The Summer House by Lauren K. Denton

This book could quite handily adapt to a very nice Hallmark Channel movie. It includes a charming community, a gruff manager, a newly divorced new-girl-in-town, a hurt single dad and an irritatingly cheerful coach, plus an assorted cast of unique residents. In addition, all the right characters end up happily together and experience a certain amount of healing and personal growth.

This book would make a great beach read. It was positive and light for the most part. Even though it was published by Thomas Nelson, there was only a mention of the Bible once and no church or minister was mentioned as part of the community. It was definitely a clean read.

I am thankful to the publisher for a free copy and this is my honest review.

I absolutely loved this novel and couldn’t put it down. I felt like I was right at home amongst all the characters, some quirky and some down-to-earth. All of the characters were relatable and believable, even “bad guy” Worth! And I love that the author included not just Lily’s love story, but senior Rose’s too. There is much here about owning one’s own life story, and forgiveness as well. I highly recommend this for anyone who likes good stories with deeper meaning woven through.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Just what I needed.....a sweet, engaging, quick, summertime read! Lily has only been married a short while, but suddenly finds herself all alone in a new town after waking up one morning to find that her husband has left her. She struggles with what to do now, but in the end decides to stay in this unfamiliar town and try to make it on her own. She lands a job as a hairdresser in a retirement village and ends up finding much more than just a job....she finds a new family.

This is the first book that I have read by Lauren Denton, but I definitely plan to read more!

Lily wakes to find her husband missing and divorce papers on the counter. From there she finds her way to what should be a temporary position for the summer among a cast of unique characters. It was an interesting store. Overall good read but slow to really pick up.

How grateful I am to NetGalley and the publisher, Thomas Nelson, for introducing me to Lauren K. Denton through her newest book, “The Summer House.” Because I enjoyed this one so much, I have already ordered the other 4 that she has written.

“The Summer House,” set on the Alabama coast, featured good people who were doing the best they could to move along in their lives following some sort of personal whammy. It’s not deep and there’s no mystery nor suspense. There’s very little action. And yet, the reader comes to know and love the characters as he/she watches them grow: grow out of the grip of guilt or blame and grow into the freedom of the person they were meant to be.

The time period is the present and the time covered is just 3 or 4 months during the summer. Our protagonist is in her 20s, but most of the characters are in their retirement years.

I loved it and am looking forward to reading her others.

If you are looking for a book that is both emotional and empowering, this story will bring you on that journey. For fans of women’s fiction and clean romances, this one will bring you through a calm, charming, feel good, community.

Books like these are a great way to cleanse yourself from those hard-to-read, epic fantasies which I tend to gravitate towards. The characters and small-town setting create that classic beach-read feel that we love to binge during the summer.

I gave this one a solid 4 out of 5 stars and would recommend it for readers who want a down-to-earth read.

I am not sure what the title of the book has to do with the book itself. It's not so much a summer house, as it is a house in a retirement village in Southern Alabama. When Lily wakes up to find that her husband of one year has left her with divorce papers, she is left with having to leave the house where she's been living. Lily finds that the retirement community wants a hairdresser and she is a licensed beautician, so she applies.

Rose is the owner of the village and the one who hires the help and the one to whom Lily applies for the beautician position. Because there are sleeping quarters above, Lily believes this will be the perfect place for her to light and land. Rose begrudgingly hires her for a trial period. Lily finds in Rose an unconventional friend who sees her through some tough days.

The Summer House is a book about forgiving yourself, picking yourself up, dusting yourself off, and making the best of a bad situation. Lauren K Denton has written an entertaining book that has some interesting characters who make the plot move along at a good clip. The setting is quaint and interesting at the same time. I found the book very hard to put down and quite compelling.

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a new hair do that fits you to a T.

Thomas Nelson and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

"This life is a beautiful thing - it's precious and fleeting, and we'd all be crazy not to reach out and grab it with both hands and hang on tight."

From the first page of this story, I felt like I was transported to the small village called Safe Harbor on the Alabama coast. With her signature Southern charm and grace, Lauren K. Denton has written a beautiful story about starting over, taking chances, and becoming who you were meant to be. Rose and Lily couldn't have done that without the community around them, and there are definitely some some fun, slightly eccentric characters who add both lightheartedness and depth to the story! Besides the beautiful setting, which could be a character itself, my favorite part of the story was seeing Lily's transformation from a betrayed, hurting woman to one who has found her purpose and is ready to open her heart again. When I finished the book, I wished I could stay in Safe Harbor a little longer - that's a sign of a great story!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

4..5 stars What a perfectly uplifting book that's a perfect "beach read". Lily wakes up one morning to find a note from her husband telling her he just can't do it anymore, leaving her to figure out her life. She finds solace in the retirement village of Safe Harbor as a hairdresser. As she makes a life for herself, she befriends many of the residents, even crusty Rose, the owner of the village who's harboring a lot of hurt herself. If you're looking for a light read with a happy ending, this is the book for you. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Lauren K. Denton's books are an automatic read for me. I get excited and happy when she has a new one coming out--usually starting with the gorgeous covers that grace them and then excited for the escape I find in them. This is her fourth book and the fourth one I have reviewed for TLC Book Tours. I love that they are hopeful, usually about second starts and chances and finding your place in the world, and they are filled with quirky and endearing characters. She also manages to work in delicious food and have me longing to move to a small Southern town or community despite having spent almost no time in the south. Take The Summer House for example, if someone asked me if I wanted to become a hairstylist in a retirement village in coastal Alabama, I'd think they were crazy but by the end of the book, I want to do just that. ;-)

In The Summer House, Lily awakes one morning to find her husband has left her with a brief note and signed divorce papers. Not sure what she is going to do, she knows she doesn't want to back to her home town and his family in Georgia but they just moved to Alabama for him to take a new job and she knows almost no one. She stumbles across a flyer advertising for a hair stylist--something she grew up doing in her single mother's salon and something she has missed since her mother passed away. The position is in a retirement community and soon she is interviewing with Rose, the owner and caretaker of Safe Harbor, a woman who has known her own heartache and has closed up to others because of it. Something in Lily causes Rose to take a chance on her and she is soon living above the hair salon and becoming friends with the colorful group of seniors that live in Safe Harbor. The story is told from the points of view of both Lily and Rose and each begins to craft a new life.

I think this may be my new favorite of Denton's books--something about the setting and characters and their stories that made me devour this book and wish for more than one summer with Lily and Rose. There is romance for each character, but friendship and growth are the main players in the story. Set in the summer on Alabama's coast, it's a perfect summer book for tucking in a beach bag or curling up on the lanai with a cold glass of lemonade or sweet tea, and immersing yourself in Safe Harbor. I recommend The Summer House to anyone looking for a brief, languid escape from all of the crazy in the world lately and I am already looking forward to the author's next book.

Here are my reviews and accompanying recipes of the first three books, The Hideaway, Hurricane Season, and Glory Road. They are each separate books and stories so you can dip into them as you please.

Just two weeks after moving from Atlanta to Foley, Alabama, Lily’s husband of just over a year, leaves her a note saying “he can’t do this anymore” and seemingly disappears.

Rose, owner is Safe Harbor Village, an “active lifestyle” community, has isolated herself from the social life of the village.

The Summer House is the story of how Lily and Rose help each other overcome past hurts and start new beginnings and find the safe harbor in their little village.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I found it to be the perfect light, easy Southern beach read with plenty of quirky characters and sweet moments.

Thank you The First Editions for the advanced copy; all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Now and then, I feel the need to step back from the world, so to speak, and indulge myself with a book that I know is going to lift my spirits. Lauren K. Denton’s books always fit the bill and The Summer House is no exception. Ms. Denton can take a quite ordinary person and put her in circumstances that are troubling but not very different from what many of us experience and have that character reach a place of contentment without being overly sentimental. In this case, it’s two women, Lily and Rose, who develop a deep friendship based on warmth and trust and thereby move on to a new place in life.

Both of these women are in need of emotional sustenance and, while their difference in age would seem to be a barrier, things don’t work out that way. Each finds the connection that satisfies that need and Lily, in particular, learns that “family” is not always those people that you’re born into or marry into; Rose and the residents of Safe Harbor become her new home and Rose, in turn, begins to feel a softening, a breaking down of her walls.

There’s some romance here but it doesn’t take over the story and is a nice addition to this tale that, when all is said and done, is one of hope and happiness for these two very appealing women. Adding to the story is the ambience of a warm, gentle Southern setting that Ms. Denton always does so well. I can’t recommend this highly enough to anyone looking for a few hours of pure enjoyment.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, June 2020.

The story begins with Lily waking up and finding a note from her husband, Worth.. He’s leaving her.

She has already recently uprooted herself when they moved for a new job offer for Worth. They are still in the temporary rental house provided by his job. So, Lily needs to pull herself together and find a job and a place to live.

She ends up applying for a hair salon job in the sleepy retirement village of Safe Harbor. She meets the woman in charge of the village, Rose, who agrees to hire her for a probationary period. Rose seems a bit unpleasant and set in her ways, but she is nice enough to allow Lily to live in the apartment above the salon.

Raise your hand if you can see the end coming a mile away. Yes, it was highly predictable, but also highly enjoyable.

Lily has a lot of growing to do, learning to live on her own, become her own person and possibly learn to love again.

Rose, many years her senior, also has some growing to do, a shell to come out of and possibly learn to love again.

Perhaps it was because this was the exact book I needed to read right now, but I loved it. The sleepy town, the characters all sweet, but carrying their own baggage, the blossoming love of people who never thought they’d love again.

What an enjoyable read. A good story that is sweet and hopeful. Lily has to scramble when she wakes up one morning and finds divorce papers laying on the kitchen counter and her husband of just over a year gone. She sees an add for a hair dresser at a retirement community and agrees to a trail period. The residents love her and the owner of the community, Rose, sees her younger self in Lily. As they become friends they both grow and become aware of life around them. Rose's nephew Rawlin and his young daughter make life sweet for both. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A beautiful beach read that felt familiar in its plot line yet made me happy to read it.

Rose's husband had left her, Lily ran a retirement home. Both struck up friendship and furthered the story.

My first book by this author, I liked the steady pace of the book showing me their lives. The two ladies were sweet, ably supported by other characters who equally had gone through life. Friendships and second chance at life was well shown.

Overall, I would say this was perfect on a day when I didn't want to think but forget every problem in the world.

EXCERPT: Even though her mind still felt fuzzy with sleep, she rose from the bed and made her way down to the kitchen. That's when she realised what was wrong. She usually woke to the scent of strong Columbian roast coffee wafting from the kitchen into the bedroom, luring her with a warm, heady promise.

Their fancy Bonavita coffeemaker, a wedding gift from Worth's best man, was the first thing he had unpacked two weeks ago when they had arrived in Foley from Atlanta, and he'd made a steaming pot of extra-robust coffee every morning before he left for work. It was a small token, especially when everything felt so upside down and Lily had long grown used to feeling off-balance, and she took the daily gift of hot coffee for what it was - his way of offering sustenance, love, and maybe a little hope, all in her favourite mug.

This morning, however, the gleaming silver coffeepot was cold and quiet. She was still tying the belt on her thin robe around her waist when she saw the note propped up against it. A mechanical pencil lay next to it.

'Lily, I can't do this anymore. You deserve more than what I can give you. I'm so sorry.'

ABOUT THIS BOOK: Lily Bishop wakes up one morning to find a good-bye note and divorce papers from her husband on the kitchen counter. Having moved to Alabama for his job only weeks before, Lily is devastated, but a flyer at the grocery store for a hair stylist position in a local retirement community provides a refuge while she contemplates her next steps.

Rose Carrigan built the small retirement village of Safe Harbor years ago—just before her husband ran off with his assistant. Now she runs a tight ship, making sure the residents follow her strict rules. Rose keeps everyone at arm’s length, including her own family. But when Lily shows up asking for a job and a place to live, Rose’s cold exterior begins to thaw.

Lily and Rose form an unlikely friendship, and Lily’s salon soon becomes the place where residents share town gossip, as well as a few secrets. Lily soon finds herself drawn to Rose’s nephew, Rawlins—a single dad and shrimper who’s had some practice at starting over—and one of the residents may be carrying a torch for Rose as well.

Neither Lily nor Rose is where she expected to be, but the summer makes them both wonder if there’s more to life and love than what they’ve experienced so far.

MY THOUGHTS: Sweet, charming, enjoyable. But nothing memorable, and somewhat predictable.

The Summer House is my first book by Lauren K. Denton. It is a quick, easy read, pleasant, but lacking in that special something that leaves you longing for more.

The characters in the lifestyle village are a colourful bunch, with stories of pain, joy, and living their lives fully. They still wear brightly coloured bathing suits, dance, have tiny dogs on glittery leashes, drive golf carts decorated with leis and enjoy boozy Sunday afternoons.

This is a fun read, ideal for a day at the beach or by the pool.

😊😊😊

#TheSummerHouse #NetGalley

'Death is always unexpected, even when we know it's coming.'

THE AUTHOR: Born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, Lauren K. Denton now lives with her husband and two daughters in Homewood, just outside Birmingham. In addition to her fiction, she writes a monthly newspaper column about life, faith, and how funny (and hard) it is to be a parent. On any given day, she’d rather be at the beach with her family and a stack of books.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Thomas Nelson via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of The Summer House by Lauren K. Denton for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

The Summer House is a beautiful story about overcoming life’s obstacles, healing and being able to start over. I found myself emotionally drawn to each and every character. The two main characters, Lily and Rose, were both so endearing and just pulled at my heartstrings.
Beautifully written and certainly well worth reading as you relax by the pool or beach. Great vacation read!
Lauren Denton is becoming my favorite author.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was an excellent read!

The emotions, settings, and situations were all realistic and well-written. I truly felt what the characters were feeling, saw the beautiful settings the author created, and believed in the situations the characters were living with.

Perhaps the best part, in my opinion, were the romances. They were realistic, with progress and steps that felt real. I would read about a character doing this or saying that and it would resonate, as I could recall a time when I'd been in that same situation with a new potential love and one of us had done or said that. And even if it wasn't something I'd experienced yet, it felt like something I could look forward to experiencing in life. Most romance are written in that over-the-top fairy tale way that reads well and gives satisfaction, but doesn't really hold true to how life itself is. But this one was a great read, satisfying, and realistic all at once.

The characters were well-developed without giving us more information than we needed. There were a few areas where I felt situations or characters could have been developed a bit more, but they weren't the focus of the story so it didn't really detract from it.

This was a great book and I look forward to reading more by this author.

This is my first book by Lauren K. Denton, which surprises me as I love southern fiction and this book did not disappoint! I love how Ms. Denton writes about relationships, the challenges and the satisfaction that they can bring. This book is told via two points of view...the elder Rose and the new resident and hairdresser Lily.

At first I thought Lily was going to be flaky but she sure turned into one strong, independent woman. The story made me feel like part of the neighbourhood. The characters were so interesting and the narrator's backstories were so intriguing.

This book is full of love, wit and southern charm. A great story to read during this quarantine. The characters’ personalities and resilience were well written. This unforgettable read is just what I needed to escape for a few hours and it left my heart full, happy and content. Visit Safe Harbor right away. You just might want to stay there forever. Highly recommend.

I absolutely adored this book! I read it in one day! The characters were all delightful and I loved the community! I seriously want to live there. The romance was sweet and not rushed. I am looking forward to this hopefully becoming a series! I would love to spend more time here.