Molly Bennett sacrifices her dream career to join her siblings in restoring their parents’ historic inn. Adam Bradford (aka bestselling author Nathaniel Grey) comes to Bluebell Inn seeking inspiration and a cure for writer’s block.

Upon discovering a long-lost letter, Molly and Adam embark on a search into the past to right an old wrong. As their growing friendship forces them to face their own doubts and fears, will the lake season be the beginning or the end of something more?

As always, Denise Hunter does a masterful job of creating true-to-life characters who grapple with the genuine fears and insecurities of real life. Adam was a refreshing change from the stereotypical hero, and I loved the glimpses into a writer’s life. The revelation—which I won’t reveal—left me with chills as the hand of God was vividly displayed at work in the “lives” of Molly and Adam. You won’t regret this charming read!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Lake Season
Denise Hunter
November 12 2019


The Bennett siblings stopped as the door shut behind the last guest. It was hard to acknowledge the love and sympathy of friends and family when the loss of their parents had taken all wind from their from their sails. Life without them will be empty in the large home they were working so hard to make into the Bluebell Inn. Levi, the oldest would return to LA to his business, Molly would be leaving for Paris to do her internship in hotel management, and Grace would go back to high school as a senior. Would that still happen? They could not let Grace live alone and they had no relatives in Bluebell, North Carolina. Grace wanted to finish school among her friends. She wanted Molly and Levi to stay and get the inn rebuilt. Molly and Levi thought, prayed but a decision to sell the inn under construction would cause them to take a loss in the value of the property. If they continued on and Grace went to LA, she would miss out on her senior year and all of the wonderful things that their parents had provided for them. Decision was made to stay, rebuild and allow Grace to graduate from high school.
Months into construction they felt the right decision was made. Levi and the workers were nearly done. Painting and final inspections would be done soon as well. They would be ready for their first summer guests right after Memorial Day.
Adam Bradford stopped in front of what appeared to be the Bluebell Inn. There wasn’t a sign but the door was open. He entered and saw a great looking woman working on a pile of wood pieces that should fit together. She thought he was Levi’s friend who came to help. After he translated the French directions for the table, he assembled it in record time. He introduced himself and asked if there was a room available. He had tried to find a vacancy at any of the many summer hotels and house rentals and none were available. She explained that they had not opened, they did have a room ready and he was welcome unless he would mind living among the last of the construction mess. He gladly took the tour and moved into the room she had available.
This story was a warm journey of Adam and Molly and the friendship they found in researching a letter that was found in the wall during the inn’s reconstruction. It started as a pleasant tale of a family that needed to recover from their loss. The letter that was found in the walls of the old post office that became the Bennett home was at the heart of Ms. Hunter’s novel. It was such a pleasant read, comforting to know that such narratives are still published. Upon finishing, I felt as if I was surrounded by a cozy blanket . I was pleased to learn that Lake Season was the first of a series about Bluebell, North Carolina and the people who live there.
Denise Hunter wrote Lake Season. It will be published on November 12, 2019 by Thomas Nelson of Nashville, Tennessee. I give them my gratitude for allowing me to read the pre-published novel. It will be a wonderful seasonal read for all to enjoy.

I have read a lot of Denise Hunter's and this is by far the best one .I really loved this book and how all of it went together. Molly and Adam make a great time on their search for Benjamin and Lizzie and the way it turned out well who would have thought. A Must Read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."
Denise Hunter has written another great book about two people falling in love. Her books tug at your heartstrings and leave you wanting more. I enjoy reading Denise's books because they bring couples together without all the sex scenes. If you are a fan of Denise Hunter then you will not be disappointed in Lake Season. If you haven't read any of her books then Lake Season will be a great start.

Molly and Adam captured my heart in this sweet mystery/romance by Denise Hunter. I really loved the story thread in this one and the fact that it was based on a lost and then found letter. I also really enjoyed that Adam was a reclusive author trying to keep his identity a secret because of self-esteem issues. I can relate to wanting to be in the background so as not to be noticed. Great read, highly recommended.

A delightful story, with just a little mystery added to the romance.
The Bennet siblings have tragically lost their parents who were in the process of turning their large house into an Inn. At first thy decide to sell, but Grace, the youngest, persuades them that between them they can finish the renovations and run the Inn
It's a real labour of love....and talking of love, enter Adam. Adam is a very private person who is not going to reveal to anyone that he is actually a very well known writer, one whom Molly is fixated on.
The part that I found so interesting was the history of the Inn, which had been many other things, including the town Post office. On removing an old window frame the original post box is revealed, and therein lies a tale.
Molly finds a very old letter, and she and Adam feel that they must solve the mystery of the letter writer's whereabouts.
There is a very sweet ending to the story.
I received a copy of the book from the publishers and NetGalley and the opinions I have expressed are all my own. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review the book.

This is a wonderful beginning to a new series. Molly is sweet, kind and she is a giver. Adam is humble and smart and looking for acceptance. This is love story also has wonderful mystery interwoven in the story. Molly has trust issues and Adam has acceptance issues. Molly needs to let go of her fear. Adam is author he is afraid he will disappoint his readers. Molly is hiding from love and Adam is hiding from his public. I love the secondary story line to this book. Denise has a wonderful way with words. Molly finally lets go of her fear and Adam realizes his own worth. Adam has the courage to to reveal his true self. I love how God works in amazing ways in this story. Molly and Adam are truly wonderful characters. I am looking forward to next installment of this series.

Lake Season is the first in the Bluebell Inn Romance series. I usually don't enjoy a first book in a series a lot because I am getting to know the characters and am not connected to them very much. In this book I got connected to the characters from the get go. I enjoyed this story and hated for it to end but with a series I will get to see the characters again in subsequent books. I enjoyed the friendship of Molly and Adam that grew into love. Molly with her family are running an inn that was formerly a post office and a home. It was a dream of Molly's parents to open this inn in this small town once the father retired from his career as a physician but they were tragically killed in an auto accident before the dream could be fulfilled. Adam shows up at the inn and rents a room. Molly and Adam quickly become friends when they get involved solving a mystery. What Molly does not know is that Adam is keeping a secret. She does not know that Adam is her favorite author. What will she think when she realizes Adam has been hiding who he is? I also loved the time slip storyline. There are some twists that I did not see coming. I can't wait to read the next book in the series. The next one will be centered around Molly's brother Levi. I was hoping it would be her baby sister but I guess she has some more growing up to do. I am so enjoying this series!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Lake Season will be released on November 12. Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for providing me a digital copy to read and review.

Lake Season by Denise Hunter is a tender, inspirational story. The story begins with the Bennett siblings, Levi, Molly and Grace, losing their parents in a tragic accident. Levi and Molly are young adults on the brink of their careers. Teenage Grace begs them to put a hold on their career moves and asks them stay and renovate the hundred year old inn instead of selling. The renovation was their parents dream.

Adam Bradford, is a shy unassuming man who comes to Bluebell in search of a creative spark. As a popular author, he writes under a pen name in hopes of anonymity. Adam meets effervescent Molly and is immediately taken by her.

Molly's discovery of a love letter written in 1962 puts her on a mission to find the recipient. What ends up happening sends you into the mystery of lost love and resolution.

The story is good. Really good. Clean romance, heartbreak and discovery. I would give this one a 5+ rating.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from Net Galley and the publisher. All views expressed are my honest opinion.

Denise Hunter has done it again! She has written a novel that is sweet, and charming and emotional, all the things that make me keep reading long past my bedtime. The book has two storylines, but its done seamlessly. I love how the characters grow along with the story. I really liked this book and recommend it thank you netgalley for the arc. The opinions are my own.

Lake Season by Denise Hunter keeps the reader engaged to the end with characters that grew in depth. The plot moved along at a good pace with enough twists to keep the interest alive. Enjoyed the book.

This book is wonderful!! It is very well written and plays out like a movie while you're reading. It is a clean fun read that I really enjoyed reading Thank you Thomas Nelson--FICTION via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Lake Season by Denise Hunter has a little bit of backflash to show the story that Molly and Adam are trying to find dealing with the letter. The romance was cute. What girl wouldn't want to meet her favorite author, especially if it is a guy writing romantic heroes worth swooning over? Molly and Adam's romance had its up and downs. But they stuck it out and earned their happily ever after. As for the plot, the idea of hunting for a missing letters owner to try to figure out if Benjamin ever heard how LIzzie really felt about him was interesting to see. The story worked itself out by the end of the pages. The idea of grief from losing parents suddenly really hit home for me. I really enjoyed the scene where Molly was crying in her parents' bedroom. The hurt doesn't go away like many authors portray in their novels. We, who have lost a parent suddenly, lost learn how to cope with every day. Not that we don't think of them and miss them all the time. Overall, Lake Season was a fun read that I think fans of contemporary romances will love. It was well-written and a nice way to spend a couple of hours.

I received complimentary copy of Lake Season by Denise Hunter from Thomas Nelson Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

LAKE SEASON by DENISE HUNTER is a charming romance novel which takes place across two time frames, namely 1962 and the present time. It is cleverly written and the two stories tie in well together.
After losing their parents in a car accident, Levi, Molly and Grace Bennett carry on their legacy by putting the finishing touches to their project of turning their rambling old home into an inn.
Their first guest is Adam Bradford, an interesting young man. He and Molly get on well as they are both passionate about reading, and they join in a project to find out all they can about the people involved in a letter that is found stuck in the wall where the old post office box was in 1962.
I really enjoy the characters and am looking forward to the next book in the series. It is both heartwarming and poignantly sad in parts, which really makes for a good romance novel.
I am not going to tell you any more as I do not want to spoil things for you. It is a most enjoyable read.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Thomas Nelson. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

Lake Season is a heartwarming and, at times, heartbreaking love story. Or, more accurately, two love stories - one set in the present day and the other set in 1962. Molly and Adam meet when he is looking for a place to stay and happens upon her family’s lake-side inn. Both feel an instant attraction, yet neither is really in a place where they are ready to open themselves up to a relationship. However, they do form a partnership of sorts as they try to untangle a mystery from 1962. They become closer as they research the sender and intended recipient of a lost letter.

Adam is a very private person, and hides his true identity - a famous author who writes using a pseudonym from everyone, including Molly. When Molly eventually discovers his secret, she is devastated as her last relationship ended due to serious trust issues. Despite, their shattered relationship, they work together to resolve the mystery from 1962, and the result provides Adam with a sense of peace and contentment with himself that he never previously felt.

After Adam returns home to New York, Molly realizes that she made a grave mistake in telling Adam that she couldn’t trust him again. Can she find it within herself to reach out to Adam and give him another chance?

A quote (from ARC):
“Adam Bradford was nobody’s idea of a hero.”

What a marvelous sweet, clean romance, with two interwoven stories of deep love and a super fabulous shy, Beta hero! There are no slow spots in this endearing tale about two ordinary young people meeting and falling in love, I was completely engaged until the end.
The hero in “Lake Season”, by Denise Hunter (Thomas Nelson - FICTION) is an intelligent, talented man, yet shy and socially insecure. The author did a great job creating a complex, nuanced character, aware of his talent but gun-shy about other dimensions of his worth and in some social situations. I loved that Adam is handsome, but not in a spectacular, alpha way. He’s a bit nerdy, but not too much so that he becomes cartoonish.
There’s great character and story development so that we feel we’re with the siblings and Adam at the Bluebell Inn, in a North Carolina lake town.
Adam’s fears and insecurities and Molly’s wariness are exquisitely written and we get to see why they’re so good together and really made for each other. Molly’s genuine kindness and quirkiness has such a soothing effect on Adam’s guarded personality. The way he’s smitten with Molly is just so endearing, and plus his wisdom and humbleness about the writing process and fame make him both a down-to-earth and charismatic character.
The unraveling of a decades-old secret is bitter-sweet, but finally there’s some sort of closure for Lizzie and Benjamin, even if the final dramatic twist feels a bit contrived.
Great secondary characters, and not just only Molly’s siblings, but also the couple’s friends (Jordan, Skye) and great setting.

Lake Season by Denise Hunter. I love this book. We know that all things work together for the Good Of God. My favorite of all Denise Hunters books. I did not want to put the book down. I loved the characters of Adam and Molly. I love how they go searching for Lizzie and Benjamin after Molly finds a letter when Molly’s family is remodeling the inn. And they find some surprising and interesting facts. Read the book I know you will love the story.

This book had all the makings of a great summer read - the lake town, the small inn, the tragic beginning, and an author crush, but it fell just a little shy for me. I wanted the townspeople, or side characters to play a larger part in filling out the feel of the town and story. The book was entirely focused on Adam and Molly, with a minimal dual timeline addition to give a bit more weight to the letter plot. Molly's best friend Skye had so much potential, as did Adam's friend Jordan, and Molly's siblings Levi and Grace. I believe this is intended to be a series, with each sibling getting their turn at a book, so maybe their stories will start to feel more developed. However, I spent most of the book feeling like I was missing a prequel, or maybe this wasn't meant to be book one, and that I was supposed to already know these people.

Since Adam and Molly were the focus of the story, I did feel connected to them, and Adam's battle with his father's memory and the insecurities that stemmed from that, as well as Molly's grief and guilt over her parents' death were heartwrenching. Lizzie and Ben's story was also very emotional, and while I wished for it to be fleshed out a bit more, I did appreciate how well everything tied together in the end. Some might say too much so, but I didn't mind the coincidences, when attributed to God's sovereignty.

I give this book 4 stars. November is an odd choice for a beach-y book to release, but maybe you'll want to hold onto it for next summer! I do plan to read the siblings' stories as they are available, because I think this family set-up is rich for a good tale.

I received a digital copy of this book, via NetGalley, from the publishers, in exchange for my honest review.

I love loved this book!! Denise Hunter has penned another awesome read!! Need I say any more?
I was in love the moment I picked up this book and before I knew it, I was finished. I'm like what happened???
Molly is my favorite character. Why? because she is a lover of books just like me!! Her personality just bubbles over and her happiness is a blessing. I say blessing because if you happen to run into Molly like I did her sweet and gracious personality will fall on you like it did on the characters in this story. I think having Molly around makes visiting the inn a happy place even though there was a tragedy that happened in this book. I'm not telling what it is. You will just have to find out!!
And I do get flustered sometimes just like Molly and Adam do.
And how amazing that you find someone that just literally drops into your lap like Adam? Too good to be true that's what!!
Adam is more like me in personality. I love my quiet place. It's where I can read, review and do
whatever I want without interruptions at least until my family members get home from work,
school anyway. But I also enjoy having fun too.
I like Levi and Grace too. They are Molly's siblings. Except I felt like at first Levi was an ol stick in the mud but for the business side I could see why. But you know what? I wouldn't mind having a protective older brother around.
It's never good to keep secrets from the other person especially if you like them or want a relationship with them. Secrets do have a way of coming out. As we say, it all comes out in the wash eventually so it's better be up front that way they don't have to hear it from someone else.
I enjoyed visiting Blue Bell Inn. It's a sweet little place that you can visit from time to time with a wonderful view of the lake.
My thanks to Netgalley for an early read. NO compensations were received and all opinions are my own