Review by Booklist Review
Charley Hempstead is at loose ends when her talk show is cancelled, but she soon finds purpose in caring for her sister. Meg, who has breast cancer, has a final wish: to spend one more summer on Lake Waseka, Minnesota, with their cousins, something they haven't done since the fateful summer their youngest sister drowned. Krista is the first cousin to arrive, on a bus fresh from prison. Hope is less enthusiastic about leaving her tony Philadelphia neighborhood but is enticed west by the prospect of securing her inheritance. Charley isn't sure anything can fix her relationship with her mother, Louise, nor the relationship between Louise and her sister, Jo. Far more happened that summer than the tragic accident on the lake, and Louise wants to keep it buried. This novel of sisters and secrets has a pleasant setting, a leisurely pace, and a sweet story line for Krista that will please fans of Carr's Virgin River series. Themes of responsibility, forgiveness, and the agony and ecstasy of female relatives will appeal to readers of Debbie Macomber and Susan Wiggs.--Maguire, Susan Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Multiple RITA Award winner Carr ("Virgin River" series) continues to explore the connections that women build with one another in her latest stand-alone novel. Not as romantic as some of her other titles, Carr's latest instead narrows in on the tangled and intimate bonds of three generations of women in a large family, especially the circumstances that can make or break the strongest relationships. With an abundance of female characters-two sisters marry two brothers and each of the sisters has three daughters (double cousins)-and motivations, the many plotlines, mysteries, and time jumps can be a bit confusing, but the main focus is on family and the last summer they were all together, the one summer at their shared lake house where everything changed. That is the pivot that eventually pulls the threads together into a compelling and deeply satisfying conclusion. Verdict Multiple time lines and points of view, along with a cast of many women, can make this difficult to follow, but readers who enjoy piecing together complex family stories with realistically flawed characters should enjoy this. [See Prepub Alert, 4/10/17.]-Charli Osborne, Oak Park P.L., MI © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A family in crisis returns to the lake house where, years ago, an unexpected tragedy tore them apart.When the Hempstead sisters decide to spend the summer together in Lake Waseka, Minnesota, Charley has just lost her job as a daytime television host, Meg has stage 4 breast cancer, and they both need a break from their worried partners. But their mother, Louise, has forbidden them from using the house ever since the summer their youngest sister, Bunny, drowned at the same time Charley, then a teenager, found out she was pregnant. Meg's dying wish for a family reunion inspires Charley to enlist the help of her Aunt Jo and her cousins Hope, Beverly, and Krista to get Louise to change her mind. Jo's family also fell apart when Bunny died, and though time hasn't healed everythingHope is struggling to cope with her divorce, Krista is in prison, and Beverly has kept her distance after leaving the family for foster careeveryone is hoping for a fresh start. With so many mothers, daughters, sisters, and cousins to track (not to mention their husbands and boyfriends), there are many sides to each story and no shortage of drama as the women confront their past. The summer flies by as old wounds are healed, new alliances are formed, and lives are changed forever. It sounds like a nightmare of a family vacation, but with strong relationship dynamics, juicy secrets, and a heartwarming ending, it's a blissful beach read. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
