A Better Book Club - The Summer of Broken Rules

The Summer of Broken Rules

By K.L. Walther

Amazon / B&N / IndieBound

A sweet summer romance by the seaside -- what's not to love? This novel contains copious references to real establishments in Martha's Vineyard, so those of us outside of the summer colony will just have to make or find our own versions of Mad Martha's ice cream and Home Port's lobster guacamole. Get creative in your kitchen or find a local business to satiate your sweet tooth and seafood cravings. Enjoy! -Abby

Book Club Discussion Questions

Martha's Vineyard Vibes

Color Scheme:

Turquoise, gold, pink, and orange

"Wit glanced up, turquoise eyes bright in the sunlight, their impossibly gold rings gleaming.""The three of us had our arms around each other with the pink-and-orange sunset in the background (a pink lemonade sunset, Claire would have called it)."

Activities:

Play water-gun Assassin

"Every summer, we played a Farm-wide game of Assassin, where players used water guns to eliminate one another and become the last active killer. Each person was assigned an initial target, and when they successfully 'took care of' said target, they inherited their victim's."

Play yard games

"My pulse pounded when I heard them in the backyard. Bocce ball, I suspected, and I pressed myself up against the house's white clapboard siding to regroup.""She gestured to the front lawn where some guys had started up a game of cornhole."

Play classic board games

"While he wandered off to play Scrabble with Wink, Honey and a few Duprés, I found Pravika, Eli, Jake, and Luli setting up Monopoly on the screened-in porch.""None of us were very good chess players, but we had decided to give it yet another chance.""It wasn't a coincidence that he'd joined the Scrabble game, which was being played in the living room..."

Ambiance:

Light beachy/citrus candles

"The sheets and pillows smelled like the sea and citrus. 'Oranges,' I murmured."

Hang a #HURRAYSHESADUPRÉ banner (free printable!)

"The shirt was a transformed version of Sarah and Michael's wedding invitation--pastel blue with a lighthouse sketched on the front, and in the reflection in Wit's mirror, I made out #HURRAYSHESADUPRÉ on the back."

Sing and dance to Taylor Swift music

"Sarah had introduced us to Taylor Swift's early albums that summer, and there was this one song I played from dawn till dusk and even sang in the shower.""The Fearless album flashed through my mind. We'd sung every song so loud and off-key to scare away any skunks, raccoons, or foxes."

Decorate with wildflowers

"They wanted to recreate that first island date and keep everything as simple as possible--long oak farmhouse tables on the back brick terrace with linen table runners and vases of Morning Glory's wildflowers."

Party Favor:

Lobster straws, Jawsome shark koozie, or mini pool float drink holder

"Phoebe had a theory that when lobsters linked claws, it meant they'd fall in love and would mate for life. 'She's your lobster,' she always said to Ross about Rachel. It was iconic.""...I told him about driving out to Beach Road and jumping off the Jaws Bridge. It was the borderline between Edgartown and Oak Bluffs, but the landmark's true claim to fame was its appearance in the movie Jaws, which had been filmed on the Vineyard in the 1970s.""They were lounging in the pond's shallows on top of gigantic pool floats. One was a hot pink flamingo, another a swan, and the third a rainbow unicorn."

Menu Options

Breakfast Bonanza: (Try serving a selection in a breakfast finger food buffet!)

Homemade scrambled eggs and toast with blackberry jam

"My parents were already awake, eating scrambled eggs and toast with Honey's homemade blackberry jam at the small table in the sitting room."

Dock Street Coffee Shop's pancakes, home fries, bacon, and a Monte Cristo sandwich

"I ordered my usual, a stack or pancakes with home fries and bacon, but Wit couldn't decide between a sausage-egg-and-cheese and the Monte Cristo Sandwich."

Jeannie's fried green tomato eggs Benedict

"'I'm in a food coma from breakfast at Moor House. Jeannie made me her eggs Benedict. You know she adds fried green tomatoes and grilled red tomatoes?'"

Honey's tea and Aunt Julia's waffles

"'Honey has tea all ready for you,' my mom said. 'And Aunt Julia made extra waffles,' I told her.""There was hustle and bustle inside--I heard Aunt Julia say something to Ethan about too much whipped cream on his waffles..."

Clinton's Bagels

"'I must get back to Clinton and the bagel shop. They need to re-chain me to the register.'"

New England Seafood:

Quick Hole's Tavern clam chowder and truffle fries

"...three steaming cups of New England's magical concoction and a seemingly bottomless bowl of French fries dusted with parmesan cheese and parsley."

Atlantic's lobster guacamole

"Wit and I still hadn't exchanged numbers, so I'd messaged @sowitty17 and advised him to order the lobster guacamole as an appetizer. It was served in a stone mortar with the best tortilla chips."

Coop de Ville's fried clams, steamers, and chicken wings

"...my parents suggested we go to Coop de Ville. It was an open-air seafood shack in Oak Bluffs, famous for fried clams, steamers, and chicken wings."

Home Port's lobster clambake

"We both ordered the lobster clambake: freshly boiled lobster with steamers, corn on the cob, and baby potatoes."

New Orleans Seafood:

Crawdad macaroni and cheese and oyster Caesar salad

"Sarah kept speaking. 'So after inhaling her appetizer, the crawdad mac 'n' cheese--amazing--the oyster Caesar salad arrives, and I swear she didn't take a single bite. She pretended.'"

Jeannie's gumbo

"'Jeannie's gumbo is the best gumbo in New Orleans.'""The onions, peppers, celery, sausage, shrimp--a burst of fire in my mouth. Somehow I could taste the passion that had gone into cooking it."

Delightful Desserts: (Consider a dessert charcuterie board!)

Murdick's Fudge

"'So guess what,' Eli said once Pravika had admitted that working at Murdick's Fudge this summer had made her a total addict."

Aunt Christine's ice cream sandwiches

"Aunt Christine's famous ice cream sandwiches were waiting in one of the big Yeti coolers by the buffet table. I sighed at the sight of them: chocolate chip cookies the size of your hand with a huge scoop of ice cream in the middle. Chocolate, vanilla, mint chip, banana cream pie--anything and everything. … I grabbed one mint chip sandwich, a salted caramel, and a honey lavender..."

Morning Glory's pies topped with vanilla ice cream: blueberry, apple, peach, strawberry rhubarb

"Michael whistled when I surfaced with a whopping four pies: blueberry, apple peach, and of course, strawberry rhubarb."

Funfetti frosting (I prefer mine on a Funfetti cake, but you do you!)

"By the time we'd gotten back from dinner, my dad had indeed finished his Funfetti frosting and forgotten his bad blood with Wit, so we spent the last couple of hours hanging out with my parents."

Back Door Donuts

"Donuts. We ordered so many donuts. Boston cream, honey-dipped, coconut cream, maple bacon, apple fritters--we ordered them all."

Mad Martha's ice cream

"I smiled to myself. Pravika, Jake, and I had taken Mad Martha's orders a few weeks ago and had to race home so everyone's sundaes wouldn't melt."

Extra Food Inspiration!

Morning Glory Grocery Run

"'The zucchini bread is incredible,' I said, grabbing a loaf. 'So are the champagne grapes.' I dangled a bunch in front of Wit, the purple grapes so adorable tiny. 'Especially if you freeze them. They're the perfect beach snack.'"

"Our basket got heavier and heavier as Wit added ripe plums, raspberries, big bell peppers, tomatoes, and freshly squeezed orange juice. We soon needed another basket to hold two dozen ears of corn. Then we ordered sandwiches at the deli counter: turkey, cheddar, and sliced Granny Smith apple on sourdough bread."

Potluck at Wink and Honey's House

"Sarah was at the sink washing lettuce for a salad while Michael stood next to her chopping cucumbers. Wink and Aunt Julia were seasoning the steaks together down the counter. My mom had thrown herself into sprinkling basil on the tomato and mozzarella platter while Aunt Rachel checked on something in the oven. Sarah's younger brother, Ian, was mixing drinks at the table. He'd just turned twenty-one and apparently fancied himself a bartender."

"'This corn isn't going to husk itself!'"

If you enjoyed The Summer of Broken Rules, try If We Were Us!

K.L. Walther's author website

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