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"Hey Smitterners- Welcome to week two of Glamour&amp;amp;#8217;s summer reading extravaganza. Hope you all had a great holiday weekend curled up in a hammock or lawn chair or maybe behind the counter of the local Dairy Queen (a girl&amp;amp;#8217;s gotta work) enjoying last week&amp;amp;#8217;s pick. I can&amp;amp;#8217;t wait to unveil our next book&amp;amp;#133;and like I promised, it&amp;amp;#8217;s straight-up beach-style fiction. And by beach book I mean, it combines all the very best elements of chick-lit (memorable yet flawed female characters, lots of relationship drama, terrific descriptions of everything from cocktails to cocktail dresses), with the sexy and the sandy. So for those of you who love a real juicy, tawdry, epic (and really, who doesn&amp;#x27;t?), here&amp;amp;#8217;s this week&amp;amp;#8217;s pick: The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand. What to expect The lives of four couples are upended when the most charismatic pair drowns during what was supposed to be a romantic sailing trip to Martha&amp;amp;#8217;s Vineyard. Now, during one tumultuous summer, all of their friendships are put to the test, as the truths about their intertwined affairs, alliances, and betrayals are slowly revealed. There&amp;amp;#8217;s a police chief, a party girl, a grieving drug-addict, a wealthy philanderer&amp;amp;#133;each character is as interesting as the next. Why you&amp;amp;#8217;ll like it Some of you may already be fans of Hilderbrand , who has written several bestselling novels all based on the island of Nantucket, where she lives full time with her family. Her stories really capture island life and all the intrigue that occurs when people live so closely together, surrounded by water. And her characters are so real&amp;amp;#8212;you will love them, curse them, but most importantly, recognize them. So what&amp;amp;#8217;s your all time favorite beach read? The one that&amp;amp;#8217;s so good, you don&amp;amp;#8217;t even notice the life guard with a strong resemblance to Rob Pattinson (albeit, with a tan)? I will tell you mine: Nelson DeMille&amp;amp;#8217;s The Gold Coast. I actually fought with my mother over this book one summer vacation&amp;amp;#8212;we each took turns reading a chapter and sometimes she cheated and read two in a row! It&amp;amp;#8217;s a classic. So enjoy Castaways and let me know what you think! See you next week. Get Glamour Wherever You Go! Follow us on Twitter. Friend us on Facebook. Add us to your Google homepage. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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