I loved this book! It's well-written, enjoyable, and a great read. Amy Clipston did a great job of writing in a way that captures the readers attention, and makes you not want to put it down until you're finished! I would highly recommend it!

Due to a personal difference in beliefs (WITH THE PUBLISHER) I will not be reviewing this book outside of Netgalley nor do I plan to support Thomas Nelson in the future due to their decisions of late and the lack of fiction with good Biblical values.

This does not mean I do or do not like the book, it just means I will not be reviewing books for this publisher anymore as I do not care to support them when I do not agree with the way they have left their former standards.

Brianna is the youngest of the three Porter sisters and the only one who chose to stay in their small hometown of Splendid Lake. She's followed in her father's footsteps in becoming an expert boat mechanic and helped him run their small resort with cabin rentals, a convenience store, and a marina. When Brianna's father suddenly dies, she's devastated by the loss and then realizes that she's been left alone to clean up the mess. To make things even harder, a steady stream of real estate brokers marches through her property, offering to buy her family land. She finds herself running into one particular real estate broker repeatedly, real estate mogul Scott Gibson. As Brianna struggles to hold it all together, Scott manages to ease his way into her heart.
I'm not sure how I went this long without reading The Heart of Splendid Lake. I've had it since it came out. I guess life just got busy and it, somehow, slipped by the wayside. But, as soon as I realized that I hadn't read it, I couldn't put it down. I loved the story and felt so bad for Brianna as she deals with the loss of her father, and the realization that they were at risk of losing their resort and forms an alliance with the last person she thought she'd trust. I've always enjoyed Amy's Amish novels and I'm enjoying her contemporary novels just as much. Amy truly is a talented writer and I know this is a stand alone novel but I'm absolutely going to need more Splendid Lake novels! Can't we have stories about Brianna's sisters?

I received a copy of The Heart of Splendid Lake in exchange for an honest review. The content of my review as not affected by this.

Enjoyable from the first page to the last, this is a heartwarming small town romance. It was a great afternoon escape!
Many thanks to Thomas Nelson Fiction and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Heart of Splendid Lake written by Amy Clipston has long been in my to-read list. There always were books that I needed to read first and so, I just couldn't get down to reading this book. I have finally read it and that too I read it all in one day.

Talking about this book, it is a story about overcoming loss, coping with grief and also a sort of coming-of-age story. It primarily describes the life of Brianna aka Brie, as we follow her from the moment she loses her father, whom she had always been very close to. Her father is the owner of a holiday resort and Brie is the only one amongst her sisters who stayed back in her hometown and helped her dad in the running of the resort. The resort is the only home she has ever known and all her good memories with her dad are linked with it too. Losing her father as suddenly as she does, pulls her into a lonely, crippling grief. She struggles while coping with her emotions and also of her mom's, who has taken the death of her husband very badly. On top of all this, Brie's long-time fiancé Taylor is not as much helpful to her in her troubles as she would have liked him to be and that compounds her loneliness and frustrations.

Amidst these emotional turmoils, she is approached by Scott, a real estate developer, who asks her to consider selling the holiday resort to him. Brie throws him out of her house, after letting him know that she won't ever sell her father's and family's legacy. But little does she know that the resort is heavily in debt and she might lose the resort to the bank anyway. Now she is forced to confront the idea of selling the resort, particularly after her mother suffers a stroke.

There forms a strange triangle with Brie finding herself drawn to Scott unexpectedly when he helps her in many of her tough spots. Taylor tries to step up because of his jealousy towards Scott and also because he couldn't bear to lose Brie but he fails to measure up. The story brings all these various dilemma to a satisfactory end by the time we finish reading it.

I am usually not a very big fan of reading triangular love stories. But author Amy Clipston has managed to make the story very interesting to read and snare the reader's attention towards the emotions of the principal characters. I felt Brie's dilemma legitimate and her inability to make a decision properly very much understandable. But I must say, I sometimes wanted to go into the pages, shake her hard and ask her to use her head before it's too late.

The story, though fairly engaging, dragged in many parts - particularly in those chapters where Brie and Scot are spending time together. That was a bit too long for my taste. To be fair, those chapters also gave a good precedence for Brie's vacillation. Overall, the story is a very well-written triangular love story with a strong character arc for the heroine. Do check this book out if you want to read a sweet, contemporary romance having characters of great depths.

The Heart of Splendid Lake by Amy Clipston is a very sweet romance. When Brianna’s father dies unexpectedly, she discovers financial secrets he was keeping. Then she has to decide if she is still in love with her longtime boyfriend. I recommend it for readers who like to read clean romantic books with a beautiful setting. I was provided a copy by Netgalley but my review was not influenced.

A cute story that I struggled to engage with.

<spoiler>I really can't stand love triangles and deceit in stories so this one was hard for me. I hated how dishonest Brie and Taylor were with each other even though I preferred Scott</spoiler>

Scott was really great. Everything you admire in a lead.

Overall this story was cute but it was hard for me to read.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.

Book Details
I wanted to like this book. After all, the cover is amazing. It is set near a small town at a resort. And the plot revolves around family.

But there was an overriding reason why I could not like it. The main character. Normally I do not put spoilers in my review. But in order to explain my low review, this is what needs to happen.

Brianna faces the tragic death of her father. That was sad. Grief is hard.
But at the time, she is engaged to Taylor. He is trying to support her through the process of her loss, especially at the beginning. How does she reward him?

She flirts with a guy at the bookstore. When that same guy, Scott, shows up at her parent's house, she lets him sit with her in the dark on her parent's chairs after she had "run away from Taylor" because she wanted space. As Scott tries to help her get the resort ready, she spends so much time alone with him. At one point, she asks Taylor for more time to plan their wedding, but then as soon as he leaves, she rushes to her phone when she hears a text notification because she knows it is from Scott. Then she kisses Scott while she is still engaged.

I get the fact that Brianna and Taylor had been together for awhile. Sometimes high school sweethearts outgrow each other. They weren't married yet. But an engagement is a serious commitment. If she would have let Taylor go near the beginning of the book, it would have been fine. But she kept delaying and kept seeing Scott. They talked about Taylor being jealous, but personally I would not be okay with my husband spending frequent time alone with another woman - that would make me jealous in a proper way.

Brianna also gets frustrated when no one is around to help her. But her best friend frequently drops everything. Taylor tries as well. She whines when her sisters are not around to help with the resort, but she is the one who wanted to stay. Taylor is busy too, but she never offers to help him. The only one she is helping is her Mom, and that is even done reluctantly.

This quote sums it up, "She'd told Taylor the truth when she said the breakup was about the two of them. But that didn't mean she didn't have feelings for Scott. If only their shared love for Splendid lake could bring them together again." I felt like I was reading a soap opera.

There was not a faith element in this book. I was fine with that. The book was basically clean apart from the basically cheating aspect. I can tell that this author must be a good writer as she definitely has written quite a few books that most people seemed to love. Clearly this one rubbed me the wrong way. I read this book through NetGalley, and I am clearly not having a problem expressing my opinions. Final rating: 2.5 stars on this site as I was disappointed in this one.

The Heart of Splendid Lake by Amy Clipston was an enjoyable and sweet romance to read. I recommend it for readers who like to read clean romantic books with a beautiful setting. Four stars.

Always enjoy Amy’s books and this one didn’t disappoint. She did great a great job of talking about the lake and the resort, I would love to go spend a week. I feel the getting back together part was lacking a little but am so thankful that Scott and Brianna ended up together. I think the romance with Taylor went on a little long but it hard to break a commitment.

I really enjoyed this book. Amy Clipston is a new author to me. I’m glad I found her and will need to look up any other books she has. I liked the characters and how their relationship builds. I was entertained to the very end.

The Heart of Splendid Lake is not a light hearted book. Brianna loses her father suddenly and is left to deal with the family lodge and her mom who is suffering depression due to loss. She finds out that the lodge is financially struggling and they could lose it. Her mom has a stroke and it looks dire for Brianna as her sisters and fiancée are all too busy to help her. She has to turn to her new nemesis Scott Gibson who wants to buy her lodge for help.
I enjoyed this book, it was my first Amy Clipston novel. She wrote a terrific tale that differs from her usual Amish stories and I look forward to its sequel. If you like Hallmark movies, this is a book for you!

This was sweet and entertaining. I've only read this author's Amish fiction and it was fun to see her branch out into contemporary romance. The setting of the story was beautiful and I wanted to go and sit by the lake with them all! I liked the characters and the story. A couple of times I wanted to shake the stubbornness out of Bri, but it was true to her character and her story/journey. I loved Scott from the beginning. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a heartwarming, comfort read.

This is a good book. The two main characters are Brianna and Scott. Brianna’s family runs a marina and cabins to rent in North Carolina. Scott wants to buy the marina and cabins but Brianna’s Dad dies and her mother has a stroke. Scott offers to help Brianna get the cabins and the marina in shape for their opening. Brianna sees how wonderful Scott is, and Scott can not not stop thinking about Brianna. They each have their problems but together work them out and fall in love.

Brianna’s father dies suddenly, leaving her to prepare their resort and marina for opening in spring. Then her mother suffers a stroke. Her older sisters have their own careers in distant cities. Her fiancé is focused on his own business and political ambition, and not as attentive as he should be. Brianna discovers her father was in debt and they’re about to lose their resort and home. Real estate agents are attentive as they seek to buy the resort.
Scott was the first to show up, unaware that Martin Porter had died. He fell in love with Splendid Lake and is attracted to Brianna. He offers a viable business solution her financial woes, but doesn’t want to come between her and her jealous fiancé.
While this is a “clean” romance, it is not an inspiration “Christian” story. Scott is so appealing. Brianna, in her emotional turmoil, gets annoyed with her absent sisters, her too-busy fiancé, and the vulture Scott, who turns out to be nothing like a vulture. She begins comparing him and her fiancé, who comes up short. A well-written, enjoyable story.

While The Hear of Splendid Lake was well written women's fiction, with a wonderful small town setting. That I would have normally loved under different circumstances, this book wasn't for me. It wasn't anything the author did. It's just simply the fact that I as a reader do to family life cannot handle books in which the heroine's father dies. It doesn't take away from this gem of a book but this book wasn't one for me. Trigger warning for death of a parent.

If you love a good romance, The Heart of Splendid Lake is a must add to your TBR. From the very start, this one drew me in and pulled at each and every emotion... just as a good romance should! This romance truly had so much heart. I had read an enjoyed Amish reads from Amy Clipston in the past, and have to say that she took on contemporary romance every bit as beautifully as well.

When we first meet Brianna, she is engaged to someone else... and I have to admit that I don't usually care for stories in which one of the romantic leads is in a serious relationship like that with someone else when they meet the new potential romance. In fact, early on with this one, I wasn't really sure how to feel about it... but as the story went on I actually found that the author handled it very well and in the end I think it all worked out wonderfully... though I won't say too much more about that! I'm personally a big fan of Hallmark movies, and in reading this book I couldn't help but think that this had the makings of a great one--- a good romance, small town charm, etc--- and that is a big compliment coming from me! Overall, I really enjoyed this one and truly hope to see more contemporary reads from this author in the future!

**I received a complimentary copy of this book for consideration. All thoughts are my own.

I read this book in few hours. I loved every bit of it. The pace of the book was just right.
The characters were amazing and I loved them. They felt like old friends.
The chemistry between Brianna and Scott was electric. I loved how they complimented each other, how they teased and loved each other.
The settings was gorgeous. I wish I could take a vacation there.

This book really did my heart good.

Highly recommended if you love a romantic story with a strong sense of family, love and commitment.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and this is my honest opinion.

The Heart of Splendid Lake by Amy Clipston is, as always, a lovely tale. The story follows Brianna Porter and Scott Gibson as they discover that life may have more in store for them then they were expecting. In the story, Brianna is devastated by the loss of her father, who was also her partner in their resort business and best friend. Then her mom has a stroke and it feels like she can't catch up with everything going on around her. When Scott shows up to make an offer on her family resort, she throws him off the property. However, more realtors start showing up and she discovers her father left them in financial distress. With the help of Scott and the rest of her friends in Splendid Lake, can she save her family home and move forward?
Super good book, like always! Lots of fun to read!
Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher!
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Amy Clipston is known for her Amish fiction but I believe her debut novel into contemporary romance will be a hit. Two things drew me to this book and that was the beautiful cover and the author.

Brianna is a strong character. Amid multiple tragedies, her true light shines. She is determined, kind, caring, and I love when she speaks up for herself telling her sisters and Taylor what she needs. However, I hate that she holds onto what should be let go of only because it is familiar and she doesn't want change. There is nothing to like about Taylor, Jenna is pretty self-involved as well, and Cassie shows redeeming qualities.

I like Scott and the way he steps up to help Brianna and the care he shows for her mom, Lois. He had a hard childhood and while we are never told all the details, we are told enough to truly appreciate the adult he has become. There are a few things I dislike about him as well but will keep them to myself to not give spoilers.

The descriptions in the story are well done and I can picture sitting in the chairs on the beach staring at the lake. The story line moves at a steady pace and I felt like this was a pretty quick read.

While most of Clipston's Amish stories are pretty light, this one was a bit heavier, dealing with loss and grief. It is handled well and I don't think it is "too" heavy of a read. There are some lighter moments, some family drama, and tender moments. I found myself connecting and sympathizing on with Brianna on several occasions (just not the ones where I wanted to throttle her, LOL).

While the publisher is a Christian publisher I would not classify this book as "religious" or "Christian." It is a very clean (G) contemporary romance but there is no talk of God or religion in the book. The only minister mentioned is when someone gets married. I would recommend this to anyone who loves a good clean romance. Those who adore Clipston's Amish novels will enjoy seeing her in a new light.

Thank you to Net Galley and Thomas Nelson for the opportunity to read this book. I was not required to provide a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.