The Summer We Sailed Away (The Destin Diaries Book 7)

Seven summers. Two families. One beach house. And a diary that holds all the secrets.

What began as a brief reunion of two families at the renovated Summer House has become something far more complicated and meaningful than anyone expected. And now they must weather one last storm.

Just as the Lawsons and the Wylies begin to feel anchored again, a hurricane on the horizon threatens their home and happiness. As tensions rise and difficult choices loom, they are forced to test the bonds they’ve spent the summer rebuilding.

Amid shifting tides and long-overdue truths, relationships deepen, forgiveness takes root, and new dreams begin to form. The close families must either sail away from each other or set course for a new destination and take the journey together.

The Destin Diaries -- A heartwarming family saga co-written by bestselling women's fiction authors Hope Holloway and Cecelia Scott.

The Summer We Met (Book 1)
The Summer We Danced (Book 2)
The Summer We Made Promises (Book 3)
The Summer We Kept Secrets (Book 4)
The Summer We Let Go (Book 5)
The Summer We Celebrated (Book 6)
The Summer We Sailed Away (Book 7)

Hope Holloway is an author of charming, heartwarming fiction featuring unforgettable families and friends and the emotional challenges they conquer. After a career in marketing, Hope followed her lifelong dream to become a novelist.

She launched her women's fiction writing career with The Coconut Key Series, set on the sun-washed beaches of the Florida Keys. She writes about women who get second chances at life and love, families that are wonderfully entangled, and places where readers can lose themselves...and still feel at home.

A mother of two adult children, Hope and her husband of thirty years live in Florida. When not writing, she can be found walking the beach with her two rescue dogs, who beg her to include animals in every book. Visit her site and sign up for her newsletter: www.hopeholloway.com

The Summer We Sailed Away by bestselling women's fiction authors Hope Holloway and Cecelia Scott is the emotionally resonant and highly anticipated seventh book in the beloved Destin Diaries series. Returning to the pristine white sands and emerald waters of Destin, Florida, this final installment serves as a beautiful culmination of a heartwarming family saga that explores the enduring power of second chances, the complexities of lifelong friendships, and the deeply rooted bonds of family. Blending poignant emotional drama with the comforting warmth of a quintessential beach read, the authors deliver a satisfying conclusion that tests everything the characters have fought so hard to rebuild. The story centers on the intertwined lives of two families, the Lawsons and the Wylies, who have spent an unforgettable summer healing old wounds, and now face one ultimate challenge that will determine their shared future.

To truly understand the emotional weight of this final chapter, one must look at the rich history these two families share. Thirty years prior, the Lawsons and the Wylies spent seven magical, sun-soaked summers vacationing together in a shared beach house. Those formative months were filled with laughter, coming-of-age milestones, and deep connections, until a mysterious and painful falling out abruptly ended their shared traditions and left the families estranged for decades. It was only recently, when the now-adult children—navigating the complexities of their forties and fifties—were unexpectedly brought back together at the newly renovated and expanded Summer House, that the healing process began. Their reunion was sparked by the discovery of long-lost diaries that chronicled those teenage summers, forcing them to confront the painful truths of their past. Over the course of the previous books, characters like Tessa, Vivien, Lacey, Maggie, and Jo Ellen embarked on profound personal transformations, navigating rekindled romances, the mending of shattered sisterhoods, and the messy, beautiful reality of forgiveness.

As The Summer We Sailed Away opens, the summer is drawing to a close, and what initially began as a brief, tentative reunion has blossomed into something far more complicated and meaningful than anyone could have anticipated. The beach house has once again become a sanctuary of love, laughter, and shared memories. The Lawsons and the Wylies have worked tirelessly to mend their fractured relationships, and for the first time in decades, they finally feel anchored. The ghosts of the past have largely been put to rest, and the families are looking toward the future with a renewed sense of hope and unity. However, just as they begin to settle into this hard-won peace, a literal and metaphorical storm appears on the horizon. A massive, destructive hurricane is brewing off the coast, threatening to demolish the beloved Summer House and the fragile happiness they have cultivated within its walls.

The impending hurricane serves as the central catalyst for the novel, acting as a high-stakes crucible that puts every relationship to the ultimate test. As the skies darken and the reality of the threat sets in, tensions inevitably rise and difficult choices loom overhead. The families are forced to test the bonds they have spent the entire summer meticulously rebuilding. The looming natural disaster strips away any lingering pretenses, forcing the characters into a state of raw vulnerability. The physical preparation for the hurricane mirrors their internal struggles, as they frantically try to board up the emotional vulnerabilities they have yet to fully address.

Forced into close quarters as they weather the terrifying storm, the families experience a final reckoning. The intense pressure of the situation acts as a pressure cooker, bringing the last few long-overdue truths to the surface. Conversations that have been avoided out of fear or a desire to maintain the peace can no longer be ignored. Amidst the shifting tides, relationships deepen in profound ways, and forgiveness finally takes root. The authors masterfully use the backdrop of the hurricane to illustrate the characters' internal tempests. It is in the darkest, most frightening hours of the storm that they are able to let go of the residual anger and hurt that they have been carrying for over thirty years, allowing new dreams to begin to form.

As the storm eventually passes and the skies begin to clear, the Lawsons and the Wylies emerge forever changed. The hurricane forces them to realize that a home is not just a physical structure made of wood and nails, but rather the people who inhabit it. They are presented with a final, poignant choice: they must either let the devastation of the storm and the revelations of the past cause them to sail away from each other for good, or they must choose to set a new course together, taking the journey forward as one united family. The Summer We Sailed Away delivers a deeply satisfying and uplifting conclusion to the series, proving that while life’s storms are inevitable, they are infinitely easier to weather when you are surrounded by the people who love you unconditionally.