Review: A Sweethaven Summer by Courtney Walsh

A Sweethaven Summer [Sweethaven Circle] by Courtney Walsh
Published: February 16, 2012
Format: Kindle purchased
Rating 4/5

From Goodreads

A faded scrapbook reveals secrets that reconnect old friends in a place called Sweethaven. Campbell Carter has come to Sweethaven in search of answers about her mother's history. Just before losing a battle with cancer, Suzanne Carter sent letters to childhood friends from her hometown of Sweethaven, Michigan. Suzanne's three friends -- Lila, Jane, and Meghan -- haven't spoken in years, yet each has pieces of a scrapbook they made together as girls. Suzanne's letters have lured them all back to the idyllic lakeside town, where they meet Campbell and begin to remember what was so special about their long Sweethaven summers. As the scrapbook reveals secrets from the past, old wounds are mended, lives are changed, and friendships are restored -- just as Suzanne intended. A Sweethaven Summer is the first book in the Sweethaven series, followed by A Sweethaven Homecoming and A Sweethaven Christmas.

My Thoughts

I’ve had this book setting in my Kindle for a while now and figured I’d finally read it during last weekend’s rain storms. I was pleasantly taken from the first pages of this wonderfully written book. Following the death of her mom Campbell sets out to find the answers to her questions, but in the process finds out she has more questions than answers than she ever imagined.

One of her biggest questions is who is her father? Her mother became pregnant her finally summer at Sweethaven and never told anyone who he was. She also finds out she has family which her mother lead her to believe she didn’t have. While she hates being angry at her mom she comes to see her mom lied to her, lied about just everything about her life.

Campbell sets out to Sweethaven to hopefully find the answers and maybe even find out who her father is. So she seeks out the only ones who could possibly help her…her mom’s best friends. We learn about each friend one by one and are shown that each one has a secret of their own. Although each woman is brought together in thinking they are going to say their goodbyes to their old friend Suzanne no one knows she has already passed away.

You go in thinking it’s all about Campbell and her need for answers and closure but it’s so much more than that. This novel takes us on a wonderful ride showing us how sometimes love and forgiveness sometimes goes hand in hand. How life isn’t always what we think or imagine it will be. Nothing and no one is perfect but how it’s up to us to make what we want in life.  Most importantly how friendships are a precious thing. Friends can know you better than anyone else even your own family.

This book with it's great characters that will keep you intrigued and a story that will make you want for more. I can’t wait to read the other two novels in the series, definitely worth the read.