From the TBR Pile: Butternut Summer by Mary McNear

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Butternut Summer by Mary McNear

Author: Mary McNear

Publisher: William Morrow

Date of publication: August 2014

Caroline’s life is turned upside down the moment her ex-husband, Jack, strides through the door of her coffee shop. He seems changed—stronger, steadier, and determined to make amends with Caroline and their daughter, Daisy. Is he really different, or is he the same irresistibly charming but irresponsible man he was when he left Butternut Lake eighteen years ago? Caroline, whose life is stuck on pause as her finances are going down the tubes, is tempted to let him back into her life . . . but would it be wise?

For Caroline’s daughter, Daisy, the summer is filled with surprises. Home from college, she’s reunited with the father she adores—but hardly knows—and swept away by her first true love. But Will isn’t what her mother wants for her—all Caroline can see is that he’s the kind of sexy “bad boy” Daisy should stay away from.

As the long, lazy days of summer pass, Daisy and Caroline come to realize that even if Butternut Lake doesn’t change, life does. . . .

I was hoping I would enjoy Butternut Summer as much as I did Up at Butternut Lake (my review). While I liked the first one more, I still found this one enjoyable. This is really a story about forgiveness and second chances. But it's also explores the mother/daughter relationship as the daughter becomes an adult. I thought the author navigated this struggle very realistically. Caroline and Daisy both have unexpected summers. Not only is Caroline's ex-husband back in town, but she is faced with a daughter who is in love for the first time.

Between the two, I enjoyed Will and Daisy's story the best. It was very sweet watching them fall in love. The timing felt just right for me as they took their time to get to know each other. Daisy is able to look beyond Will's past and really see the person he is and who he can become. Their HFN ending was a bittersweet, so I hope that in the next book, they are revisited.

While I liked Jack and thought his life change was genuine, I thought the forgiveness from Caroline came a little too fast for me. I kind of felt like they didn't spend enough time together for her to really see a change in him. I would have liked to see more of Jack trying to get her back. I did love what he did for her in the end, I just felt the whole thing was a bit fast.

There is one other "romance" in that I kind of felt cheated on. I won't name who, but I would have loved to see how the romance played out. Maybe in a novella? It was nice to revisit the town of Butternut. I do look forward to the next book in the trilogy!

About Mary McNear

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Mary McNear is a writer living in San Francisco with her husband, two teenage children, and a high-strung, minuscule white dog named Macaroon. She bases her novels on a lifetime of summers spent in a small town on a lake in the northern Midwest.

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