Love a Denise Hunter book and this one did not disappoint.

It’s a tad out of season to be reading right now, but I didn’t mind visiting the lake on these cold November days.

The reader knows things are going to explode, but when and how will Molly react is the big question.

I love how Denise used Molly’s past hurt from a previous relationship to add tension to the secret Adam is keeping. You just know it won’t go well when she finds out. But Adam is so sweet, I don’t want Molly to get mad at him.

The added layer of this letter Molly finds and the lost love there keeps things interesting as well.

Overall, a great read!


A copy of this book was given to me by the Celebrate Lit Team. All opinions are my own.

This is my first book by Denise Hunter and I really enjoyed it. I’m definitely going to check out her other books. This is a sweet romance with a touch of mystery. It made me laugh and it made me cry. I love that in a book. It’s a dual timeline book and I found both timelines to be equally interesting which is incredibly hard, I think.

I could really relate to Molly. “Molly’s eyes were getting heavy, but after the long day she needed at least a few minutes between the pages of a novel” (location 372). She is a beautiful woman who cares deeply for others and is willing to sacrifice for them. She’s got spunk and tenacity. I loved her as a heroine. I also really liked Adam. Both Adam and Molly have issues with intimacy. There’s a lot of growth in both of them and it’s beautiful to watch.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson for providing me with a free e-copy of this book. I’d recommend it. I can’t wait to read the next “Bluebell Inn” novel. All opinions are my own.

#LakeSeason #Netgalley

My Thoughts on Lake Season:
This is such a fun book! It’s a contemporary romance but with a small bit of history and mystery threw in which means I’m all for it! I love mystery novels but I also like romance novels and I love history! This note in the wall just about made me swoon. Why can’t that be real life for me!?

I thoroughly enjoyed Adam and his alter ego. That is such a fun storyline and I always love books that have that going on in them. Plus the inn becoming what it once was. Yeah, I’d totally go there to spend a vacation.

Now for the hard part. Can Molly and Adam work together to solve the mystery of the note? What about the secrets they hold from each other? Will all truth come to life and romance still remain?

I couldn’t stop reading! I loved the book and highly recommend it. The characters all won my heart and I loved them, but have to say the inn won my heart for the longest. I’m forever going to be wanting that place now!

Anyone else up for booking a trip to North Carolina now? Just me?

Well, maybe you need to read this book first! Then let’s get going on that vacation at a historic inn!

I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from Celebrate Lit. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.

Every time I read a Denise Hunter book, I think THIS is her best one. Lake Season truly lived up to that!

When the Bennett siblings lose their parents in a tragic accident, the three of them come together to fulfill their parents' dream for their house. Because the youngest sister is still in high school, Molly and Levi agree to out their futures on hold to let Grace finish school in Bluebell, NC. In the meantime, they work to finish renovating their home into an inn.

Before they can open, their first lodger, Adam Bradford, shows up on their doorstep. Bighearted Molly offers a room , and writer Adam finds his muse. Writing under a pseudonym, Adam is Molly's favorite author. He's such a favorite that she tells everyone that she doesn't need to date because she's in love with Nathaniel Quinn. Adam, however, hides behind his alter-ego, avoiding publicity at all cost, so even a superfan like Molly has no idea who he is.

When the house renovation reveals a lost letter in the wall, the mystery of it piques the writer in Adam and the romantic in Molly. As they work together to find both the writer and the recipient, can they get past their own trust issues to out the pieces together?

The twists in this story hit often, and sometimes hard. I loved that Hunter uses a bit of time slip - not a lot - but enough to flesh out the letter writer and her beau. I highly recommend reading this with a box of Kleenex, because tears are almost guaranteed! I loved this book and could not put it down until I finished. I cannot wait for the next installment of the Bennett family saga!!!

I enjoyed this book in a new series by Denise Hunter. Though it was predictable, I enjoyed the setting, the premise, and the theme of the story.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 NIV

There are so many things to like about a book that often mentions this Bible verse. Three siblings determined to fulfill the dream of their recently deceased parents. A highly successful author who keeps his identity a secret because he has never been able to live up to his father's expectations. A love affair that occurred over fifty years ago and recently discovered when a letter is found in a wall of an inn that is being renovated. As Molly Bennett and Adam Bradford try to find how Ben and Lizzie's lives turned out, they themselves begin to see each other as more than an innkeeper and her guest. But there are so many obstacles! Can Molly escape her grief and get over the hurt caused by her boyfriend? Would her trust be further damaged if she knew that Adam is the author that she adores? Will Adam ever feel worthy? Did Ben and Lizzie find happiness?

Denise Hunter has written a wonderful story filled with romance, faith, mystery, and a reminder that God orchestrates every part of our lives.These two romances, past and present, share a similar theme and I was especially moved by the ending. I look forward to following Molly and her siblings Levi and Grace as they continue managing the Bluebell Inn.

I highly recommend Lake Season to all who enjoy contemporary romantic fiction.

I received a copy of this book through Celebrate Lit and NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

This is the first book in a new Denise Hunter series, set in a small lake town, Bluebell, North Carolina. The story opens with the death of the parents of the three Bennett siblings, Molly, Levi and Grace. They decide to complete the renovation to the inn that their parents had begun on their home, which was originally an inn that opened in 1905, but also served some time as a post office. Their first guest is Adam Bradford, a reclusive author who writes under a pseudonym. He is trying to cure writer's block. Molly loves his work, but has not idea that he is her favourite author. When she finds a letter during renovations, she and Adam decide to research the letter and try to find the writer and the recipient. All this helps Adam, who believes he has found his muse in Molly.

I love the Bennett family and look forward to Levi's and Grace's stories in future books. The friendship that begins right from the start between Adam and Molly is wonderful and progresses well. Adam is aj smart and talented writer, but is shy and insecure. Molly is a strong female character that gave up her dreams for her family. She is witty, wary and a bit quirky. I enjoyed the dual timeline in the story with its own romance. This story will have your emotions all over the place, from laughing out loud to crying. This is a multi-layered story with wonderful writing, well developed characters, humour, angst, family, history and romance. I read through this book in one sitting as I was quickly turning pages to discover the secrets that may or may not result in a happily ever after. Will Molly be able to forgive Adam for keeping his secret? I have come to expect wonderful stories from Denise Hunter and this story is another winner. I recommend you pick this one up if you are a fan of Denise Hunter or Contemporary and Clean Romance.

I know I love any book by Denise Hunter but this may be her best yet! Molly and Eric Bennett are wonder characters who put their lives on hold after their parents deaths to complete their parents' project and dream of turning their old home into an inn and allowing their younger sister to complete high school in Bluebell, North Carolina. Molly finds an old love letter in the wall and becomes determined to find the writer or intended recipient! Adam Bradford is their first guest when he shows up before their opening day and needs a place to stay. Adam lacks self-confidence because he came from a family of football players where he was the nerdy, non-athletic cousin. Adam joins Molly in the search for the couple involved with the letter. I shed a few tears through this sad but exciting discovery! Lake Season involves restoring an old house, genealogy, Viet Nam war, adoption, learning to accept ourselves and learning to be completely truthful. I highly recommend Lake Season to others. I received an advance e-book from NetGalley. This is my honest opinion.
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Lake Season by Denise Hunter is a story of recovery from loss, creating a future that includes fulfilling past dreams and finding love along the way. The characters are interesting with layers that are not revealed at first but slowly as the story unfolds. Then there are characters from the past that you want to know their story as much as the contemporary characters do.

Really a wonderful story with everything falling into place. The setting of Bluebell, NC makes a perfect place for this new series. While the author has used this type of setting I found it to have a real sense of presence, seeing why an author might travel here hoping for inspiration. The somewhat love triangle is interesting to say the least, with Molly being in awe not of Adam as much as his alter ego. Then they impart on a mystery solving mission to being closure to others but perhaps for themselves too.

The publisher through Net Galley provided an ARC. I have voluntarily decided to read and review, giving my personal opinions and thoughts.

"Lake Season is the first in the Bluebell Inn Romance series" by Denise Hunter. Denise is a well established author. and winner of the Carol Award. The scene is beautiful at Bluebell , North Carolina . It is on a lake and serene and peaceful. There are boats there for the visitors to retreat and recharge. The story unfolds in the charming inn that is owned by the family who are the main characters of the story. The inn is run by the family and is so unique and unusual will draw anyone to it for respite and renewal. The scene is a perfect place for a romance. Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book. It is well written . I enjoyed the book very much. The opinions are my own and not anyone else. I will share my reviews with Amazon, my blog, facebook, CBD.com

I loved this book about the Bennett siblings and cannot wait to see what happens to them in the next book, as this was the first in a new series. The two stories wove together fantastically and the romance between Molly and Adam that developed was easy to invest in as a reader, as it felt realistic.

Lake Season is the first book in a new series by Denise Hunter set in Bluebell NC. A family of three - two sisters and a brother work to bring to reality their parents dream of opening a bed and breakfast place near a lake. Unfortunately their parents  never could realise the dream themselves as they lost their lives in an accident.

Molly the elder of the girls is a book lover and swoons whenever she hears the name of a certain male author. Unbeknown to her said author is struggling to meet his latest deadline and is in her town looking for a muse and inspiration. But... he keeps his identity secret and writes under a different name. Both of them have a few family issues, yet on the whole are well adjusted young people.

As they put the final touches to the house a letter from the sixties is found in the wall. (The building in one of its former lives was a Post Office). This letter sets Molly off wanting to find out about Lizzie and the man the letter was written to.  By this time Adam (the author) has arrived at the bed and breakfast and he helps. And so begins a journey that will led them to some surprising news and as well, along the way they grow as people.

So there is a pleasant setting, a mystery, some identity deception and kind warm hearted characters. The story pans out satisfactorily and of course - happily! Those looking for a gentle, heart warming romance would certainly enjoy this book.

Searching for love and belonging:
Lake Season is a delightful book that combines mystery, intrigue, heartache and of course love. I liked the dual time frames and the unraveling of the mystery behind the lost letter. What an amazing coincidence the ending turned out to be - yet there are never actually any coincidences with God, are there? I also enjoyed reading about the author's personal connection of a surprise find when they renovated their own lakeside home!
The depth of emotions explored were complex, authentic and totally relatable. One of the main themes of the book is about how fear can hold you back and having courage to overcome this in order to follow the path the Lord has laid out. How sometimes you just have to trust another person so that you can find true love.
I look forward to reading forthcoming books in the series in order to discover the remaining Bennett sibling's stories.
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

This is such a sweet story. It's kind of your typical Christian romance...but written in a fun and new way. In the past, when I've read books by Denise Hunter, I've always enjoyed them. This one was no exception.

In addition to being a sweet love story, it also contains a bit of a mystery.

Molly, the heroine, finds a lost letter, dating back to the sixties. With the help of Adam, she starts the quest to find out what happened to the sender, and the intended recipient. Not only are they searching for Lizzie and Ben, the story also gives us some insights into their actual lives, as the author takes us back in time to when they met, and a bit of their relationship.

This story has elements of dealing with grief, overcoming hard times, moving on from false assumptions, and more.

If you are looking for something that is entertaining, and will leave you maybe a bit breathless...then read this one!

Overall, it does have a bit of that feel that you think you know what is coming next...but Ms. Hunter has a way of throwing in a few surprising elements and twisting the story in a way you might not expect.

So, I have to end with my initial statement. This is such a sweet love story.

Disclaimer: I receive complimentary books from various sources, including, publishers, publicists, authors, and/or NetGalley. I am not required to write a positive review, and have not received any compensation. The opinions shared here are my own entirely. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

Now I am biased because I love all Denise Hunter books but this book is such a great read. Even though within a genre you tend to find similar elements each of her books is unique and not just cookie-cutter this one is no different.
If you like clean, inspirational, keep you glued to the pages romance then this book is for you. The characters are endearing, the story line is sweet and quirky, the imagery is gorgeous and alive. There are a few twists and turns that are unexpected but not totally out of left field. There are no overused words or stray underused characters.
The faith elements are just right so that they speak to your heart (and believe me they spoke to mine) without being shoved down your throat. The story flowed beautifully even as it jumped between timelines which I know to be a very delicate task. This is a book that I can truly recommend.

Fear. Fear of not measuring up. Fear of letting people down. Fear of not being loving or lovable enough. Fear of having your heart broken. The theme of living a life controlled by fear versus the freedom found in living a life of faith and trust in God is deeply embedded in Lake Season. While our personal fears may come from a variety of sources, and they may masquerade as peculiarities or personality traits, most of us can find some area of life where fear keeps us from doing or being something we desire, something we know God is leading us to, or something we know to be in our best interest. Lake Season is likely to speak to us as we cast off fear and seek to live our best life.

Denise Hunter has created a story with believable characters who are impacted by God's love in an amazing way. I am very grateful to have received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Lake Season is a novel from the heart. Denise Hunter has beautifully penned of story of three siblings dealing with the sudden loss of their parents in an auto accident. Levi Bennett is the eldest of the three. With a business degree, he is pursuing a career in California. Grace Bennett is the youngest. Still in high school, she balks at the idea of selling the family home in Bluebell Lake, NC. Her friends, her school, her life and support system is here, as is the rambling inn their parents had dreamed of turning into a lakefront bed and breakfast. Molly Bennett is in the middle. She has almost graduated college with a hospitality degree and is looking forward to an internship in Italy the following fall. Molly has dreamed of this ever since a friend sent her a postcard. She had even learned Italian in preparation for this day. And yet it is Molly that proposes that she and Levi come home and make a go of the inn, doing what she thinks will be best for Grace and the memory of their parents.

With hard work, the three diligently move toward their goal of opening the inn in time for lake season. Just prior to opening, an awkward and unassuming young man begs Molly for a room and she relents, which Levi points out could cost them their license. But Levi relents, allowing Adam Bradford to stay until they are licensed as a friend of the family. In the area for research, author Adam is taken by Molly, and, in exchange for his few days free, Adam agrees to help Molly do research on an old letter found in the wall.

This is a lovely story of family, friendship, and a surprising quest. I very much enjoyed this book and I do recommend it!

Lake Season follow three siblings whose parents die. They decide to turn their parents house back into an inn as it was their parents dream to restore. Soon after opening the inn, a guest at the inn becomes friendly with Molly (one of the inn owners). However, Molly does not realize that this guest is really her favorite author as he writes under a pen name and his identity is anonymous. The story follows the interaction between these two characters.

This is a sweet romance book. It is predictable like a Hallmark movie, but that did not take away my want of reading it. The big deception in the book is slightly overplayed, but I can understand that it really is the main conflict in the story line.

Adam Bradford, a best selling author under the pseudonym Nathanial Quinn, is suffering from writer’s block. With a deadline looming ahead of him, his mother suggests he visit Bluebell, a small lake town in North Carolina, hoping he’d find inspiration there. He ends up at an inn, with all the lake houses already rented out for the summer, and finds a muse in Molly Bennett, the young innkeeper. They strike up a friendship as he discovers she is a lover of books like him. When she finds a long lost letter while the inn is undergoing renovations, she turns to him for help locating the correspondents. Adam is only too happy to help, finding their little project is interesting him more than working on his new novel.
After reading about arrogant, proud romantic heroes, Adam was a breath of fresh air. He has to be the sweetest, kindest hero I have ever read. He stole my heart away, right alongside Molly’s. Despite being a bestseller, he’s incredibly insecure about himself since he has been always been a disappointment to his father who wanted a more athletic son. That insecurity has seeped through into his sense of self worth, leading him to hide his true self from the world. I loved how he came to realize this, thanks in part to Molly, and how he eventually accepted and revealed himself to others. I was so proud of him!
Molly is outgoing, kind, curious, and loves reading. She’s a huge fan of Nathanial Quinn and believes herself in love with him, not knowing that Adam is the author. <spoiler> This understandably has big repercussions as she’s afraid to trust Adam again, having already been deceived by a con-artist in the past. </spoiler>
After her parents suddenly past away due to an car accident, she is continuously haunted with regret at how she last treated them. Which is why finding the corespondents of the letter is so important to her. I liked how we see her face and overcome her own insecurities.
The subplot with the lost letter is very cleverly woven into the novel and I enjoyed learning more about Lizzie and Ben as their research progressed. I’ll admit it did feel a little contrived at first. I was left wondering how a twenty-something in this day and age did not know how to use the internet. Has Molly never heard of google? It feels like a plot devise that forces Adam and Molly to interact. But as their research got more technical, it got more understandable, and I was willing to overlook it. The way this subplot resolved itself was very unexpected, I didn’t see it coming at all. And yet it very satisfying to read. It left my heart full with joy.
Since this is a Christian novel, I should mention I was nervous picking it up as I’m not Christian myself. However, I did not feel preached at once to my relief. In fact, I found the elements quite relatable to my own cultural background.
I noticed there are a lot of formatting errors throughout, with different dialogues in the same paragraph or sentences breaking off suddenly only to continue on in a new paragraph. I believe this could just an issue with my ARC, but it make reading the novel a different at times as I had to pay extra attention to who was speaking.

Please note: I received an advance digital copy of this book through NetGalley from Thomas Nelson and Denise Hunter in exchange for a honest review. This does not influence my opinions in any way.

In the newest release by Ms. Hunter, Lake Season is the first book in the Bluebell Inn series. This charming, romantic book is a great edition for any fan of Ms. Hunter. If you have never read one of her books, I highly suggest you read this one. As you turn the page, the story will continue to draw you in to see how it ends. After reading this book, I am anxiously awaiting the next book in this series. I cannot wait to read what happens after this book! This book focuses on one of the Bennett siblings, Molly. Together with her other two siblings, they are trying to have a prosperous business at their inn. As they began on this journey, Molly meets Adam who is looking for a place to stay in their town. Adam is actually Molly’s favorite author, but no one knows who the real writer is. Molly gets Adam’s creativity churning after he has a dry writing spell. Then, Molly discovers a long-lost letter. Together with Adam they embark on a journey to reunite the writer and the intended recipient of the letter. This was an awesome story to read! I highly recommend you read this book! You will not be disappointed!
***I was given a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review. This is my honest opinion. Even though I received this copy free, I have purchased her books before.