New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Mary McNear brings you home to Butternut Lake and a novel filled with irresistible characters who you will want to call your friends.It’s summertime on Butternut Lake, where the heat of noon is soothed by the cool breezes of the evening, where the pace grows slower, and sometimes, just sometimes, the summer light makes everything clearer…For the … makes everything clearer…
For the lovely Billy Harper, Butternut Lake is the place she feels most at home, even though lately she feels the only one listening to her is Murphy…her faithful Labrador Retriever. Her teenage son, Luke, has gone from precious to precocious practically overnight. Her friends are wrapped up in their own lives, and Luke’s father, Wesley, disappeared before his son was even born. No wonder she prefers to spend time with a good book, especially ones where everything ends in perfection.
But Billy is about to learn that anything is possible during the heady days of summer. Coming to terms with her past—the death of her father, the arrival of Cal Cooper, a complicated man with a definite interest in Billy, even the return of Wesley, will force her to have a little bit of faith in herself and others…and realize that happiness doesn’t always mean perfection.
“Butternut Lake is so beautifully rendered, you’ll wish it was real.”—Susan Wiggs, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“This triumphant story had me reading until the wee hours of the morning.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber on The Space Between Sisters
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This was a great story of family and love. I can’t wait to read more from this author.
Lovely Story about the angst of parenting an adolescent. Kudos to all parents trying their best to be a strong loving parent.
I love all the Butternut Lake books! Didn’t disappoint
Interesting weaving of two plots that ran concurrently with no real conclusion but significant character growth that was pretty believable. Great easy beach day read!
Coming from Minnesota I love this author and her stories. It brings me back home….
Enjoyable light reading
You cannot ask for anything more. I could not put this book down.
Like the heroine in this story, Billy, I am a huge fan of Jane Austen and could read her books over and over. I also (surprise, surprise) love being surrounded by books. So, of course, I took an instant liking to Billy. Her fear of being without a book and the destruction of books, it was like she was my spirit animal.
Cal, the hero, was also easy to like. In fact, I couldn’t reconcile the Seattle Cal, that we saw bits and pieces of, with the Butternut Cal. I think that was the point. Cal had to find himself again…I believe he even said something about a “reset”. What better place to do that than returning to your childhood summer home?
Since Cal is Allie’s brother, things circled back around to some of the original favorites like Up at Butternut Lake that the last book, The Space Between Sisters, had veered away from a bit. They’re mostly on the periphery, but it’s always good to get a bit caught up with the lives of the original characters.
Billy is going through what a lot of parents go through when their kids start getting into their teens, whether they are single parents or not. On top of the usual fears and doubts, she has the added burden of deciding if her son should meet his biological father, who doesn’t even know he exists. Where you can’t fault Billy for not telling the father initially (there’s a logical and good explanation to this), it gets sticky with where their lives are now and the information she now has available. As much as Billy agonized over this decision, I felt myself waffling on what I felt was the right choice, too. The author really had me empathizing with all of the characters and wanting to somehow help them.
Most of this story is a back and forth on Billy’s and Cal’s point of view. We also get a glimpse into Billy’s son, Luke, though. And that really helps to humanize him and not just keep him as this annoying kid who is getting into trouble out of spite.
It’s been a while since I’ve read this series and I’m glad something caught my eye to get me to circle back around to it. Not only was it a great read, but I see there’s another book in the series coming out soon that sounds quite interesting.
https://allingoodtimeblog.wordpress.com/2018/07/17/the-light-in-summer-book-review/