It took me some time to get into this book, but overall, I thought it was good. I liked the message of the healing power of family and friends. It was pretty depressing to read right now, though.

Thank you to Net Galley and Kensington Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Holly Chamberlin's latest book tells the story of a fractured family after a tragedy forces a mother and daughter to escape to Maine in order to rediscover the happiness they once had. Frieda is reeling from the devastating car accident that took the lives of her husband and daughter and is struggling to help Bella (her other daughter) who is withdrawing from her life.
Freida's mother insists the two come stay with her for the summer and slowly everyone begins to piece their lives back together. This book shows that the healing powers of family and friends, there is always hope to emerge from heartbreak and rediscover the joys of life and love.

Kensington Books and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Home for the Summer. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

After a tragedy while on vacation claims the lives of both her husband and her youngest daughter, Frieda Braithwaite must find a way to reach her grieving daughter Bella. At her mother's urging, Frieda decides that they need a change of scenery. The three generations of women come together under her mother's roof, at the old farmhouse in Yorktide, Maine. As the women work through their assorted issues, will the healing power of the beautiful coastal town be what they all need?

The biggest issue that I had with Home for the Summer is that there are simply too many main characters with too many problems. The main premise would have been enough to propel the book forward, so the side plots just serve to fracture the story. The three main characters, working their way through their collective grief, would have been compelling enough. The author spent too much time telling how the characters were feeling, instead of allowing the reader to come to their own conclusions. In a genre full of similar books, this is just not one that will stand out and be memorable. For these reasons, I would be hesitant to recommend Home for the Summer to other readers.

Eh not exactly my favorite book. NOt sure I would read it again

The book was okay. It wasn't as adventurous as I thought it'll be. Most of the characters were hard to get into and the plotlines were easy to predict.

When on holiday in Jamaica for Bella's 16th birthday her father Aaron and sister Ariel are killed in a car accident. Devastated Bella and her mother Frieda return home but struggle with the double tragedy.

After the first anniversary of the accident Bella who used to be the outgoing sister starts to withdraw, not interested in anything in life, falls out with her best friend and starts to fall behind with school work, Frieda is unable get through to her at all and their old easy relationship seems a thing of the past. When Frieda's mother suggests that they go and stay with her for the summer in the lovely old farmhouse that she grew up in Frieda jumps at the chance.

As the summer progresses Bella gets a job at a local shop and befriends another troubled teenager and gradually starts to come back out of herself - but will her mother think of herself and take a chance on an old school friend and will her Grandmother sort out her own love life or will they both run scared?

A good story, possibly a bit slow hence four stars but that is probably the nature of the book and the time taken for the problems to be sorted out so that they can all move on as a happy family

I very stick in the middle with this one. I'm usually a fan of Holly Chamberlain's writing but I just couldn't connect with this read. I didn't feel a connection with the characters and I honestly gave up mid way.

I really don't like writing negative reviews. I get no joy from it. Unfortunately, I had a hard time getting through this book. Almost every conversation the characters had with each other was in-depth about their innermost feelings, and it just seemed so unnatural and exhausting to me. The plotlines were many. The three main characters we read perspectives from were at times hard to distinguish from each other even though they were vastly different in age, from a teenager to a grandmother in her sixties. If you enjoy books that are extremely emotional and heartfelt, this one may be for you. Sadly, it was not for me. I need more realism in stories like this.

Frieda and teenage daughter Bella are struggling to come to terms with a huge loss. While on vacation, half of their family unit was involved in an auto accident and died. Frieda has lost a husband and daughter. Bella has lost her father and younger sister. Their family has shrunk and their lives have changed forever.

What hasn't changed is lively grandmother Ruby, mother to Frieda. She invites the two women to stay with her and Maine for the summer. The year anniversary of the tragic accident is approaching, and she hopes that it will help them to heal.

Bella isn't dealing with it well at all, despite her grandmother hooking her up with a job and being able to spend time in a seaside paradise. She makes a friend, but it's soon obvious that Clara is not the kind of friend that she needs. Frieda begins to reconnect with a man she knew as a child, but Bella can't accept that her mother is spending time with a new man. Even Ruby has some romantic difficulties of her own. The man she's been in love with for some time has asked for her hand in marriage, but she's very hesitant. Her one and only husband and father to her daughter abandoned them when Frieda was just a child, and they haven't seen him since. She's terrified to be abandoned again.

One thing is for certain: all of these ladies will face significant challenges and changes this summer.

Very minor spoiler: [There's a sideplot in this one about a supporting character descending into drug abuse, and I thought it was crazy unrealistic. One doesn't go from trying some weed to getting hooked on really hard drugs within the span of weeks. I just don't think that's how it works, unless you're in an after school special. (hide spoiler)]

I received an advanced review copy of this book from Net Galley and Kensington Books, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.

A heartwarming tale of loss, love and finding yourself. Holly Chamberlin has written a story that speaks of true life.

Bella and her mom, Frieda, are staying the summer in Maine with her maternal grandmother, Ruby, to heal after a devastating loss. All three women are affected differently but learn how to heal as a family. Will Bella find herself as a young lady or will she lose herself to grief and pity? Will Frieda be able to move forward in loving another? Will Ruby learn from the growth of her daughter and granddaughter to allow herself to love completely?

Holly Chamberlin touches on so many topics that affect our world and she does so with a loving hand. If you like your reading to feel more real than fiction this book is for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington for an ARC for my review based on my own honest opinion.

Home for the Summer by Holly Chamberlin is a book to read! The three generations of women working through some serious issues while spending the summer in Yorktide, Maine is a book that will pull at your heartstrings. Ruby, the grandmother, Frieda, the mother and Bella, the granddaughter are in mourning. A horrid accident and two lives gone in an instant. Frieda and Bella are struggling with what has happened and all the surrounding guilt by being survivors. I love the interaction between the main characters and I love how their they stumble and try again to succeed in moving forward.

I love books set on the coast of Northern New England, perhaps because It is home. Holly Chamberlin is a new find for me in the last few years. (Although when I reviewed her list of books, a couple popped at me as books I may have read in the past.) I think her way of drawing out the story is inspired and inspiring. Her intermixing of common issues in today’s society helps keep the book grounded in our daily lives.

Home for the Summer is a great book; certainly one to read this summer!

This book deals with tragedy and how to move forward from it. It was an ok read. It was the first book I have read by this author. I am not sure I would look for another by her. I just could not get into it.

3.5 stars
When Freida's husband and daughter are killed in a car accident, she and her daughter, Bella, return home to Maine to spend the summer with her mother as they try and heal from this tragedy. This was a story of love, loss, and the importance of family. Not one of my favorite reads, but a good read none the less.

When a traffic accident change their lives forever, Freida and 17 year old Bella hope they can heal by visiting Yorktide, Maine. Freida's mother, Bella's grandmother Ruby, hopes to nurture and help them recover. This is a story of gaining strength through adversity, second chances and family. One can't help crying for Freida and Bella but it's good to see them grow and mature. The multi generational aspect is one of my favorite themes in book selection and this one has three strong women dealing with life.

A story about three generations of a family moving beyond tragedy, there was much to like about the book. The three main characters, Freida, her mother Ruby, and daughter Bella are together for the summer in the family home in Yorktide, a seaside vacation community. Getting past guilt and grief to acceptance and self respect are major themes, but some of the story lines seem a bit forced and unrealistic, like Ruby's and Frieda's acceptance of the husband/father who left them. Some important themes, such as drug abuse, add a needed touch of realism.

Blurb...

The journey to Yorktide, Maine, was always a happy one for Frieda and Aaron Braithwaite and their two daughters. Frieda loves her mother’s old farmhouse, and the girls have grown closer there, sharing a bedroom and spinning stories into the night. But that was before—when tragedy was something that happened to other families.

Since the car crash that claimed the lives of her husband, and their younger daughter, Frieda has struggled emotionally and financially. Bella, now seventeen, is withdrawn and wary, and Frieda fears losing her too.

At her mother’s urging, Frieda decides to return to Yorktide with Bella for the summer. Bella gets a job in a local shop, and little by little edges her way back into the world. But it’s the unexpected connections they make—with a former schoolmate, a troubled teenage girl, and Frieda’s estranged father—that will spur them to find healing amid bittersweet memories, and discover if their bond is strong enough to guide them back to hope once more.

My thoughts…

I’m afraid I did not finish this novel. I kept reading (56%) hoping something would happen to hook me. I felt no emotional attachment to any of the characters, despite their tragic loss. The characters were like cardboard cut-outs with unnatural and robotic speech patterns. With the amount of motivational quotes, I checked to see if the genre was ‘Inspirational/Christian’ or the readership young adult. I checked other books by this author on Goodreads to make sure I was not being overly harsh in my judgement, but see I am not alone in my assessment of the author’s style. She seems to grab onto a subject she has researched, only to feed information to readers disguised as dialogue. Whoever wrote the blurb is very good. The book itself does not live up to the blurb.

I received a copy of this book from the Net Galley in exchange for my review. This is the first book I have read by Holly Chamberlin and while I did enjoy it I feel there was just too much sadness for what I thought was a light summer read. Frieda and Bella go to spend the summer with Frieda's mother in what is supposed to help them deal with the lost of Frieda's husband and daughter and Bella's father and sister the year before. What we see is that all the characters in the book have endured some sort of loss and this is the story of how they are all intertwined. We do see that love prevails and that there is a happy ending for everyone.

After a devastating car accident during a family vacation, that killed Frieda’s husband and teenaged daughter, Frieda and her other daughter travel to Frieda’s mother’s home for the summer, hoping to heal and re-calibrate their lives after this tragedy. Frieda is unsure whether she can even help her daughter, Bella, become again the easy going, fun-loving teenager she once was, and has no idea how or if she herself can even continue. In addition, Bella herself is wracked with grief and despair, unsure of who she is or how to go on after the accident. There are several other sub-plots that crop up in this story all of which are related, though not overpowering, to this same theme. The one sub-plot I could not really understand was the re-entrance of Frieda’s father, who had deserted the family years before and who had maintained no contact during these intervening years, into Frieda’s life. Since it had no real resolution and since it added nothing to the story, it became an unnecessary distraction, and I could not figure out why the author even included it. The story is a story of healing, rebirth, family togetherness and love, and how all help to overcome something like this accident as well as how family members, together, emerge from the event’s depths of despair and grief to healing, moving-toward- normal lives.

The book is well written and flows smoothly. The topic is not an easy one tackle, but the author has done a fantastic job. Initially, I figured this was one more feel-good, summer chick lit story but was surprised and impressed with the depth of emotions the author has elicited throughout. This definitely not a light, fluff summer beach read, but one with a powerful story line and premise. I found the characters Frieda and her daughter well done. The one thing I found difficult to take was the way the author tried to portray Frieda’s mother Ruby as a forty something woman when you knew she had to be in sixties. A lot of her actions did not ring true. She tried too hard to make her a vibrant, sixty something matriarch of the family. I also found her reluctance to go for a second marriage with a man I could easily see would become a perfect mate was a bit drawn out—especially since she seemed to have gotten over her first husband, Frieda’s father, so well. Nevertheless, Ruby, Frieda’s mother, did come across as a wonderful, loving, wise mother and grandmother to Frieda and Bella. Some of the other characters in the story likewise came across well. This is a great read. It has substance that has been woven well into a fascinating tale of two women’s healing in their loving family. This is a story I will not forget soon. I highly recommend it. I hope the author is planning a follow on about how Frieda and Bella and the rest continue to grow. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

The book starts with these beautiful soul-touching lines :
What we have once loved deeply, we can never lose. For all that we love deeply becomes a part of us - Helen Keller
A book of healing and second chances, of tragedy and strength, of hope and love between three generations of women; grandmother Ruby, mother Frieda, and granddaughter Bella.
An auto accident during a vacation takes the life of husband Aaron and younger daughter Ariel, a happy and loving family gets destroyed by one tragedy. In the days following that, Frieda is distraught and heartbroken but her resilience bounces back till Bella starts withdrawing from life, on the eve of the first anniversary. Frieda is at her wit's end, nothing seems to work for her daughter. Fearing for Bella's life, she decides to return home to her mother, Ruby, for the summer. The story thus moves forward, dealing with all stages of grief; the silence, the disbelief, the anger, the tears, the acceptance and finally the healing and moving towards life.
This book shows how fragile life is and each moment has to be lived fully; a moment once gone is always gone. Focus on the present, forget the past and the future and remain confident in the knowledge that nothing stays the same forever. Nothing stops with death but nothing ends with death too. Love is fleeting and momentary sometimes, so, hold your love close, caress it, bathe in its warmth and thank the powers to be for these precious moments.
Holly Chamberlin has written well, full of emotions, especially the pain of losing a sister wrenched my heart and filled my eyes with tears. Holly has brought home a lot of topics people face in today's life addiction to prescription drugs and more, loss of close family members, homosexuality and losing a partner to AIDS, opening the heart again to love and being vulnerable. There is a supernatural aspect too which would provide solace to all of us who have lost someone special. The only teeny tiny gripe I had was, there were 90 chapters for 90 days of summer, a little editing would have helped the book to go faster and emotions to be close knit.
But all in all a very good, enlightening book of second chances and living life to the maximum. Respect life with a capital letter by respecting oneself. Few lines from the book I quote:
Forgiveness means letting go of all hope of a better PAST
We take such a risk when we choose to love, but it's all worth it and we wind up with a family we never thought we would have
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee... Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so.... Death, thou shalt die.
For life wins always....

Frieda Braithwaite, trying to recover from the devastating loss of her husband and younger daughter in a car crash while on family vacation last year, spends the next summer at her Mother’s home in coastal Maine. Here she hopes that with the help of family and friends, she and her older teenaged daughter Bella can finally come to grips with their loss. This was a very emotional and at times depressing story, as the characters kept re-hashing their feelings. I realize it takes a while to heal, but in the book, it felt like forever. Having said that, I will admit that the way Holly Chamberlin wrapped up this healing process was very touching, even making me she a few tears. It was worth the wait. A solid 3.5 stars.
Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Publishing for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Three generations of women dealing with love, loss and grief learn to move into the future. Overall, I enjoyed the book, but I found the relationship between Freida and her long-absent father rather odd. A father who has made no effort to contact his daughter through most of her life, is all of a sudden on the other end of the phone, now that she is staying with her mother. It just didn't ring true for me.