip to the final chapter to see how Julia Morse, aka MC, would conclude her "one last summer." I loved it.

I have never read anything by this author but reading a description a few months ago, it caught my interest and I preordered it. Coming off of a military thriller , I decided I needed a change of pace and started this the day it showed up on my Kindle. What a read . I could not put it down, I fell in love with the characters, their stories, laughed out loud more than once and shed a few tears along the way.Highly recommended.Honestly the premise itself has been done before, but of the ones I’ve read , this is at the top of the list to be recommended.