A story of mothers, daughters, secrets, and second chances… with a soundtrack to match.
“Where You Lead” – Carole King (Gilmore Girls Theme)
Big Gilmore Girls energy lives at the heart of Summer on Lilac Island — quirky townsfolk, mother-daughter bonds, and the tug between staying and leaving. This theme song sets the tone for the entire book.
“august” – Taylor Swift
A dreamy, wistful anthem for a summer that’s fleeting. Just like Gigi’s return to the island, this song carries that bittersweet tension of something beautiful that can’t last forever.
“It Ends Tonight” – The All-American Rejects
A dose of early 2000s pop-punk nostalgia for Gigi’s rebellious, misunderstood teen years. This track plays like the soundtrack to her grudging homecoming — fists clenched, eyeliner smudged, past unresolved.
“betty” – Taylor Swift
The story of a friendship gone sideways — and the hope of redemption. Gigi must confront an old friend she once hurt, only to uncover layers of love and grief she didn’t know were still there.
“Runaways” – Betty Who
An anthem for the black sheep who dared to leave. Gigi was the girl who fled her hometown with fire in her chest. Now she’s back, and the question is: can she stay?
A heart-warming escape about mother-daughter relationships, small-town dating, and all that guides us home.
Broke and newly unemployed, Gigi Jenkins is heading home to the horse-and-buggy Mackinac Island that she once couldn't wait to leave behind. She's going to be spending the summer with her mother, and she's not sure what that close proximity will do to their already fraught relationship. Almost immediately, they find themselves in a battle of wills, and they agree to play matchmaker for each other. Both women are certain that the other couldn't possibly understand them, so surely these potential connections will fizzle out before they even begin.
Misunderstandings, interference, and near-misses are skillfully wielded. Gigi and James circle each other through the curse of small-town encounters--cornhole tournaments, church fundraisers, and lakeside run-ins--and a fresh nemesis-to-lovers plot plays out. Meanwhile, Eloise feels sparks for the resident-for-the-summer Scottish author that she never thought she'd feel again.
But the greatest love story of the summer is the one between Gigi and her mother, Eloise. As they navigate the world as two single women, staying up late to wait for each other to get home from dates and helping each other pick out outfits and draft texts to their respective suitors, their strained relationship starts to heal as they transition from mother-daughter to confidantes and friends.
With achingly deferred romantic tension and a captivating constellation of characters, Lindsay MacMillan shows it's never too late to change perceptions and reach your hard-won happily ever after.
Women's Fiction Contemporary [Harper Muse, On Sale: July 1, 2025, Paperback / e-Book , ISBN: 9781400348077 / eISBN: 9781400348084]
Lindsay MacMillan is a writer, businesswoman, and hopelessly hopeful romantic. After growing up in Michigan in the land of cows, cornfields, and kindness, she graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College. She was formerly a vice president at Goldman Sachs and has worked in both New York City and London.
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