This is an uplifting and heartwarming story, a perfect summer read that makes you travel to a lovely place and meet interesting characters.
But it’s also full of food for thought as the characters are faced with choices and how to move on and accepting that the reality can be different from the narrative you choose.
My impression is that at the heart of the story there are some important themes: learning to communicate and understand what the other are telling and why they made some choices, learning to live and accepting risks, the need to belong somewhere and that’s the most important place.
The author did a good job in developing the characters and they are realistic, relatable and likable.
But somehow they seem unable to communicate or understand the others. There’s plenty of emotional baggage and unhappiness till they are able to talk to each other and tell what’s really going on.
Caroline is the main example, as she’s suffering from things that happened in the past and she’s playing safe as she doesn’t want to be hurt again. But she’s also stuck in a situation which is not making her happy and risking hurting her relationship with Lee, her daughter, because of her assumptions.
The moment she talks about her baggage and what she really wants, the moment she really listens to her daughter is the also the moment when she finds a way to a better future.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story and I’m thinking of reading the other Lake Summer stories as I want to learn more about the characters.
The author is an excellent storyteller and the plot flows keeping you turning pages.
I was happy to travel to Lake Summer and meet these characters.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine