I received an Advanced Reader Copy from NetGalley for my unbiased opinion of the book. The book is about Meghan Briggs who wants to go to journalism school, but her dream is cut short by her father's death. Realizing she needs to stay home and keep the business running because her older sister Tracy is too unpredictable to be responsible and moves away with an abusive boyfriend and her mother never worked. Her sister ends up back home with baby after realizing her boyfriend will never be a father and husband she hoped for. The sisters begin to work on their relationship as well becoming more of a family. Meghan stumbles across an abandoned pup named Sox who needs a home. While bringing him the new town vet and the summer unfolds into romance! I really enjoyed this story, I cannot wait to see what the next book in this series brings!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC of this lovely book which I really did enjoy!

The summer before Meghan is due to start her longed for and much awaited college course, her father passes away leaving her behind with her mother and sister Tracy. They are a family devastated by his loss and Meghan decides to stay behind and forfeit her college course to carry on her father's business - the 'Snip and Save'. Flighty Tracy on the other hand, falls head over heels in love with an unsuitable character and moves states to be with him. As life progresses, Meghan copes as best she can filling the void with work until one day while out walking, she rescues a drowning dog from the lake. 'Sox' as she calls him becomes her shadow and seems to understand her every emotion and Meghan is over the moon when all her attempts of finding Sox's legal owner turn up nothing. A last ditch attempt takes Meghan to the local vet practice where she meets the new & very handsome vet....

Meanwhile, Tracy returns to the family home with new baby Lucas who appears to have special needs - this whole issue has been handled with sensitivity and care and so begins another strand to the story that opens up many more possibilities for the whole family.

This is a lovely, heartwarming story that would be a wonderful summer read! I would not hesitate to recommend it to others!

After her father dies, Megan puts her life and career on hold to return home to take over her father’s business. Meanwhile, her sister Tracy, always the wild one, opts to follow her heart and her boyfriend to Philadelphia, but things don’t work out, so Tracy returns home a single mother. Megan has a small dog instead of children—a dog who works his way right into her life and heart, as he will with the reader. Megan makes a half-hearted effort to find the dog’s owner, while Sox enchants everyone around, especially Tracy’s child Lucas. Can this fractured family see its way through to healing any wounds that can keep them apart?

This book made me laugh and cry, sometimes at the same time, as I followed the lives of the two sisters and their mother, all grieving for their now deceased father, trying to figure out what comes next in their lives. The characters were all too real. The plot/story line could have occurred anywhere. I especially found the insertion of Sox enjoyable, but I love animals, especially dogs. The author has provided the reader with a wonderful story about life and families as they really are, complete with challenges, rewards and sometimes failures. The story spoke loudly to me, as I am sure it will to any reader who enjoys curling up with a nice, heart-warming tale about a family you could easily find anywhere. I have read many of the books the author has written, and this is right up there with her normally fantastic reads. I received this form NetGalley to read and review.

a nice quick summer read. I liked how the story was told

The Summer of New Beginnings by Bette Lee Crosby is a wonderful start to her new Magnolia Grove series. It's a story of family fraught with grief and sadness, and yet it's a story of love and loyalty as well. A story of two sisters who are so different and yet perhaps not as much as they once thought. Would Meghan ever be free to follow her dreams and not feel responsible to hold things together for the family? Would Tracy ever find it within herself to give up her so-called freedom and become a responsible adult? Will they have the courage it takes to survive, to forgive and move ahead with life? A powerfully emotional story of a family in need of healing and new beginnings. I'm looking forward to reading more in this series from a favorite author.
I received a copy of the book from NetGalley and was not required to write a review. The opinions are my own.

THE SUMMER OF NEW BEGINNINGS is the first book in the Magnolia Grove series. This, is a heartwarming sweet story of family, new beginnings, and surviving the loss of parents . I love the small town atmosphere and the warm characters. This is the perfect afternoon read. The author has a masterful style of creating this story and enthralling the reader .
Thank you for the ARC which does not influence my review

I had a very difficult time trudging through the first several chapters of this book. I contemplated setting the book aside, as it just wasn't my cup of tea in terms of character development and overall plot. At that time, I checked the reviews to see if the book "got better." I was shocked to see the high ratings. So I continued reading, but when I reached the 2/3 point of the book, I just couldn't do it anymore. As such, the following is my review for the first 2/3 of the book.
The Summer of New Beginnings is a very slow paced book. Ordinary moments are drawn out without providing much excitement or progress in the storyline. I was unable to connect with the characters and found the three women, Lila, Tracey, and Meghan, wholly naive and a bit childish. Lila treats her daughters without the respect due to grown women. Meghan is over twenty years old but acts as though she is around 16(especially when she drags her feet about finding the dog's owner). Speaking of Meghan, I was actually surpised to find a case of INSTA-LOVE in a book such as this. Maybe the most unbelievable aspect of the book is the claim that Lila and Meghan were so close to Tracey but did not travel to support Tracey during the birth of her son. They actually did not see her son until he was 14 months old when Tracey came to them. It was very strange and increased my dislike of the characters.
Overall, I struggled with caring about the characters and storyline. It was too hum-drum for my tastes with unlikable characters that seemed to have no self-reflection or emotional growth. Although the writer uses beautiful prose in describing each setting, it wasn't enough to carry the lack of plot.

So many people loved this book, but I just don't really see it. It was a sweet story and a quick, easy read. However, it was a little too simple for my taste. The storyline was fairly predictable (though I still loved the Secret Santa chapter!)

There were several parts of the story that I found... odd. I thought it was strange that Lila didn't see her grandson until Tracey moved back from Philadelphia and he was already one. That simply did not seem realistic to me at all. Also, they have landlines?!?! What year is this?

It was also strange to me that in a single chapter the author told the story from both Meghan's and Tom's point of view, yet it wasn't omniscient. Every time the author switched to Tom's point of view, I caught the change and it threw off my reading of the story.

Overall, it was a good way to pass the time, but I won't be eagerly awaiting the remaining books in the series.

The Summer of New Beginnings

Bette Lee Crosby


THE SUMMER OF NEW BEGINNINGS is the first book in the Magnolia Grove series. No one writes Southern fiction like Bette Lee Crosby does. She tugs at the reader's heart and never lets them go as they are falling in love with all of her characters. Bette Lee puts her readers on such an emotional roller coaster and pulls them right in to the story. That is exactly what happened as I was reading THE SUMMER OF NEW BEGINNINGS. I have read almost all of this wonderful authors books and still have a few more to go and that makes me very happy.


Magnolia Grove is one of those towns that you want to pack your bags and move to. Bette Lee does such an awesome job of describing the town that you feel as if you have been there and know exactly where she is writing about. THE SUMMER OF NEW BEGINNINGS is such a heartwarming story of family and you find your heart going out to Meghan and Tracy as they deal with the death of their father. Lila, their mother is struggling as well. Tracy is the wild child and lives her life to the beat of her own drum. Meghan is the responsible daughter and tries to keep her father's company afloat after he passes away. It feels like the last thing she has of her dad's and is willing to sacrifice going away to college to keep it going.


THE SUMMER OF NEW BEGINNINGS is a very quick read and I was flipping the pages like a mad woman because I had to know what was going to happen to these women. When Meghan finds a dog swimming for his life in a lake and meets the new vet in town, her life completely changes but she tries to fight it. Will this family ever be able to heal and find happiness? Is their dad, George, guiding them from above? Do yourself a favor and read this beautiful story. You will finish with a smile on your face and a song in your heart. All of the characters are so relatable that you won't be able to stop yourself from cheering for them. I'm so excited to continue with the Magnolia Grove series.

If Bette Lee Crosby writes it, I'll read it! Her style of writing is refreshingly honest and real. "The Summer of New Beginnings" is her newest book and starts the Magnolia Grove series. It's a touching family story about two sisters, Meghan and Tracy, and how their father's death impacts the family. The sisters are very different so they deal with his death by going down their own paths. Please take this journey with them as they deal with their struggles and challenges in this beautiful story about love and new beginnings!

Thank you Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved these characters. From the start, I was hooked on this story and wanted to learn about the Briggs girls in their journeys. I was invested in seeing what happened to them. I was not disappointed. Bette has a way of writing that keeps the reader engaged and keeps details concise without being too wordy! I love it!! I loved each of the storylines for the characters, especially Sox, the dog, as I am a dog mom! I am so excited that this is the first of more stories in the Magnolia Grove series and can’t wait to learn more about the lives of the Briggs girls!

You can always depend on Bette Lee Crosby to give the reader a great book and this one is no exception. It's a story about a family that works through many hardships as they continue to love each other.

Lila and George have the perfect family with daughters Tracy and Meghan. George has a small news flyer that he publishes weekly called Snip 'N Save and his daughter Meghan frequently helped him with it. The summer before she was due to go to college, there was a tragedy in the family when George died unexpectedly. Meghan decides to wait a year to start college to try to help the family. Her sister Tracy starts to ignore curfews and family rules and eventually runs away with her boyfriend. Lila and Meghan try to keep the family together as the dynamics of the original family change because now it's only the two of them wondering and hoping the Tracy will return to their family.

This is a wonderful story about love and forgiveness within a family. I hope that this will be a series because this book is mainly Meghan's story and I'd love to read more about Tracy. I am hoping that since the title calls it a magnolia grove novel, that means that this is the first book about this family with more to follow.

Thanks to the author for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.

I loved this new book by Bette Lee Crosby. Her books never disappoint. The relationship between the little deaf boy Lucas and how the dog related to him. Looking forward to the next book in this series.

This was such a fun book for me to read! I love stories with family relationships and how they change and grow in them. This was definitely one of those. The Briggs family has their share of problems, like all families do. But when Mr. Briggs dies suddenly, it leaves Meghan feeling responsible for taking on the family business in her father’s footsteps. She had looked forward to college, followed by a career as a journalist but felt that taking on the family business would keep her connection with her father alive.  Then there’s her sister Tracy, who’s headstrong and rebellious. Tracy leaves her family and moves away with her boyfriend Dominic, who refuses to marry her but wants her to live with him instead. The book follows the lives of the family as they just try to make sense of their lives and how they change like quicksilver, smooth sailing in one moment and chaotic in the next. This is a slice of real Americana, served with humor, wit, and a few tears as we come to know and love the Briggs family. I can’t wait for the sequel!

When Meghan's father dies she gives up her dreams of college and stays at home to run the family business. Her sister is a bit wayward and ends up coming home with her son Lucas...... can they pull together and become a proper family? When Meghan rescues a dog from a lake the family seems complete but what if someone comes back and claims Sox...... how could they not he is so adorable........ and there is the hot vet,.... maybe staying at home wont be so bad after all

A lovely book with great characters and the sort of book that leaves you with a nice warm feeling

Very good writing. Liked the characters. Kind of hard for me to read because it hasn't been that long since I lost my dog, and the closeness with the dog hurt my heart, but that shows how real her writing is!

Bette Lee Crosby has done it again. A sweet story of family and love and how these two things work together to give readers a wonderful story. No one goes through life without problems. This is true for the characters in this book and how family is there to help them through. Hopefully this is the beginning of a new series for Ms Crosby!

The Summer of New Beginnings is a heart warming read that is filled with characters that will stick with you long after the last page has been finished!

The matron, Lila is so warm. Her daughters, Tracy and Meghan are engaging as well. I love that all three women pulled together to weather anything as a family. Yet, when I talk about family, I can't talk about it without mentioning Tracy's son, Lucas and furry addition, Sox. Tracy really impressed me. She started out as such a wild child but really matured into a great mother by the end. Meghan showed passion to carry on her father's legacy.

This book may be about the women but there were two men that require mention as well. There is Gabriel who loved Tracy. He was patient with Tracy. Then there is Tom. He and Meghan were great together. I loved both relationships. I can't wait to read the next book from this author.

I always know when I read a book by Ms Crosby that it will be a story beyond compare. I find myself unable to put the book down - one more chapter I tell myself.

And now I am hooked on her Magnolia Grove series..a story as sweet as sugar - a family that pulls you into their lives. Lila loses her husband, and now she has to raise her girls, Meghan and Tracy by herself. As with any family there are times we do not agree - when Tracy runs off with her boyfriend against her mom's wishes. But Meghan, the daughter who stays instead of going to the college of her dreams. She takes over her father business, and settles in. And then one day she finds a dog drowning in the lake, she rescues him....and they become close.

I can go on and on but I dont want to give the story away....this book has surprises, love, romance, tears, anger and a story that will stay with you long after you are done reading. Looking forward to the next book in this series.

When Meghan gives up her dream of attending journalism school to take on her dad George’s Snip n Save it changes her life forever. The title of this book is a perfect description for this story: for all the characters. If Meghan had been away at school she never would have found Sox, met Tom and been there to help Tracy with
Lucas. The characters in this book are easy to like, except for Dominic, and the story is beautifully woven to the perfect ending. This is another fabulous story by Bette Lee Crosby. If you’re looking for a feel good read then this is the book for you!