Heart-warming! The type of book that will leave you feeling uplifted with a full-heart!

This book is one of those warm, cathartic reads where I felt that I experienced all of the ups and downs with the characters as I read. By the end, I had the warm-fuzzies. A truly great feel-good read that is perfect to escape life for a bit and unwind, whether on vacation or a staycation!

The opening chapters are full of quiet heartbreak. Lily Bishop wakes up one morning to find a note from her husband and divorce papers. In some ways, she feels like she always knew this is how they’d end. And yet, that doesn’t fix the shock, the sadness, and the memory that their final embrace was in retrospect, a goodbye. She just didn’t know it yet.

But despite the hard moments, this is also a book that felt fully like a story about healing. I found it so cathartic to read, from watching Rose and Lily form a friendship, and watching Lily find her way through a new life now that she had been suddenly released from the life she thought she knew and wanted. Through the hard times, I felt that Lily found something much more valuable and fulfilling, even if it wasn’t the life she imagined for herself.

Both Rose and Lily are compelling characters, and their stories are so seamlessly intertwined. Rose is more reserved and distant than Lily, but they compliment one another in an unexpected way. They felt like the exact person that the other needed to pull them through the trials they are facing.
And of course, there is a romance. It is the sweet kind of butterflies-in-your-stomach romance that just made me happy to read about. It felt like it was happening to me! This is the sort of story that could be called predictable, but also carried the lesson that when love is right, it can be easy. It can just simply make sense. The contrast between Lily’s relationships were so striking and that made the love story so satisfying!

A beautiful story with characters you will not want to leave behind, and uplifting themes of forgiveness, healing, and second chances. A lovely book that lifted my spirits!

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for my copy. Opinions are my own.

What a fun book! Just the thing I needed. A huge fan of Lauren K. Denton and have enjoyed all her books. THE SUMMER HOUSE was another favorite. Makes you want to grab a swing on a front porch for the day of reading.

A perfect escape from the madness, full of Southern charm, and a cast of relatable characters. It is never too to start over, no matter the age. I purchased the audiobook narrated by Devon Oday for an award-winning performance. Fans of Mary Kay Andrews will enjoy this one! Heart, humor, sass, and a lot of laughs. A full review coming!

I love Lauren Denton’s book and The Summer House was no exception. If you are looking for an escape from the current situation you have your book! Lauren’s books are Southern and her characters are people you really wish existed.

Check out the full review at Kritters Ramblings

Lily finds herself in a small town in Alabama and has given up everything to follow her husband for his job. When in the first few pages he leaves her in the worst way (no spoilers!) and she must make some big life decisions and fast. Rose has lived the majority of her adult life in a community built for retired living and she has been running it without being a part of the community and just maybe she should drop her rough exterior and be a part of a community!

Sweet story and a nice, quick weekend read.

I love Laura Denton's stories. They are full of beautiful scenery and endearing characters. In this story we meet Lily and Rose. Both at different places in their life, but both learning from each other and from the other women in their community. I will say, these characters were just a little harder to connect with, and even a little unlikable, at first, but by the end they both found a way into my heart.