Summer on Lilac Island is the perfect summer read! I have always wanted to visit Mackinac Island and now feel like I have, as well as meeting some very interesting characters. The storyline is such a fun uplifting story with plenty of twists and turns told with humor and wit. I definitely recommend Summer on Lilac Island as a delightful summer read.

Summer on Lilac Island is a good women’s fiction book that aptly describes the highs and lows of the relationship between adult daughters, mothers, grandmothers and friends. No matter how much a person tries to distant herself from her parent(s) and be her own person, the influence from childhood experiences and the need to be loved by your parent always affect the choices made. There are a few love interests/triangles which are sweet and clean with no spicy scenes. There is some language but not much compared to most YA books. Overall, a sweet story of love and family!

I really enjoyed the various storylines throughout this story. Learning about the lives of the various characters: Gigi, Eloise (Gigi’s mother), Rebecca (Gigi’s sister), Annie (Gigi’s grandmother) to name just a few of the people who live or who have lived on Mackinac Island - which is an island with no cars (except for emergency vehicles) although the cops do ride around on horses. I really liked all the characters. This story had romance, humour, happiness and sadness. I guessed who would end up together except for one couple. I’m only just getting back into reading romance stories and this was a really enjoyable read and I would definitely recommend it! I will look into the other books from this author now. A big thank you to Harper Muse, NetGalley and Lindsay MacMillan for the complimentary e-ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The setting of this book could not have been better, BUT the story and the characters could have been better.
I had a hard time following who was who and what was happening the first 40%. From then on it just was blah. The characters were hard to like. The story followed too many people in my opinion. Everyone was just not happy with themselves which made it hard for them to have good relationships with others. Some may love it though
The narrator was so good!
Thank you NetGalley, Lindsay Macmillan and Harper Muse for the ARC of this book!

Summer on Lilac Island by Lindsay MacMillan ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Perfect summer beach read with a beautiful setting, a little romance and family drama. Three generations to be exact, Grandma, mother, Gigi and her sister.

Gigi makes some bad choices which makes her have to move back to her home town. A place she couldn't wait to leave. She determined to make the most of it.

Lots of characters to keep track of, but they all play a part in this story.
So read along as Gigi rediscovers herself and repairs her family. It just might help you discover something in yourself. I know I did and was very glad I read it.

Thank you Netgallery for the advanced copy of this book.

I loved how the relationships between the three women developed and grew, especially the drama between Eloise and Gigi - it was fascinating to see them work through their issues.

I loved Lindsay MacMillan's storytelling and how she crafted strong, unique female characters.

🌴 Summer on Lilac Island is the perfect beach read! 🌊 If you love stories about women in family dynamics, small-town settings, romance, and vivid descriptions, with a pinch of family drama, you'll adore this book.

A good summer read about a mother and adult daughter relationship. The setting of Mackinac island was perfect for a summer story. There was a lot of growth by the characters. At times I thought there were too many story lines going at once.

I received a free copy of, Summer on Lilac Island, by Lindsay MacMillan, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Mackinac Island is a beautiful area, there are no cars allowed, horses, and bicycles, are how people get around. Gigi is back home, on Mackinac Island, and not happy about it. This is a lovely story in a beautiful location. I have always wanted to go to Mackinac Island, but have not gone. I really enjoyed Gigi and the other lovely ladies in this book.

This was a good, quick read! There was matchmaking from the mom and the daughter for each other which was a fun storyline to follow. There were a bunch of POV's and I did enjoy the description of Mackinac Island. It had the small town feel and the matchmaking is always fun. I do feel like the best relationship to come out of it was the mom and daughter getting closer. Overall, I enjoyed the story and the connection to Mackinac Island.

SUMMER ON LILAC ISLAND is a multi-generational familial drama set on Mackinac Island, with a flare of magical realism, perfect if you are looking for a beach novel that shows the growth of women, advanced experience women, and a timeless island. Thank you @harpermuse for my early listening and reading copies of Lindsay MacMillan’s new novel, out July 1.

Alice (grandmother), Eloise (mother), Gigi (daughter) and their pasts collide as everyone carries secrets, sadness, and hope. On an island that has banned cars and traverses by way of horses, carriages, bikes and feet, these characters even step into a slower pace of life and a bit of prim-proper behaviors.

Alice has a suitor from her long-ago high school years, Eloise is trying to decide between her absentee “husband” and the lovely Scottish author visiting the island for the summer, and Gigi is trying to not falter under her mother’s judgements, the island people’s judgement (the island loves her!) and James the temporary town doctor.

A thought-provoking (but not overly deep) novel about our pasts and what impact that past carries, secrets and all.

Mentions of child-loss, adoption, loss of a spouse, infidelity, divorce- as always reach out if you have questions!

Gigi Jenkins had to come home to the place she couldn't wait to get away from.

She didn't know how it would work being with her mother since they really didn't get along.

When she arrived, her mother was already getting on her nerves. She had made a blind date for Gigi.

Gigi said she would go on the date if her mother would go on a date with an author she met on the ferry.

Her mother surprisingly agreed.

How did both of these dates turn out and how did Gigi and her mother's relationship turn out?

Find out everything in this heartwarming book with great characters and set in Mackinac Island.

You will want to be on your way to Mackinac Island as you read about its magic and beauty.

A lovely summer read - but just a bit too long and too many characters to keep straight. 5/5

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This is as much about family dynamics, especially between mothers and daughters, as it is a romance, Gigi, home on Mackinac Island, agrees to a date set up by her mother Eloise even as her grandmother offers commentary from the bleachers. Eloise has her own love interest eventually, thanks to a set up by Gigi. Know that you like me might find Gigi immature. The atmospherics of the Island are good as is the storytelling, Thanks to Netgalley for the ArC. A classic summer read.

Thank you to Net Galley and Harper Muse Publishing for an early copy of Summer on Lilac Island by Lindsay MacMillan

With a setting as vibrant as Mackinac Island, Michigan, author Lindsay MacMillan had the makings for a generational family story steeped in steeped in tradition and love. Summer on Lilac Island features a family who move too quickly and react too emotionally to really get to the roots of their dysfunction. The grandmother cannot confess to a long-ago affair, her daughter cannot let go of a husband who accepts little to no responsibility for his marriage or the two daughters he has fathered, and the two daughters with nothing in common struggle into adulthood with a father who rarely showed up.

The story begins with a challenge between mother Eloise and her daughter Georgiana who in her late twenties is returning to Mackinaw Island for the summer. Mother and daughter each agree to be set up on a date arranged by the other. What happens next is a whirlwind of change that moves too rapidly for one summer. Coincidences abound and too many secrets are revealed.

Some very heavy issues are pretty much steamrolled such as Eloise's friend Deidre finally telling her husband about a baby she gave up for adoption and planning to find the daughter, and these women decide they are now authors and are going to tell their story of Lilac Island (Mackinaw Island).

An engagement, a broken engagement and a run for mayor of the island also lay claim to the Summer at Lilac Island

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC copy of the book b it was quite enjoyable and a big predictable. I have a friend that recently visited Mackinac Island and was delighted to read the book.

I decided to read this book because of Mackinac Island. My favorite place to visit.

I just had a hard time liking this book. I just don’t understand why authors have to use certain words to get a point across but it will get me to stop reading quickly. Gigi was annoying(grow up), Eloise was annoying and being a yearly visitor of Mackinac Island I don’t think the author gave it justice. I kept reading hoping it would get better but in the end it wasn’t what I expected. The main reason I gave it 3 ⭐️ is because of where it takes place.

Thank you NetGalley & Harper Muse for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest opinion

I thought this cover was beautiful and wish more authors would seek artists to do their covers. I do tend to grow tired of the computer-generated faceless covers that dominate the romance category. I read this book on vacation, hoping for a light beach read and I did not get what I was looking for in it. I struggled to connect with the characters off the bat. The mother-daughter relationship felt like the main focus of this novel, and perhaps that was not what I was in the mood for. The writing was well done. I just didn't get grabbed by the plot, and sometimes when I lose interest it is difficult to recover. With that being said, just because it wasn't a home run for me, doesn't mean that it won't be for you. I will try to reread this book at a later date and see if I can revisit the story because many other reviewers fell in love with it. Thank you to Lindsay MacMillan, Harper Muse, and NetGalley for the ARC.

I want to visit Mackinac Island one summer! The atmospheric setting of this book on this small island in Northern Michigan really set the tone for this book.

This is a story of three generations of women, Alice, the grandmother, Eloise, the mother and then her two daughters, Gigi and Rebecca. Gigi is returning to the island after leaving years ago shortly after graduation. She is needing a restart in life and figuring out what is next for her. Her mother Eloise is excited to set her up with the town doctor. Gigi agrees if she can be a matchmaker for her mother too. This story is filled with family drama, relationships, hope, and unexpected love. Perfect summer read with lots of interconnected storylines.

The audiobook was narrated by Kira Fixx. She really covered all the various characters in this story and made it such an easy listen too. Her performance on this audiobook really kept me engaged in the layers of this story.

even the cover of this book took me in. and i was so drawn in by it and hoped the book captured the beauty that the cover did for me.
and it indeed did that and so much more im glad to say.
Gigi Jenkins is heading back to Mackinac Island not in a good place. but she just has to make it through one summer surely she can do that. surely her already fraught relationship with her mother can do that. just so she can lick a few wounds, just for a little while. right?
but this town has a way about it, a way of charming you. and it has this effect on Gigi too.
the scene setting and locations in this book gave me vivid imagery in my own mind of the layout and places we were told of. Lindsey really gave me a gorgeous picture of it all(and id like to go there please). but coming home isn't without its hard parts. there is lost time and lost talks that need to be had. there is past hurts and past wounds that need to be healed. some reunions will feel worse than others, but all will mean something to Gigi. it will take courage though, to come to a place she felt she just wanted to be away from. but is she about to discover more than just new shops or members of the community. is she about to discover the greatest thing of all...love and rediscovering herself.
the interactions between Gigi and her mum was something i was waiting for each time it came around. i new i just wanted to scoop them both up and together. but what they were going through both light and shade felt so very real to me and like i was watching these two with my own eyes, and hearing their thoughts somehow.
the island feels like the kind of place we can only dream of being part of. to be accepted and enfolded into the way of life and by the community i think must feel rather wonderful.
this book had me all the way through. and the emotion i was drawn to just from the cover continued to grow and strengthen throughout over the characters and the plot this book gives them.

Lindsay McMillan's "Summer on Lilac Island" is the perfect summer read, immersing you in the idyllic setting of Macinak island. The backdrop of the island was one of the reasons I was interested in reading the book initially. The descriptions of the island, the Grand Hotel, the beach and the town were wonderful. The difference between the residents and the vacationers was accurate and well described.
The novel's heart lies in the loving relationships between Gigi, her mom Eloise, sister Rebecca, and Nonni Alice. Their strong family bond provides a beautiful anchor for Gigi's journey. It is also a portrayal of very realistic issues between mothers and daughters and the secrets they keep. The main character, Gigi has come home for the summer because she is at a cross roads in her life. She knows she wants something different and has only recently begun the kind of self reflection that is the groundwork for change. It is a uncomfortable time where relationships between her and her family and also the men she meets over the summer are tested.
While the emotional depth and character development are strong, the pacing was a bit slow for me at times, making me want to fast-forward. However, for those who enjoy a leisurely narrative, this allows for a deeper appreciation of the story and the characters who make up much of the narrative.
Overall, it's a touching tale about family, self-discovery, and finding love, both within yourself and with others.

I enjoyed the details of the setting and character developent was good. The story was ok for me but not as special as I'd hoped. I cared about the characters enough to continue reading but feel it could've been shorter without losing any impact.