TLC Book Tours Book Review: The Light In Summer

About The Light in Summer

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (June 20, 2017)

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 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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Review: Mary McNear is an author that I'm starting to equate with summertime reads. If you haven't visited the lovely Butternut Lake series, you need to get started.

Butternut Lake reminds me a lot of Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove series. Mary writes characters that feel like they could be in your life.

This book features librarian Billy Harper and her son, Luke. She's a single mom and Luke is going through some tough times, going from being a good boy to one teetering on the brink of big trouble and he's only 13.

Then there's Cal Cooper, back in Butternut to sort out his life. He's filed for divorce and is planning on starting over. There's quite a bit of chemistry between him ad Billy from the start. His life before had been a little to perfect.

I love Billy's love for books. She's the kind of librarian that all readers wish they had at their own library. I loved her devotion of Jane Austen, even though I've never made it through one of her books and even more how kind she is to the patrons of the library especially the young little Mara, who is a bookworm after Billy's own heart

Luke made me want to bop him one really hard upside the head. I have to say, I would have got Rae's boyfriend Big Moe on him from the get go. This boy was obnoxious, though he did get a conscience about midway through the book. (I still wanted to slap him).

I liked how this book wasn't really a romance though there is a budding relationship happening. It was really about Billy and Luke, though most of his story was a bit frustrating. I can understand his wanting to know more about his father, but that didn't excuse his behavior and everything wrapped up so nicely with no conflict between any of the characters.

Cal was really the character you had to love. He's a fabulous hero, even though he didn't get enough pages in this book, but when he was there, he was perfect. He was the kind of guy everyone wants in their lives

That's actually why Mary's books are so good. You get invested in her character's lives.

I can't wait for the next book

Rating: 5 flowers

About Mary McNear

Mary McNear, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Butternut Lake series, writes in a local doughnut shop, where she sips Diet Pepsi, observes the hubbub of neighborhood life, and tries to resist the constant temptation of freshly made doughnuts. Mary bases her novels on a lifetime of summers spent in a small town on a lake in the northern Midwest.

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