Publication Date: July 7, 2026
In this moving novel about the transformative power of storytelling, three women make life-changing decisions set in motion by the 1967 Summer of Love in San Francisco, from the USA Today bestselling author of The Paris Bookseller.
It’s the summer of 1967 and the counterculture revolution is in full swing in San Francisco. Every street is alive with the music of Jim Morrison and Dionne Warwick, and in view of the Golden Gate bridge young people come together, waving anti-war signs and shouting for equal rights. No one is more into the messages of love and peace than Winnie Hartley who has just graduated from UC Berkeley determined to use poetry to capture the ever-shifting world around her. When she reconnects with her high school boyfriend, an aspiring musician, their creative bond further fuels her work, and it feels like her life is finally taking off.
Meanwhile, miles up the winding coast, her sister Miranda stays close to home, throwing herself into running the family business, Hartley Vineyard. She’s determined to make California wine that rivals French. But change is in the air this wild and heady summer, and each sister will make choices that set their lives hurdling down paths neither would have imagined.
Fifty years later, Dawn Hartley stays as far as possible from her family’s famous vineyard, until a work assignment requires her to research the bestselling Vineland novels penned by a famously anonymous author. Determined to discover the identity of this mysterious writer—who seems to know things no one should about her family—Dawn embarks on a soul-searching journey along the windswept coast of California to uncover her family’s secrets even as she’s keeping a big one of her own.
Summer of Love by Kerri Maher is a dual-timeline story that begins in the present, in 2015. Dawn is trying to be alcohol-free, and her mother, Miranda, one of the co-owners of the family vineyard, has no idea she’s an alcoholic. The past begins in 1967 and comes full circle in 2015, and their past often contradicts their present.
The story is told by the three main female characters of Dawn, Miranda, and her sister Winnie, and we get to see their lives from their perspectives. This is a very emotional read, relating to drug and alcohol abuse, and the importance of various arts, along with vivid descriptions, both scenic and of the various activities and locations.
There is a depth to the characters as well as the story. There are genuine reflections of their lives and various interactions with others. We read about some who hit rock bottom until they straighten out their lives and make a success of it. We see their support systems and how their actions affect themselves and others.
Some of the stories felt a little disjointed, but there are twists and turns, numerous surprises, and unexpected events for each character. There is closure and some happily-ever-afters, and the last chapter, told by Dawn, was more of an epilogue that tied up many of the loose ends.
Summer of Love is set in California during turbulent times when drugs and alcohol were abused, and everyone needed to find themselves.  What they found along the way was often heartbreaking and emotional.
Kerri Maher is the USA Today and #1 international bestselling author of The Paris Bookseller, All You Have To Do is Call, The Kennedy Debutante, and The Girl in White Gloves. She is also the author of This Is Not A Writing Manual: Notes for the Young Writer in the Real World under the name Kerri Majors. She holds an MFA from Columbia University and founded YARN, an award-winning literary journal of short-form YA writing.
