What a rollercoaster of a ride! In a good way! This book gave me all the feels! It was a wonderfully written and beautiful story. You get to see two family’s that suffered great tragedies build there life back up. This book was real. It captures emotions that would be true to the situations at hand. It left me wanting more in a good way! I was drawn in from the very beginning and pretty much read this book in one sitting. I would absolutely recommend this book!

Oh how I loved every part of this book! The family dynamic was so strong.  There were many ups and downs, but they stayed together and became stronger.  I truly loved all the different character points of view.  Being able to see how each person in the story was affected, what went through their minds and their understanding was beautiful.  I have not read may books by Ms. Summers, but that will change.  I hope there are more stories coming from these characters.   The storylines flowed as a perfect family drama I would watch on television.  I had a hard time putting the book down as I read, sneaking in a few pages here and there, to be able to find out what would unfold next.  I adored all the characters.   Felicity had such a giving and compassionate soul.   She has a wonderful and open relationship with her kids, they were a very tight knit group. But she was also loving, strong, and tried her best to be what her kids needed.  Nick and Honor stole my heart with the hurt they carried around.  The cemetery scene broke my heart and brought tears because I could just feel the anguish coming from Nick.  

This story encompassed so many emotions from different story plots and set up a continuation of them as well.  I have read a lot of books but haven't read one with his many points of view and able to follow it easily and have it affect me the way this one has.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from the publisher through Netgalley.

Accidentally family is a book you could read in on sitting. I loved how you were drawn into the characters lives right from the first page. This book had it all, love, loss, family, friendship. I cannot wait to see what this author has in store next.

4.5 Stars
This is not really a romance, more a family drama with some romantic elements. 

Felicity Buchanan is a newly-divorced mother of two who lives in Pecan Valley, Texas. She'd married her high school sweetheart, Matt, and supported him through medical school. And about three years ago Matt started having an affair with a pretty, young drug rep. He left his family to move in with his then-pregnant fiance Amber. Felicity and their kids, Honor and Nick, were blindsided and devastated. Matt has moved to Austin with Amber and is raising young Jack; he's has mostly neglected his family, friends and colleagues left behind in Pecan Valley. Only Honor has maintained some limited contact with her father. In fact, the book opens with Felicity and Honor being disappointed that Matt didn't show up for Honor's high school graduation.

And, that's when they get the call to turn up to the emergency room. Matt, Amber, and Jack were in a catastrophic car wreck. Amber is DOA, and Jack has a broken femur and is in a coma due to head trauma; Matt's on death's doorstep. His former practice partner and best friend, Dr. Graham Murphy was at the ER to manage a delivering patient when Matt was rushed in. Graham spent some time with Matt awaiting the arrival of Felicity and the kids, so he knows the story is grim. Before Matt gets wheeled into surgery he tells Felicity that he isn't going to make it, and he begs her to raise his love child. Felicity agrees, reluctantly. Her main focus was trying to clam Matt, and her intention is to find some relation of Amber's to find a permanent guardian. Graham is there to help Felicity when they find out that Matt didn't survive the surgery. 

Nick, furious with his dad's betrayal and lingering neglect, is a hot ball of rage when he learns his mother has agreed to care for baby Jack. It's a good thing, almost, that Jack is unconscious for a few days because it gives everyone time to cool down from the high drama. Felicity gets an inside peek at what Matt's life looked like with his replacement family, and it wasn't pretty. All signs point to him being quite unhappy--and that's not as satisfying now that she's saddled with Jack. Because, as it turns out, Amber was a foster kid with no family, and so Jack's next of kin, and legal guardian of record according to Matt's will is...Honor. And there ain't a hell cold enough for Felicity to allow her eighteen year old daughter to forego her college scholarship to care for her half-brother. So, that's that. Jack will be coming home to Felicity's re-vamped sewing room just as soon as he's released from the hospital. 

Add to this unexpected house guest, Felicity's younger sister Charity is back to help celebrate Honor's graduation. What no one yet knows is that world-touring travel guide Charity doesn't have a return flight back to Italy. And, she's homeless, jobless...and has bigger secrets she's sure her big sis will help her figure out.  

Graham has his own difficulty. His beloved wife Julia died of cancer maybe some years ago. He's been raising their daughter Diana alone ever since, and Di's a hot mess. Rebelling, sneaking out at night to drink and get high, she's just been kicked out of her elite private school. So, she'll be a sophomore at the public school where Nick will be a junior next year. That doesn't stop all the old widows in Pecan Valley from trying to set Graham up with the assistant principal of that private school. That's small-town Texas life, I guess, all the matrons want to make sure folks are properly coupled-up. 
 
In fact, they want to see Felicity happily settled again, now that there's no chance of reconciliation with Matt. As I said, this is a family drama. The blurb tells us that Felicity and Graham will team up, and their rekindled friendship will lead to more. But, "it's complicated" is kind of the whole gist of the story. Felicity is a champ of a woman who takes her constant struggles in stride. She maintains the bravest face in the history of humanity and not only takes in Jack, but makes a home for him--one warmer and more loving than the one Jack was born to. Nick is as hot a mess as Diana, and these two team up on their own to create some havoc. Meanwhile, the earnest boy who's been dogging Honor's steps since freshman year English lit is not willing to leave for his Marines boot camp without trying everything he can to turn her head.  

I really enjoyed this story. It is lush in description and characterization. The hero and heroine are grounded humans with real issues. They have problems with problems. They try their best and get crapped on, and they try even harder. The kids have issues that make sense, and their actions may be destructive but they are also reasonable in context. I didn't hate anyone in the book, really, except Matt who was rendered somewhat sympathetic, in the end. And the choices that the characters make are all so real. The third-person point-of-view shifts between many narrators, but it's always clear who's talking and when. This level of clarity helped even bratty and manipulative Diana seem somewhat justified. There is a lot of comfort to go with all the hurt, especially following the funerals. Poor Felicity is overrun with casseroles, desserts and vittles she has no hope of consuming--so why not share it with Graham and Diana? Diana's in dire need of some women in her life, and the increased visits with Honor, Felicity and Charity do her a world of good. Even Nick is an unexpected help, with both Diana and Jack. Turns out Nick's uncanny resemblance to his despised father becomes the one touchstone confused and hurting Jack can find.    

There is a bit of romance and a VERY LITTLE bit of sexytimes. That said, we know that Graham and Felicity make a great and happy couple to help parent this cadre of kids in various stages of hurt and healing. I'm sure we will see another Pecan Valley novel, this time featuring Charity and the sexy but grieving sheriff who's always in the right place at the right time...

4.5 Stars - A beautifully written story full of emotion that touches the heart. Sasha Summers has written a story that weaves together a tale of grief, loss, anger, hope, and love, and how the bonds of family can be tested but hold true through it all.

Felicity and Graham were both strong characters. It was easy to relate to both of them as they tried to be strong and do the right thing for their kids, but also were faced with their own emotions as they began to realize that their hearts wanted each other. I especially felt for Graham as he dealt with his daughter - they have been through so much and neither of them have dealt with their trauma well. It was clear that Felicity has not had to deal with the same things Graham has had to, and she appears to be a super-mom, but…I loved the way she dealt with her kids as their stable world gets turned upside down - and also that it showed she wasn’t always the super-mom that she showed to the world, that she had feelings that extended beyond her children and that she was learning that it was ok to not be ok sometimes.

Although this is Felicity and Graham’s story, this book is so much more. The other storylines added so much dimension to the book and helped define who both Felicity and Graham were as individuals, to their families and friends, and to each other. I enjoyed getting to know the kids and watching the first love bloom between Honor and Owen, seeing Nick struggle as he dealt with his father’s betrayal, and watching Diana’s rebellion were great stories on their own, but I loved how they were interwoven with one another, showcasing the family ties that they all have. I just loved Felicity’s sister Charity, who has her own challenges she is facing - and I can’t wait to see how her story plays out.

This book had multiple points of view which sounds overwhelming but actually helped with understanding the characters and the relationships they had. There was a lot going on in this book and I did find there were a few minor things that felt forced or maybe just needed a little more discovery to understand. Honor and Owen were wonderful together, but I never fully understood her reluctance to get involved with him and felt there was more of a story there. I also felt there was so much more story surrounding Felicity’s ex-husband, his mistress, and their baby. The video from the nanny-cam was kind of left hanging and I wished there was just a bit more closure to that relationship. Not major issues, just a couple things I wanted to know more about - and maybe some of the answers will be discovered in future books!

Sasha Summers has crafted a realistic, emotional, heart-felt book that will bring all the feels. What starts off as a tragedy turns in to a love story that conveys hope and highlights the bonds of family and definitely belongs on any bookshelf!

This is a must read book. I literally couldn't put this book down. I was reading this book well into the night until my eyes no longer could stay open. I loved everything about this book. There is so much raw emotion in here that I was ugly crying a few times.This is a book that you have a tissue handy. Though parts of this book are going to rip your heart it's also such a beautiful story. The title fits this book perfectly. Felicity is such a strong character. What is asked of her not many could take in stride and carry on. Felicity's children go through a lot and you can see the struggle, but there is light at the end. There is a sense of hope for them throughout this book. Plus Graham and his daughter reconnect with each other and Felicity and her brood. There are so set ups for what I hope is future books in the series because I'm invested in Felicity's sister story. I would highly recommend reading this one, but I do say pick a day for uninterrupted reading time because you won't want to stop reading this one. This is my first book read by Sasha Summers and she had gained a new reader!

Even though "Accidentally Family" by Sasha Summers had its share of sadness and drama, it was still sweet and funny at times, and I loved it. In some ways, it reminded me of Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove series or Emily March's Eternity Springs series because of the way it included the primary couple as well as some of their friends and family. I think this book is especially likely to appeal to fans of those types of ensemble stories, which have characters and plotlines that sometimes carry over from one book to the next, though I highly recommend it for all fans of contemporary romance because I enjoyed it so much.

This book touches on a lot of big topics: first love, dealing with the death of a parent, teenage rebellion, dating after a divorce and/or the death of a spouse, and unexpected pregnancy, among others. There are a number of different characters and plotlines woven together, but the author does so very skillfully, and I really liked that so many characters were able to provide their perspective on the story's events. It's easy to see how this book could turn into a series set in Pecan Valley given the hints of potential future romances that were seen here.

As for the central romance in this story between Dr. Graham Murphy and Felicity Otto-Buchanan, I found it very easy to root for them to find a way to be together. They were both very likeable characters, and had been shouldering too much responsibility on their own for too long. Each of them deserved a partner to share their burdens and appreciate how truly special they were. The way their kids and Felicity's sister Charity played matchmaker for them was very sweet and led to several of the story's lighter moments, such as when Graham and Felicity were dancing together at a block party and Charity and the kids watched and jokingly critiqued their technique.

I hope that this is not the last we'll see of the inhabitants of Pecan Valley! I look forward to seeing what Sasha Summers writes next.

*ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

Accidentally Family is such a beautifully written, emotional ride. The book focuses on two families who have both experienced loss and betrayal. Summers flawlessly weaves the story between the three main women in the story which I think was an interesting, smart author choice; it definitely kept me engaged. I know sometimes the switching between points of views can make it hard to really grasp a story-you get used to the characters voice you've been following on then things switch, but Summers handled the transitioning very, very well. Graham and Felicity are just so sweet together, both having experienced traumatic losses and divorce. The book had me crying but was also full of so much hope. The pacing was amazing. I sat down to read this book and was obsessed, I couldn't put it down. It immediately sucks you in until the very last page.

You all know how much I love small-town romances. So when I saw the cover of this one I had to have it. Then when I saw the series title I was lost, or hungry, it doesn't matter which one only that I knew I had to read it. 

Another good point for the author is the fact that within pages of the book she had me crying. I love it when an author can do that. 

Sasha Summers is a new author for me. So it was wonderful that I was able to get into the story right away. This one is a heartbreaker for sure. What this family goest through it so sad and horrible. But I really liked how for the most part the kids stuck with her. 

Felicity is such a good person. You just can't help by like her. Sometimes I thought she was a little too nice but I got why she always wanted to see the good in life. What she is willing to do for her ex is just special. 

I also really enjoyed Graham. He realized that in her grief he almost forgot about his daughter and is working very hard to fix that. I didn't care for how she acted at times, it reminded me of an immature person but I get that. She lost her mom when she was young and still isn't handling it well. I'm an adult and still haven't gotten over the passing of my mom. 

Together they work. They are simply good people. I loved all the other characters in the story and I wanted more. I'm thinking I know how the next book is about but since I can't find anything about it I'm not sure. 

I think my only issue with the book is that I would have liked to have more romance between Graham and Felicity. I felt they deserved more. As a whole, I love it and can't wait for more. It might have been a little bit of women's fiction but still a good story for those who love just romance.

I loved his emotionally charged story!!  My first from this author but most definitely not my last.  This is an expertly crafted story that is an amazing mix of family drama, loss, new love, and teenage angst all blended together to form a wonderfully sweet story that will pull you in from the very first page.  Put this one on the must read list.  I highly recommended

Accidentally Family is filled with drama, love, forgiveness, tragedy and happiness...everything you’d find in a real-life family. 
Felicity is practically a saint and should be easy to both love and be annoyed by because of that perfection. Trying to raise two teens alone isn’t easy under the best of circumstances. But add in betrayal, anger and pain and it’s a whole different ballgame. Honor and Nick are her concern always, but more gets added to her load of responsibilities.
Graham is grieving both the loss of his wife as well as the loss of his easy relationship with his daughter Diana. Diana is the most volatile character and the hardest to like, even as I understood why she did the self destructive things she did. Felicity’s sister Charity is a breath of fresh air, with her own secret that she’s isn’t ready to burden the family with yet. 
This story pulled at my heartstrings, made me laugh as well as cry, and rejoice in the building and expanding of this flawed but fabulous family.
If everything else that Sasha Summers has written is as good as this book, I’ve discovered a new favorite author!

Wow - talk about emotional!

Accidentally Family takes you on an emotional ride. Post-divorce, Felicity finds herself guardian of her ex-husband's injured toddler, while helping her children deal with the death of their father and step-mother. Not a light topic at all. Graham, her ex-husband's friend, is trying to help Felicity and her family though this while also still dealing with the death of his wife and trying to relate to his teenager. But the two if them help each other and their children though these really tough times, and find each other in along the way.

No unnecessary drama, no unnecessary angst. Just a true emotional journey and finding a new normal in the face of tragedy. Well written, with great plot and character development, and just a wonderful read.

Accidentally Family by Sasha Summers is a touching story of rebuilding life after staggering loss. At the beginning Felicity and her teenage children are returning to a new normal more happens to them. This is a realistic look at coping, struggling and recovering. A new beginning is again found.

Graham and his daughter also have suffered loss but recovery has been out of reach. As these two families find the ways to blend is an honest look at life during the difficult times. It is a caring story with heartbreak and hopefulness. 

The description said, “Welcome to Pecan Valley, where the town may be small but the townspeople will always lend a helping hand or a shoulder to lean on. Where good times, good humor, and good people will always lead to happily ever after.” It never said anything about achieving this would be easy. Authentic memorable story showing the hard work it takes with notable characters, young and older.

4.5 Stars
An ARC of the book was given to me by the publisher through Net Galley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Sasha Summers is yet another new-to-me author, but that doesn’t really ever stop me from grabbing up a book as long as the blurb draws me in and so does the cover. Accidentally Family checked off those two boxes for me, so I dove right in. And now I’m wondering how I missed this author in the last several years?! Suffice it to say, that won’t be the case any longer.

As I read the blurb, I really expected this book to be somewhat light-hearted and heartwarming. It’s very heartwarming…yet very heartwrenching all the same. But I wouldn’t say this book is light-hearted. Just when you think life can’t possibly throw one more bad thing at you, it usually does. At least for these two families, it seems.

NICUnurse’s Rating: I knew within the first few paragraphs that the feel I got from the blurb of Accidentally Family was not what I was going to get in this book. So, if you are looking for that light-hearted romance, you might want to skip this one. There are most definitely light-hearted moments scattered throughout, but it is very much an emotional roller coaster ride. It’s told from several different points of view, too, and not just from Felicity and Graham’s standpoints. I really liked that because it set the tone and the stage for future books (fingers crossed on that!!). The multiple POVs also helped to develop all of the characters. I think the two most moody teens of all would have been sorely misunderstood had the author not included their POVs. But as most teens do, those two took me to the highest highs and lowest lows. I absolutely devoured this book in just a few short hours. And it’s going on my must reread list because it’s one I know I can totally get lost in, and sometimes, when I’m in a real book funk, I need those kinds of stories in my life to go back to.

I give Accidentally Family by Sasha Summers 5 out of 5 stars!

Accidentally Family is all about love and second chances. This book is emotional, a few pages in and I said out loud to myself “I hate this because it’s already making me cry” and I knew if the beginning was that emotional the whole story would just shatter me and it did. Once I started this book I really couldn’t put it down, I became so invested in the story and the lives of all the characters. 
I loved that this story included point of views and inner thoughts of all the characters, there wasn’t just a sole focus on one or the other. Each character was going through something, from the adults to the children. Everyone was struggling with something in their life, a betrayal of some sort. Two families were broken, but found a way to work together, to have a second chance at love. 
Accidentally Family is an emotional story that will have you crying, laughing, and falling in love with everyone involved. I completely fell in love with these characters, this blended family and the entire town of Pecan Valley. I’m hoping there is more of this group in the future, because this book was a MUST READ and I’m hooked.

This is a very emotional story. Felicity is supposed to be celebrating her daughter’s high school graduation when her life his thrown upside down in the worst possible way. She has to deal with all the fall out from her husband dying while trying to support her children, and keep her self together. Graham is struggling to connect with his teenage daughter after the death of his wife. This is a real life story about the struggles with depression, suicide, and death in families. As families struggle, how they deal with each other in love and honesty is how they are able to get through successfully. This is a very poignant story that warms the heart and will give you are a warm feeling at how happily it ends.

Felicity has had many hits and they keep on coming. Her kids are her life. She lives in a town where her family gathers around them, but they are needy unto themselves. She wants to stop living in the past and move on.

Graham knows he must learn to live in the now. It is hard when you have a child who cannot seem to forigve you your foibles. With this new attraction to an old friend, can he discover what it means to make a new family?

This story had some great characters. My issue with this book was that they were all presernt and accounted for. The whole town, all the famlies, and it felt more than full it felt like a bucket overflowing. The story itself moved at a fast pace. It was just a struggle to keep up where maybe some of the storylines would have been best in their own book.


***This ARC copy was given by Netgalley and its publishers, in exchange for an honest review.

Felicity, a divorced mother, and her two children Nick and Honor, are now leaning on each other after the death of Felicity's ex-husband. If there weren't already mixed feelings related to his death, now Felicity has taken on the responsibility of raising the toddler her ex-husband has left behind. Graham, Felicity's best friend, is still picking up the pieces after losing his wife to cancer. His daughter is the walking definition of rebellion and he's not sure he can help her heal on his own. With each other's support, Felicity and Graham look to pick up the pieces of their families after life has not gone quite as planned.

This was the perfect family based romance, written with such emotion that I couldn't put it down.  In a novel centered around family, the steam behind the romance was just right! Often I can become overwhelmed when multiple characters' perspectives are given throughout a book, but Summers did a flawless job of ensuring that each perspective given supported the storyline and gave us the depth needed to connect with each character. I'm hoping that because some of their storylines were left unresolved, that means this is just the beginning of a series I'm looking forward to reading!

Thank you to InkSlingerPR and Entangled Publishing for this advance reader copy in return for an honest review! It was such an enjoyable read!

It is the night of Felicity's daughter's high school graduation and they get a sudden call when her ex-husband is involved in a tragic car accident. Felicity speeds to the hospital with her two teens, Honor and Nick. Although her divorce was difficult, quite naturally Felicity wants her children to be their with their father. With her ex being critically injured from the accident he makes a very difficult request to Felicity - for her to look after his toddler son, Jack.

Meanwhile, her best friend Graham, a doctor on scene at the hospital, is there for her. His rebellious daughter Diana is also at the hospital at the time because Graham wants to keep an eye on her.

These are all of the characters in this wonderful book - Felicity, Honor, Nick, Graham, Diana and Jack...

I don't know how Sasha Summers did it with this book, but each and every character played remarkable roles in this book. Those six characters that I just listed will come together as a family. No, that is not a spoiler. I wouldn't do that to any reader of this review. The genre is romance, which pretty much guarantees a happy ending. What I will do is to tell you that the Ms. Summers crafted a very emotional story about two families becoming one. The journey is indeed troubled, but proves to be very much worth it.

I'd like mention something about the parents in this story - Felicity and her relationship with her kids, and Graham's relationship with Diana. They were exceptional parents, even though there was so much angst involved with the teenagers. I also loved that the author did not shy away from some of the problems that the teens were facing during the transitions occurring in this book. Then there is baby Jack... You just have to read the book to see how this all played out.

Accidentally Family is a touching story with remarkable characters and delicate situations that kept me so invested while reading this book that I could not put it down. Kudos to Ms. Summers for creating such a warm story, one that will have an impact me for a long time to come.

Many thanks to Entangled; Amara and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

This was a beautiful, quick and easy read about family, surviving tragedy, and love. I particularly liked the fact that Felicity and Graham are older characters, which I'd forgotten about between requesting the book and reading it. The pacing is solid, the characters and dialogue are all believable, and I admit I did get teary-eyed on occasion. This story was moving on so many levels.

I saw a lot of myself in Felicity. She loves her children so much, and has to be strong for them always, even putting on a brave face when her world is crumbling around her. It's hard to know what she saw in her ex, but that's true of real life people, too. I liked the way she and her kids were tight, like the Three Musketeers. They supported each other through the good and bad stuff, and their struggles (particularly Nick's) were very believable and authentic.

I had a harder time connecting with Graham because of the distance between him and his daughter. I think it'd been about four years since his wife's passing, and I couldn't wrap my head around who badly their relationship had deteriorated. Logically I could sympathize with his situation, and the way he lost himself in his grief briefly. And perhaps some of it had to do with men in general handling emotions and relationships so differently than women, but that kind of emotional disconnect between parents and children is so far removed from my own relationship with my son that it's almost incomprehensible.

The friendship between Felicity and Graham was amazing! The way they were immediately there to support each other, in spite of the dissolution of their friendship prior to the beginning of the book, was fantastic. True friendship is like that. The friendship Felicity had with her sister was great, too. And that between Honor and her brother Nick. The support and love of family was strong in this story.

The issues I had with the story were little things. If Owen was in love with Honor for so many years, where did she get the idea that he was a player? I would have liked for her misconception (if that's truly what it was) to have been addressed. Also, the video from the nanny cam served to show Felicity's ex in a new light, but I'm not convinced the accident was truly random. Despite the revelation and then belief that things were well for the new family, the car didn't swerve into oncoming traffic for no reason. (I suspect a fight of some sort, but we may never know the truth.)

I hope this is the start of a series because there is more to the story of Felicity's sister, Charity, and the good sheriff. And I want to know more about Honor and Owen! (The epilogue was not set far enough in the future for my liking.) And I want to see more healing for Graham's daughter. And ... and ... and ...

Needless to say, Pecan Valley has captured my heart. This was my first read by this author, and I'm lucky because now I get to go back and read her previous books while waiting for her next new story. (Which really needs to be about Charity, pretty please.)