Four girls Elizabeth, Veronica, Emily and Rachel meet for the first time in 1985 at camp in northern Michigan, where they discover a four-leaf clover. The four go on to become firm friends for four summers and at camp, they became known as The Clover Girls. During the last summer, some things happen that pull them apart.

The Clover Girls is a beautiful, though heartbreaking story told in a dual timeline and it wasn't long before I was emotionally invested in all of the characters. This is a story filled with love, life, hope, sadness, and happiness. I thoroughly enjoyed the flashback scenes and getting to know how the friends endured hardships and good times over their years apart. The Clover Girls was my first novel by Viola Shipman and it was such a worthy read that it won't be my last.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from HARLEQUIN -Graydon House via NetGalley at my request and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

I like the idea of the book--three former best friends return to the camp where they met after their fourth close friend dies--but the execution is clunky. Dialogue doesn't flow or sound natural. The political themes are too heavy-handed (Rachel's storyline?...please). I think the worst part is that the girls/women are actually really mean to each other. With friends like these, you know? The only character I identified with and felt much of anything positive toward was Liz. Rachel and V were awful, and Em was way too angelic to be believable. A meh read for me all around.

The Clover Girls is the story of four friends - Elizabeth, Veronica, Rachel and Emily, who meet at summer camp in the 1980's. Their friendship ends abruptly after a teen betrayal, but they come back together as adults when Em is dying and asks them to come together at their old camp one more time.

I wanted to read this novel because I love Viola Shipman's books. I also found the camp setting appealing (and perfect for a summer read).

The Clover Girls is told from the perspectives of Veronica, Rachel, and Liz (Elizabeth). They all have very different lives and challenges as adults. Veronica is a former model and she feels unseen in her marriage. Rachel is a conservative political pundit who courts controversy on a daily basis. Liz is a self employed (Etsy crafter) divorced mom who is taking care of her mother, who has Alzheimer's.

I am about a decade older than the girls but I related to their childhood memories so much. For instance, this passage:

"I shut my eyes and see myself as a girl growing up in the 1980s. My imagination was my best friend. My world revolved around such little treasures like my bike, my Hula Hoop, my diary, board games—from Monopoly to Candy Land—tree swings. I would wake up early and skitter out of the house, roaming the neighborhood, coming home at dusk when I’d hear my mom yelling my name.

As a teenager, the mall became my playground. My heart would race every time I walked inside. I spent entire weeks at the mall, eating at Sbarro, shopping at Benetton, Lerner, Merry-Go-Round. I would meet classmates at Orange Julius, hoping older boys would talk to us. I would eventually work at Units.

Every summer at camp, we swam, canoed, played games, sang and talked. None of us were glued to our cells. None of us were trying to influence strangers on social media. None of us could Photoshop our pictures, or connect with anyone other than who was standing directly before us. Fun was free. Imagination was free. I was free." (ebook location 3253)

This is a lovely read. I found Em's story and Liz's story with her mother especially moving. I am not a crier, but I came very close reading the latter part of this book.

I recommend The Clover Girls for anyone who remembers childhood camp memories, childhood friendships, and who wants a summer novel that will take you back to those times.

3.5/5 - I read this one all in one go, in one day. This story has big themes of friendship and includes a ton about women supporting one another--or tearing one another down. This is one of those "best friends had a falling-out and grew apart" storylines, but it does include a pathway to reconciliation. I actually like that the author wrote these women such a crooked pathway back to resurrecting their friendship because 1) they were really mean to one another, like really mean, and 2) it felt more natural for them to have a hard time of healing when they treated one another so harshly. In other words, when trust has been broken, it's really hard to fix that. Some parts of the storyline made me roll my eyes a little (the political heavy-handedness, for one) but I found myself really connecting with many parts of the story. Especially Liz's storyline.

I also really liked the way the Michigan lake setting came to life.


I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Harlequin & Graydon House!

This is the second book I've read of Viola's (Wade's) and I feel about this one the exact way I felt about the last one -- entertaining from page one!! If you are looking for a book on friendship for your beach read this Summer -- this book is for you!! Such an amazing concept for a book and I'd love to see this picked up as a tv series. Too much story for just a movie!! Follow the Clover Girls from their teenage years into adulthood.

Actual adulting is very different from what we imagined life would be like when we were kids. Even more different than real life was from summer camp life, back in that long ago day.

Or at least that’s true for the Clover Girls of Camp Birchwood as they look back on those four golden summers more than 30 years ago, back when they were certain they were going to be best friends 4-EVER, just like their names. Back when they were 15 instead of 50. Before they broke their friendship and went their separate ways.

Back when they were all full of life and hope and dreams. Back when they were all alive.

Because none of those things are true any longer. Veronica, once a supermodel, has faded into the background of her marriage and her life. Liz is caught in the mid-life sandwich, divorced, taking care of her dying mother and coming to the harsh realization that her grown up children are selfish, self-centered and self-absorbed, and that Liz is going to be all alone in the world when her mother dies. Rachel is possibly the most hated woman in America, a former actress and conservative political handler and TV personality who lives out of a suitcase and goes on TV to spin the deeds of vile politicians into soundbites that can be all-too-easily swallowed by people looking for demons to embrace.

Emma is dead. But before she died she returned alone, to Camp Birchwood, one last time, to make the abandoned campground ready for one final visit from the Clover Girls. Emma hopes that a return to the place where they were free to be their best and most authentic selves will give the friends she loved so much one last chance to fix what they broke between them.

And what they broke inside themselves.

Escape Rating A-: The Clover Girls reads like “sad fluff”, but it’s the fluffiest, tastiest marshmallow fluff that ever fluffed, lightly toasted and nestled lovingly between two graham crackers and just the right amount of chocolate. In other words, it may be sad fluff, but it’s the quintessential s’more of sad fluff, just as messy, gooey and tasty as the s’mores we ate at summer camp way back when.

And if my read of it is any indication, it’s clear that you can take the girl out of summer camp, time can put the entire experience (far) into the rearview mirror, but you can’t really take the girl out of the woman or the s’mores out of the girl.

There is a LOT of sad in this story – and not just because Emma is dead from the beginning. But it’s a weep in the middle rather than a cry at the end kind of story. All of the remaining Clover Girls have a lot to get over, a lot to forgive each other for and an equal amount of crap to forgive themselves for, but the story ends with a smile and twinkle in its eye.

Along the way, there’s a lot about the boxes that women get shoehorned into from a very young age, and how there’s even less time than there was when the Clover Girls were girls for girls to just have a chance to be and to find out who they can be when there’s less pressure to fit into the molds that society and their parents have already laid out for them.

One thing I was grateful for is that there aren’t a ton of flashbacks. There’s just enough for the reader to understand what went right and wrong back then that led them to the lives they have now, without spending half the book reliving the past.

It’s the present that’s important. Acknowledging the past is necessary in order for them each to move forward, but rehashing the past in all of its gory detail won’t help them deal with the issues they have in the present. And I’ll admit that I wouldn’t have liked the story half as much if that was the way it had been written.

Something else that I liked about this story was the way that the author dealt with the recent past and the political strife that has occurred in the U.S. over the past few years. Not just the conflict between political parties but divisions between family members. The remaining Clover Girls seemed to run the political gamut from liberal to conservative, but with the exception of Rachel it was conservative in the way that anyone who lived through the Reagan Era would think of conservative rather than the pure factionalism that’s occurring now. I found that acknowledgement to be both real and tastefully done, although I’m sure that others’ reading mileage will vary.

There turned out to be much more to this story than I expected on any number of fronts, all of them thought provoking and in the end rather joyful. And that sad fluff was surprisingly tasty as well as nostalgic. All in all, an absolutely lovely read.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. I definitely think this was a case of wrong book at the wrong time. I had a feeling after reading the first character's perspective that I wasn't going to like the book. I was so not in the mood for a woman who has everything whining about how unhappy she is. Really? Then do something about it. I'm tired of that narrative and gave up. I did skip to the end and my suspicion was confirmed. There as nothing new here. It's a storyline I have read before.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A group of childhood friends reunite after the death of one their circle. The reasons why they drifted apart and reasons why the girls became women who doubted themselves is the focus of the novel.

It is somewhat predictable, but I love the relationships and the vulnerabilities of the characters.

This is my first book by Viola Shipman and I absolutely adored it! I don't necessarily have the friendships these women have, but I could still relate, thinking back to some childhood friends. I loved the 80s references as a GenXer, for sure. The Clover Girls is a wonderful, nostalgic story of friendship. A great summer read.

4.5 Stars out of 5.

Best friends forEVER...Elizabeth, Veronica, Emily and Rachel meet at a sleep away camp in 1985 and for 4 summers they are the Clover Girls, named after the four leaf clover found their first summer. Meant to be especially when their initials spell ‘EVER’. But, can these now grown women, with old hurts and issues of their own, rekindle a friendship from years past when called together to say goodbye to the glue of the group?

I loved the references to the 80s throughout the book, and the dual timeline. Each character is given their appropriate due in chapters, explaining the choices each has made as a young, immature girl to their current situations. The back and forth between past and present, group and individuals works extremely well. Ms. Shipman (pen name of Wade Rouse) did an excellent job writing about the complexities of female friendships. The character development is top notch, writing is compelling drawing you from at the beginning and will have you routing for these friends throughout the book.

Thanks to Ms. Shipman, Harlequin Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.

I have read a few Viola Shipman books over the last year and thoroughly enjoyed them. When I saw this one was about four friends and summer camp, I jumped at this summer read. The story is about Elizabeth, Veronica, Rachel and Emily, who met and bonded at Camp Birchwood in northern Michigan. The first year they were there, they bonded, even though they were very different from one another. They became the Clover Girls, naming themselves after the four leaf clover that Emily found. Their initials spell EVER, and they were sure they would be best friends forever, but things happened and a wedge was driven between them. They all kept in contact with Em, but not the others. They are now middle-aged and Em has plans for them. Liz, V, and Rachel receive letters from Em, explaining what has happened in her life and asking them to reunite at Camp Birchwood for one week. What she may not know, is that each of her friends is facing a challenge or crisis or their own.

I am always amazed the Viola Shipman, a pen name for Wade Rouse, is able to write female characters and their issues so well. The story is told in the present as well as in flashbacks to their summers at Camp Birchwood. I loved all the 80's references, Karma Chameleon anyone? As these three old friends spent time together reminiscing, they shared old hurts and feelings. They also talked about their present lives. As they shared, they were able to see what they really wanted out of life. Their adult lives were so different from each other and each of them had given something up or made some bad decisions. This story is about forgiveness, friendship, pain, self-assessment and dreams. We also see that they realize money, power, and fame does not necessarily make you happy. These ladies make some wonderful decisions in order to move forward in their lives. This was an emotional story, that had me run the gamut of feelings. I really enjoyed this one and the questions at the end of the book can be used for book clubs, discussions or to get an individual reader to think a bit more about this story. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book upon request. The rating and opinions shared are my own.

~~~ I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ~~~

Viola Shipman has done it again! This is a lovely story with a lovely setting in my home state, Michigan! I love that this book details the beauty of the Sleeping Bear Dunes and Leelanau Peninsula area- the descriptions of the dunes and Lake Michigan are spot on! This is a story of four friends- the Clover Girls (Emily, Veronica, Elizabeth, Rachel). They meet as young girls at a summer camp in northern Michigan where they become instant friends. Their friendship develops over the years of summer camps and continues into adulthood (kind of). Like any friendship, there are ups and downs and this book has lots of drama. I appreciate the realistic look into the women's friendship. Overall, this is a story of forgiveness, family, memories- and of course friendship! I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good chic-lit novel! It is the perfect 2021 summer read!

As with The Recipe Box and The Heirloom Garden, The Clover Girls by Viola Shipman is set in beautiful coastal Michigan. I love the beautiful Michigan setting. I love the premise that our closest friends can push us and challenge us in a way to help us grow. While the past and the present, the recipes, the flowers, and the people mingle so beautifully in the other two books, the book does not quite find that same anchor.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2021/05/the-clover-girls.html

Reviewed for NetGalley and the HTP Beach Reads Summer 2021 tour.

Three friends from summer camp in the '80s are reunited and work through the conflicts that developed in their friendships. A story about friendship ,forgiveness and new beginnings.
A great summer read!
Thnaks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Elizabeth, Veronica, Emily and Rachel become fast friends in their youth. They met at camp and called themselves The Clover Girls. They were inseparable until life pulled them apart. Now, Emily is determined to bring them back together after her cancer diagnosis. She wants The Clover Girls to scatter her ashes at their old camp. However, it may take more than Emily’s dying wish to bring them back together.

I enjoyed the time period of the ‘80s. I even laughed out loud about the Reliant K car. I had an Dodge Aries K and it had its quirks too. And the music references! Made the whole book for me. However, I am not a huge fan of some of the characters. I found them a little selfish and whiny. But, that is part of this story. These young women grow up and become strong ladies and they discover life is not what they thought it would be. They need each other!

Need a good book about aging and friendship…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

The Clover Girls is a wonderful story, although heartbreaking story about the reconnecting of a group of girls who met during their first night of summer camp years ago. Be prepared for tears…yours!

Veronica (V), Rachel, Emily and Elizabeth (Liz) met at Camp Birchwood back in the 1980’s. Dubbed the “Clover Girls” because when they met they were all feeling lonely and lost, and found a four-leaf clover in a field that very night and knew they would be friends forever.

Through their camp years all their lives would have tragedies and mishaps which would mold them into the individuals they became. There were also fights among them and deceits and hurt which, although apologized for, perhaps were never really forgiven.

Now over thirty years later when they all have their own lives and have not seen each other in years, and perhaps are not in the best place they want to be, decisions each has made along the way maybe not the best, families not the closest, careers wished for years ago which never happened, and some regrets, they each receive a devastating letter from Emily which will throw the Clover Girls back together for the very last time.

According to Emily’s letter, her wish is for them to reunite one last time at the now defunct Camp Birchwood to say goodbye. If they are able to mend their differences and stay the week at the camp certain affairs will come to fruition. If not, they can say their goodbyes forever.

Now the women must decide to either work on their disastrous relationships and forgive each other and move on as the best friends they were, or walk away from each other. Unfortunately they must try to heal the wounds from those many years ago which have shaped them into who they are today.

Will they be able to accomplish what Emily’s letter has requested? Or are these women too involved in their current personal situations to even attempt reconciliations with each other. Perhaps with a little help from Emily, they can try and put their pasts aside and rather than go back to the girls they once were, become the strong and independent women with deep friendships Emily always knew they could be, but were too self absorbed to see years ago.

Once again Viola Shipman has created an uplifting and empowering story about a group of women whose lives are changed for the better. The story is filled with love, and some sadness, but with a theme of hope that not only can relationships change for the better, but one can change their own destiny at any age.

Thank you #NetGalley #GraydonHouse #Viola Shipman #TheCloverGirls for the advanced copy.

If you've ever had a really tight-knit group of girlfriends when you were a teenager, Viola Shipman's The Clover Girls is made for you.

Four girls- Emily, Veronica, Elizabeth and Rachel- meet at summer camp in Michigan back in 1985. They bond together and nickname themselves 'The Clover Girls' after they find a four leaf clover.

Emily is the mom of the group. After her brother died, her parents thought it would be good for her to away from all the sadness. She is smart, kind, and caring.

Veronica is the confident, funny leader of the group, a real beauty. Rachel is the talented one, she sings and dances, and wants to be a movie star. Liz is the creative one, always designing clothes for the others and herself. Veronica and Rachel as the shining stars bond together, leaving Liz and Emily together.

As the story moves to 2021, a letter from Emily to each of them asking them to reunite for a week at Camp Birchwood, arrives. Emily and Liz have stayed in touch, but we find that something happened during their last summer together that tore the four friends apart.

Liz is a real estate agent who spends much of time caring for her elderly mother who has dementia and lives in a nursing home. She is devastated that her own children and grandchildren do not visit her mother or even seem to show any empathy towards Liz. Liz is expected to be the caretaker for the entire family.

Veronica went on to a successful modeling career. Now she is married to a successful architect, and mom to a teenage son and daughter. They live in Los Angeles, and all that that lifestyle entails, yet Veronica is unfulfilled with her life, a void she fills with junk food that she hides from her family.

Rachel became a sitcom star in the 1990s, and now she is a public relations consultant to conservative politicians. She is a very public face, appearing regularly on cable talk shows, defending ideals that confound her family and friends.

When the friends reunite, old wounds come up to the surface. They relive past slights and hurts. Why did Emily want them to come back together; can they forgive, forget, and move on? Can they become the friends they once were?

There are a lot of 1980s touchstones here. The movie The Breakfast Club plays a big part, and books like Flowers in the Attic, and songs like Journey's Open Arms will bring back memories for those of us who grew up in that era.

I related best to Liz, and I think most readers will find themselves doing the same. The characters of Veronica and Rachel seemed too similar to me, and I sometimes had a difficult time remembering which was which, as each woman takes turns narrating the story. They had lives that most of us don't lead.

I didn't go to summer camp, but if you did, you will get an extra layer of satisfaction from this story, remembering and comparing your own experiences.

Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on their Beach Reads Summer Blog Tour.

I'm just gonna throw this out there - be prepared to shed some tears while reading The Clover Girls. It's gonna happen, so just have the tissues ready. I also learned a couple of things: This is my first time reading this author. Viola Shipman is a pen name for Wade Rouse. And regardless of which name you call him, this guy can write. This book is crazy emotional and the story is wonderfully told. Shipman is one of those writers who pulls you in and makes you feel everything the characters are feeling. It felt like no time at all before I was completely invested in these characters, and when the final page was turned, I didn't want to go. It's a story of friendship and forgiveness. There were parts that were hard for me to get through, but that was more of a personal thing for me, and nothing at all to do with the storytelling. All in all, The Clover Girls is a compelling read and one that I think will be remembered fondly even years down the road.

I love this author's stories. They are always full of goodness and memories. The Clover Girls takes us on a journey back to summer camp, we've all been there right, and the memories of the fun, the games, and the friendships.

Years later though, the friendships are strained. Brought together, can the girls bridge the time from then to now and find those friendships again? The four girls, once close friends, now successful women in their own rights, come together for a week at the camp, hopefully to forgive and move on.

Watching the relationships of the women change and grow as adults was fascinating to watch unfold. I highly recommend The Clover Girls as I loved my trip down memory lane back at camp.

THE CLOVER GIRLS by Viola Shipman (Wade Rouse) is an emotionally charged inspirational women’s fiction standalone by an author who has become a must read for me. I also must have a box of tissues by my side as I do.

Elizabeth “Liz”, Veronica “V”, Rachel “Rach” and Emily “Em” meet at Camp Birchwood for four summers starting in 1985 where they become known as The Clover Girls. So different and yet inseparable until the last summer when deception drives them apart.

Liz, V and Rach each receive a devastating letter from Emily asking them to reunite at the now closed Camp Birchwood one last time. After marriages, divorce, children, grandchildren and careers, Emily is asking them to revisit their dreams and repair their friendships.

Maybe not all friendships were meant to last forever.

This story has two timelines that intertwine to tell the story of The Clover Girls in the 1980’s while at summer camp and in the present with their careers and/or families in crisis. The friendship, rivalry and betrayal in the 1980’s timeline set up lasting repercussions that follow all the women into their adult lives, their reunion and search for forgiveness in the present. The author gives the reader believable characters and memories from the 1980’s that are spot on. This story reminds us all that life is fleeting and should never be taken for granted.

I highly recommend this story of friendship and forgiveness!