Book Review: The Best Summer of Our Lives

BOOK DESCRIPTION (FROM AMAZON)

Summer Wilde is a wannabe country music star. But when her latest girl band abandons her in a motel outside Tulsa, she is forced to face the shadows of her past.

Twenty years ago, the summer of ’77 was supposed to be the best summer of her life. She and her best friends, Spring, Autumn, and Snow—the Four Seasons, 4ever—had big plans.

But those plans never had a chance. After a teenage prank gone awry, the Seasons found themselves on a bus to Tumbleweed, “Nowhere,” Oklahoma, to spend eight weeks as camp counselors. Arriving with hidden secrets and buried fears, those two months changed their friendships and the course of their lives.

Now, thirty-something and with no direction for her future, Summer is at a crossroads. Returning to the place where everything changed, she soon learns Tumbleweed is more than a town she left and never wanted to see again. It’s the place for healing, for reconciling the past with the present, and for finally listening to love’s voice. Celebrating the songs of our hearts, the joys of love, and the threads of friendship that tie us all together, New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hauck’s radiant story perfectly captures all the romance, heartache, and hope of the best summer ever.

BOOK REVIEW

Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Snow–the Four Seasons–are headed off to be camp counselors during the summer of 77, a summer that will change their lives forever. They have no idea that hidden anger, wreckless choices, and long-kept secrets will combine to try and tear them apart. Twenty years later, in 1997, Summer is a struggling singer, still trying to make it big in music. She makes commitments to no one, especially Spring, Autumn, and Snow, who she left behind years ago.

This is a wonderful coming-of-age story with explosive hidden secrets that will keep the reader riveted to the page. The characters are easy to connect with, and The Four Seasons are a special group. All of the relationships in this book are complex and nuanced, and the author brings in real-life tragic events–the murder of three girls at Camp Scott, Oklahoma, in 1977, and the Ted Bundy murders at Florida State in 1978. There’s a special character named “The Preacher” who brings a spiritual level to the story in almost a paranormal way.

With a compelling plot and memorable characters, this story will touch your heart.

I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House via Netgalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rachel Hauck is the NY Times, USA Today, & Wallstreet Journal bestselling author of over thirty novels. She lives and writes from sunny central Forida with her pastor husband.

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