Customer Reviews

One More Summer

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My Review:

When I started this audiobook, I was expecting a light contemporary romance, but what it is...is so much more than that! At the center of this book is Grace. She is the youngest of three siblings and has always been inexplicably hated by her father. He was mean, spiteful, and abusive. The odd thing about this was his horrible actions only applied to Grace, not her older brother Steven, or her older sister, Faith. Nevertheless, Grace was the one that stood by him and took care of him until he finally died. Now Grace is trying to start a new life by turning the family home into a bed & breakfast. And despite it all, Grace is a wonderful giving and thoughtful person who takes care of everyone else in her life.

There is a whole cast of characters to this book who serve as Grace's support system. She is an incredible person, despite her difficulties growing up and her friends realize what a special gift she is.

*Dillon- Steven's best friend and best-selling writer. He moves into the guest cottage on the property as a favor to Steven who knows that Grace needs the money. He stood her up for the prom, but his reason (that she isn't aware of) is so heartbreaking. He also has a secret in his past that shattered him emotionally.

*Promise- Grace's best friend. She moves into the house when she finds out that she has cancer so that Grace can help her through the chemo. Promise has been dating Grace's older brother Steven for 20 years.

*Steven- Grace's older brother and Promise's boyfriend since high school. Also a doctor who lives several hours away.

*Faith- Grace's perfect older sister. Kind-hearted to the point where no one can dislike her.

*Grant- Faith's husband who is a banker.

*Maxie- a friend of Grace's mother and father who simply never left after the funeral. She has moments where her age is showing and she becomes confused.

*Jonah- he loves Maxie and is helping Grace handle some of the handyman type issues on the property.

There is a love story to this book between Dillon & Grace. There are also gorgeous love stories between Promise & Steven and between Maxie & Jonah, but at the heart, this story is not about romantic love. This book is about love of friendship. At the heart is Grace, Dillon, Promise, and Steven and their road through this book IS NOT an easy one. It was incredibly moving and emotional. Even thinking about it now, 24 hours after I finished it, the power of the emotions are so strong that I still well-up with tears.

The wonderful thing about audiobooks is that you have the time to soak in all of the nuances of the story. The narrator on this one, Rebecca Gibel, was just wonderful. She handled the emotions through her voices so incredibly well. There is a huge cast of characters to this book and she managed to give them ALL their own distinct sound through all the ups and downs of the book. It was really well-done and I think completely added to my enjoyment of this book. While I think that I would have enjoyed reading it, I KNOW that the audio version enhanced my emotional reaction to the book to the point where I absolutely fell in love with it. It's definitely one that I recommend!

Another reviewer on Goodreads wrote something along the lines of "I have never read a book where the Cover and the description didn't match the book inside".

I have to agree with her. The book I finished last night was SO MUCH MORE than the cover and description give you. The book is not a fluff read in the least. It is filled with emotion, and heart-break, love and loss.

WOW...One More Summer kind of knocked me on my butt!

Our heroine, Grace, is what my husband would call "a collector of old people". She is a giver, because it's all she feels that she's good at. And you can't knock a person for using "giving" for a skill. With the passing of her father, a horribly mean man, she has taken in a few kind folks, who need a home and they become a "family".

This family includes Dillon Campbell, Grace's older brother Steven's best friend, who stood her up on the night of her prom fifteen years prior. All these years she never knew the real reason, only the reasons her father had told her, that she was ugly and no one would want her. But things change the summer he comes to stay in her guest house, love blooms, family secrets are brought to light, and Grace might have found more in Dillon Campbell than either of them bargained for.

One More Summer has so many wonderful secondary characters, from Grace's brother and sister to her best friend, Promise, and I couldn't imagine the book being the same without every single one of them! Many broken connections are brought together and healed, some are just blooming and some are so strong that they will last even into the afterlife.

Yep, this book had my emotions all over the place, from mad to sad to so angry I wanted to punch something to my chest tightening with heart-ache. Oh boy....just have some tissues handy.

This is one of those books where you can't judge a book by the cover, because this book is beyond what you think it will be. Give it a shot and I know you won't be sorry!!

And at only $4.79 on Amazon...You can't go wrong!!

Ill definitely be adding Liz Flaherty to my Authors to Watch list!!

Grace has spent her life taking care of her cantankerous and abusive widowed father. Now that he has finally died, she finds she has no job, no skills, very little money, and her head full of her father's spiteful words about how no decent man would ever love her. She does have a big old house which she opens as a rooming house in hopes of turning it into a Bed & Breakfast, but first she needs to fix up the old place. She now has a house full of a make-shift family including her best friend Promise, who is fighting cancer; Maxie, an aging soap opera actress; Jonah, a sweet man with a crush on Maxie; and Dillon, her brother's best friend who stood her up for her senior prom. Dillon, a best-selling author, rents Grace's guesthouse as a favor to her brother.

Life is changing for Grace. She knew her father was a bitter old man, but just now understands the full extent of his vindictiveness. Even still, she has demons in her past that she is just not ready to face. Dillon, on the other hand, is finding that there really is a woman underneath all the overalls and bad hair and wants to help Grace slay those dragons...but his past is off-limits.

I usually avoid stories like this: abuse is not an easy thing to read about. Grace was the least favorite of her father's; she was abused physically and emotionally. She's been conditioned by her father to think less than herself and is having trouble letting go of those mean words that haunt her every day.

I cried so much in this story. It was heart wrenching to read about what Grace endured and how it affects the lives of the people around her. It was also hard to read about Maxie's past and health issues. It was hard to read about Promise and her battle with cancer. It was just difficult.

This isn't a light hearted romance, this is a real life, dig-down-deep story of a woman overcoming the abuse and neglect in her life to embrace a life full of friends, family, and love.

I'm not going to do a recap of the plot of this story because other reviewers have done that already. I'm only gong to say that Liz Flaherty's voice is fresh and fun, entertaining and moving. Her characters come to life and you feel an immediate affinity to them. Thanks Liz, for a terrific book--it's first time I've cried while reading a book since...I don't know...Anne of Green Gables or maybe Little Women.

Could a cover, summary, and title be more misleading? I picked this up while I was in NYC for vacation thinking it will be a quick fun read to pass the time but oh wow, NOT! This was one emotional, heartbreaking and moving read.

I really can't do this book justice but I will try my best. One More Summer is not the perfect book, it started slow for me, I didn't like how it jumped around at the beginning and a few other things. But why does all of that NOT matter? Because when you have a book with such a powerful story like One More Summer does, who gives a damn about grammar and spelling? (not that there are any grammar or spelling mistakes!) that's petty stuff! What matters is the STORY.

I want to know these characters in real life. My heart fluttered when there were sweet actions, I cried at the ugliness and unfairness some of theses characters had to go through and most of all I just I fell in love with these characters. They're completely realistic, not perfect in looks or personality (some might argue Faith is, but hello tattoo;D) the situations they go through are also realistic and I say that AFTER I thought a certain event that is mentioned in the book was a bit over dramatic BUT it hit me how my aunt and mom were talking about a very very similar ugly event happened to a distant cousin of theirs and I Googled a couple of statistics and oh wow, definitely realistic! (I will not mention the even because I don't want to spoil it for you!) I'm always asking for books about the other people, those people who we don't get to read their stories since main characters are always plain janes or written out destinies and I got my wish with Grace.

I loved to see the relationship grew between characters and how each one of them developed. I was just cheering for Grace when she accomplished something or got over a fear and the same goes for Dillon. The romance at first for me was too... weird. It happened too fast but I got over it because I saw it develop properly. Grace and Dillon have become some of my favorite couples even!

This review is so hard for me to write because I cannot put into words how good this book is. I look forward to rereading it even though it was hard at parts and I had to put it down for a little while to wipe away the tears but also, along with the tears I laughed and fell in love and it was a damn great ride. If you're a contemporary fan, this is one realistic read you don't want to miss. It's full of emotion, heartache and love and I'm so happy to have read this book.

-thank you&come again.

This book was a wonderful surprise! It's a beautiful blend of friendship, love, hardship, and inner strength. The author does an amazing job of creating characters that stay with you long after the story is over. Although this was the first book I've read from Liz Flaherty, it definitely won't be my last. If you read it - keep tissues close at hand. You'll need them.

I LOVED this book! It was a sweet, moving story about true love - not just romantic love, but love between friends and siblings as well. True love is defined in this book through all the characters - it's the kind of love that doesn't matter what you look like, how smart you are, if you're sick or well, or if you're angry or moody. This book was so well-written, I could imagine myself being amongst the characters, and could empathize with them as they dealt with the things that were happening in their lives. I cried numerous times while reading (especially towards the end) because I just felt like they were all my friends, too.

Grace and Dillon both had horrible things in their pasts that they had buried deep down inside of them...but they both realized that the only way to be able to move forward was to talk about the past, and receive the love and comfort that others were willing to give them. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars...and HIGHLY recommend that you read this book!!!!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received an e-book edition of this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

One More Summer by Liz Flaherty

Grace Elliot has returned to the family house where her brother Steven and sister Faith have turned over their 1/3 of the property to her as their father had passed away a few weeks ago.

She planned on running it as a Bed and Breakfast but an Inn would be better for long term residents which a lot of them are the elderly of the town.

Her best friend, Promise Delaney is going to be going through breast cancer surgery and chemo and will need her help.

Dillion Campbell, the boy she was to attend the prom with but didn't show up after speaking to her father, is back in town. He was a reported covering the war and now writes novels.

He's so tired he needs to rent Grace's guesthouse in the back to recuperate and to help by paying for his stay.

Jonah who had lost all his retirement money was living there.

Maxie's cousin stayed after her dad's funeral and never left.

Daily life goes on as they get the guesthouse ready for Dilion, he does most of the work with others helping with the light sewing.

They are all there for Promise after her surgery.

Grace is starting to feel comfortable with Dilion again and she talks to him about his new book and how to make it better than the last one he wrote. She has a LOT of issues from the past, mostly her dad who didn't have a good word to say about her at all.

She has to overcome all that.

A lot of secrets come out and the rest of the book helps make sense of what happened earlier in their lives. Awesome read!