TLC Book Tours Book Review: Up At Butternut Lake

Author: Mary McNear
Title: Up At Butternut Lake
Publisher: William Morrow
Publish Date: April 8, 2014
Buy: Amazon

Review Copy Provided By: TLC Book Tours 
Book Blurb: 

It's summer, and after ten years away, Allie Beckett has returned to her family's cabin beside tranquil Butternut Lake, where as a teenager she spent so many carefree days. She's promised her five-year-old son, Wyatt, they will be happy there. She's promised herself this is the place to begin again after her husband's death in Afghanistan. The cabin holds so many wonderful memories, but from the moment she crosses its threshold Allie is seized with doubts. Has she done the right thing uprooting her little boy from the only home he's ever known?

Allie and her son are embraced by the townsfolk, and her reunions with old acquaintances—her friend Jax, now a young mother of three with one more on the way, and Caroline, the owner of the local coffee shop—are joyous ones. And then there are newcomers like Walker Ford, who mostly keeps to himself—until he takes a shine to Wyatt . . . and to Allie.

Everyone knows that moving forward is never easy, and as the long, lazy days of summer take hold, Allie must learn to unlock the hidden longings of her heart, and to accept that in order to face the future she must also confront—and understand—what has come before.

Review:  There are some books that just scream, "Take me to the beach and read me!" This is definitely one of those books. (I wish I had a beach to go to with this book).

Mary McNear has created a wonderful town with Butternut Lake. Like Robyn Carr and Debbie Macomber, her small town draws you in and makes you want to stay there. As I read about Allie's cabin, I could easily visualize it. I wanted to get on a boat and sail. I wouldn't mind meeting the hunky Walker Ford. either.

There are so many great characters here, Allie's son Wyatt is one of them. He's so precious. You want to reach through the pages and squeeze him.

I liked how Allie's relationship with Walker develops slowly. Her grieving process over her husband is often a little hard to understand, not the why of it, but the way she is running away to grieve and really pushing away people that want to help.

Mary keeps things clean in this book. Yes, there's sex, but it isn't over the top between Allie and Walker and that fits with the type of story that's going on here. Spicy sex scenes wouldn't work here.

There are some other characters you meet here as well, Caroline who runs the coffee shop and Jax, an old school friend of Allie's that has a secret that's ready to come out.

Both women have unique pasts and you really want to get to know them as well as Allie, and you hope for the best with them too.

This is book that I simply couldn't put down, once I started it. I can't wait for the next book!

Rating: 5 flowers