Lost Lake | Book Review

STATS:
Author, Sarah Addison AllenPublished, January 21, 2014
Publisher, St. Martin's Press
eBook, 304 pages

BOOK TRAILER

DESCRIPTION FROM GOODREADS:

Suley, Georgia, is home to Lost Lake Cottages and not much else. Which is why it's the perfect place for newly-widowed Kate and her eccentric eight-year-old daughter Devin to heal. Kate spent one memorable childhood summer at Lost Lake, had her first almost-kiss at Lost Lake, and met a boy named Wes at Lost Lake. It was a place for dreaming. But Kate doesn't believe in dreams anymore, and her Aunt Eby, Lost Lake's owner, wants to sell the place and move on. Lost Lake's magic is gone. As Kate discovers that time has a way of standing still at Lost Lake can she bring the cottages—and her heart—back to life? Because sometimes the things you love have a funny way of turning up again. And sometimes you never even know they were lost . . . until they are found.

MY THOUGHTS:

I loved this book. It was one of those that I had trouble putting down. I couldn't wait to see what happened next. In fact, I read it all in one day.

The characters are wonderful. They are all very well formed and enjoyable. I loved the fact that back stories were given on the characters to explain why they ended up they way they are. It also helped to understand where Kate comes from a little better.

Kate comes from a long line of grieving, money hungry women. And now that she is a widow, her mother in law is taking charge of her and her daughter. Kate finds a postcard from her great aunt. A postcard that she never received as a child because her mother and her aunt were not getting along. She decides it is the perfect time to get away. She has great memories of Lost Lake being a happy place and the best summer of her life. It was also the summer of her first young romance.

Her aunt, Eby, is still at Lost Lake but is getting ready to sell. The longtime summer guests start to arrive and Kate remembers them also. Lost Lake is special to so many people. And it doesn't take long for Kate to see that it is something bigger than she ever knew.

I also was able to get the short story that goes along with this book. It is offered for free on Amazon, Waking Kate. It was also very enjoyable.

Be sure to get it also. I think you will like it.  

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

New York Times Bestselling novelist Sarah Addison Allen brings the full flavor of her southern upbringing to bear on her fiction -- a captivating blend of magical realism, heartwarming romance, and small-town sensibility. Born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina, in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Allen grew up with a love of books and an appreciation of good food (she credits her journalist father for the former and her mother, a fabulous cook, for the latter). In college, she majored in literature -- because, as she puts it, "I thought it was amazing that I could get a diploma just for reading fiction. It was like being able to major in eating chocolate." After graduation, Allen began writing seriously. Her big break occurred in 2007 with the publication of her first mainstream novel, Garden Spells, a modern-day fairy tale about an enchanted apple tree and the family of North Carolina women who tend it. Booklist called Allen's accomplished debut "spellbindingly charming." The novel became a Barnes & Noble Recommends selection, and then a New York Times Bestseller. Allen continues to serve heaping helpings of the fantastic and the familiar in fiction she describes as "Southern-fried magic realism." Clearly, it's a recipe readers are happy to eat up as fast as she can dish it out. Her published books to date are: Garden Spells (2007), The Sugar Queen (2008), The Girl Who Chased the Moon (2010), The Peach Keeper (2011) and the upcoming Lost Lake, to be published January 21, 2014. It is important to note that I received this book through NetGalley in return for a honest review. All thoughts and opinions are mine.