July 2026

I love the Winthrop Island books by Beatriz Williams. With WHEN YOU LOVED ME, she shares a multilayered story that combines historical fiction, mystery, romance and family drama. This series has allowed Beatriz to build a rich, interconnected world where characters evolve across multiple books.

Here we meet Lucy Cooper, whose father, Bud, has died recently. He had lived his whole life on Winthrop Island. For years, he sought to find a legendary pirate treasure, which was rumored to have been buried somewhere on the island more than a century ago. In doing so, he had mortgaged the house and his savings. So Lucy has come home with her precocious young daughter, Elise, to settle his estate, and she finds a huge pile of debt.

Lucy already has felt a huge loss in her life when her partner, Elise's father, was murdered in France. She is at odds here since Winthrop was part of her past until she turned 18, but she has not been back. Her mother, who divorced her father a couple of marriages ago, is living abroad and is not much of a support to her.

When Lucy summered on the island, her best friend was Laura Peabody, who lived next door. They were inseparable until a boy on the island, Ben Ressler, caused a rift between them. Laura wanted nothing more than to be Ben's girlfriend, but alas his eyes were on Lucy. 

But now Ben is back as well. And he is hiding from a terrible accident on the football field, which serves as the book’s opener and sets the tone for a very broken Ben, who is not sure where his life is headed. (In her Author's Note, Beatriz shares the personal background on her football experience at Stanford, which directly inspired the character of Ben.)

A story about the original inhabitants is woven in as there are excerpts from “The Great Snow: A Romance” with the original Winthrops. This gives readers clues as to what the island was like before these big homes were built, as well as the drive and pluckiness of the ancestors who endured a harsh winter. This is just one of the novel’s many threads. 

Then factor in the numerous questions about Bud's death. Was it suicide? What really happened? You see why this book is multilayered, but it is so deftly done that it will keep you reading. It's definitely one to lounge with on the beach as the pages will fly by. 

For those who enjoy audiobooks, the multicast recording of this one is well done.