Reviewer: Annie
I received a review copy
Summary:
Set in the weeks leading up to an idyllic New England wedding, this “enticing and refreshing” (Nancy Thayer, New York Times bestselling author) novel sparkles with wry wit, sweet romance, and long-kept family secrets.
Iris Standish has always been the responsible older sibling: the one with the steady marriage, loving family, and sensible job. But all of a sudden, as her carefully-constructed life spins out of her control, a cryptic postcard from her estranged sister Leah arrives at the perfect time: Please Come. Iris seizes her chance to escape to her childhood lakeside home, where Leah is planning her summer wedding to a man their New Hampshire clan has never met.
Against a backdrop of dress fittings, floral arrangements, and rehearsal dinners, Leah hides secrets of her own. And while her sister faces a past that has finally caught up to her, Iris prepares to say good-bye to a future that is suddenly far from certain. As new love beckons and Hampstead Lake shimmers in the background, Iris must decide when to wade in cautiously and when to dive—and, ultimately, how to ferry herself to safe harbors in this enticing novel of second chances and the ties that bind.
Review:
Who does not love a story with a beautiful background, like the Standish Family’s Farm, and the expansive Lake Region in New Hampshire! Hannah McKinnon can certainly tell a moving story! I am definitely adding to her to my list of authors to read, although I realized I have a lot of catching up to do, but, “The Lake Season” was an awesome start!
Iris Standish has been married for 16 years and her husband, Paul has asked for a divorce. This makes everything in her life fall apart. She has three children to take care of and yet, she cannot even seem to take care of herself. I was laughing when she put all of this work in to baking “crescent cookies” for her daughter’s soccer team, only to be shunned by the other “Soccer Moms” as not being a proper choice for a snack. I had her back at that point!
Team Iris! All the way!
She decides she needed time to herself, so she heads to her family’s home in Hampstead, NH. Her family runs a farm and has a Farm stand that people from all over like to shop for their Organic Vegetables. They even sell other odds and ends…I think I would love it there. There is a lot to be said for reading a book, and actually visualizing yourself there. I wish I could go there.
At Iris’ family farm, she bumps in to an old High School friend named Cooper, only to find out that he is there working on their farm doing Historic Preservation on the buildings. I adored Cooper and her best friend, Trish.
Then we have Iris’ sister, Leah who is altogether a different person than Iris. Leah is planning her wedding to a man that she seems to not know much about. But, we know that she is often a “fly by the seat of your pants” girl.
There are family secrets, love and intrigue in a nice little package. I highly recommend this book!
5 Stars
