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A review by beckymmoe
Summer at Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs
4.0
I pretty much went backwards here, because I read the Lakeshore Chronicles #8 (Marrying Daisy Bellamy) before I read #1, but I'm not terribly sorry that I did. I enjoyed both books, and by reading the newest one first I got rid of all that pesky "will they or won't they?" bit. (Not that there really is any, but still. You never know.)
Summer at Willow Lake introduces us to the Bellamys and to Camp Kioga, a family and a location that feature prominently in the rest of the series. This novel focuses on Olivia Bellamy, the only child of a wealthy but unhappy-until-they-get-divorced couple. Olivia spent summers at her grandparents' summer camp, Camp Kioga, of which she has mostly uncomfortable memories. Lolly, as she was called back then, compensated for her tense home situation by overeating, and this made her awkward and out of place at camp. She slims down in college, gains much needed self-esteem, and as a adult owns her own business in New York; her love life, though, leaves much to be desired. As the novel begins, Olivia is just about to be almost engaged for the third time...but gets dumped instead. Her grandmother asks her to oversee the renovations of Camp Kioga, which has been closed now for many years so that her grandparents' fiftieth wedding anniversary party can be held there. Olivia agrees, not realizing that by doing so she will come into direct--and near constant--contact with Connor Davis, local contractor and the boy who broke her heart so many summers ago.
A touching start to the series, Wiggs gives readers a nice introduction to the characters and locations that will feature prominantly in the next seven books. I'm off to check my library for #2!
Summer at Willow Lake introduces us to the Bellamys and to Camp Kioga, a family and a location that feature prominently in the rest of the series. This novel focuses on Olivia Bellamy, the only child of a wealthy but unhappy-until-they-get-divorced couple. Olivia spent summers at her grandparents' summer camp, Camp Kioga, of which she has mostly uncomfortable memories. Lolly, as she was called back then, compensated for her tense home situation by overeating, and this made her awkward and out of place at camp. She slims down in college, gains much needed self-esteem, and as a adult owns her own business in New York; her love life, though, leaves much to be desired. As the novel begins, Olivia is just about to be almost engaged for the third time...but gets dumped instead. Her grandmother asks her to oversee the renovations of Camp Kioga, which has been closed now for many years so that her grandparents' fiftieth wedding anniversary party can be held there. Olivia agrees, not realizing that by doing so she will come into direct--and near constant--contact with Connor Davis, local contractor and the boy who broke her heart so many summers ago.
A touching start to the series, Wiggs gives readers a nice introduction to the characters and locations that will feature prominantly in the next seven books. I'm off to check my library for #2!