Customer Reviews

Summer At The Lake (Harlequin Super Romance)

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

 

 

I had to force myself to finish this book. It was so corny and the characters too sugary sweet and unrealistic. It might have been laughable if it was written for a pre-teen crowd, but even that age group is more sophisticated than this book offers. I'm surprised at this veteran author that she couldn't write better descriptions of emotions when child-rape is involved. There is no depth, no nuances and so pedestrian that I was skimming after the second chapter--- not a good sign. Awful. If I could have given it no stars I would have.

Police hostage negotiator Rick Cooper takes a needed leave of absence after his last case turned ugly; the father killed his family in spite of Rick's efforts. He knows he did his best even as he constantly looks over what he might have done differently. However, he also knows he will have to find a new line of work as he no longer believes he can be effective.

Accompanied by his dog Quincy, he heads to his family's lake house in Upstate New York to get away and to decide about his future. He quietly sits playing his saxophone, which provides solace to his eleven year old neighbor Ashley McCarthy, a rape victim. Ashley and her mom Kristin go over to meet the musician, but the older McCarthy distrusts cops for good reason. Still Rick and Quincy help Ashley regain her zeal for life while the tweener reminds him that he has a skill people need.

SUMMER AT THE LAKE is all about the resilience of people to love and live even after a horrific trauma. Rick is a terrific caring person who personalizes the failed hostage negotiations as likewise does Kristin with the rape of her daughter; yet WC Fields is right about never perform with kids and animals as the dog and the child steal the show. Starting with the sax, friendships blossom and love thrives as Linda Barrett provides a deep second chance at life tale of three wounded souls finding love and solace with one another, enhanced by a caring canine.

Harriet Klausner

Single-mom Kristin McCarthy is living a mother's nightmare: Her young daughter has been raped. Eleven-year-old Ashley hasn't spoken since the assault; she won't live in her home, refuses to go to school, and she's terrified the man will come after them. The local cops seem to have given up pursuing the attacker, and Kristin is desperate to soothe her daughter's fears and help her to heal. When a friend offers her lake house as a refuge, she gladly accepts.

Rick Cooper is finished with being a cop. A recent failed hostage negotiation makes him doubt his career choice, his lifestyle, his very soul. He holds himself personally responsible for the failure, and nightmares of a dead child haunt his dreams. He packs his bags, his jazz saxophone and his therapy dog, Quincy, and heads to the one place where he might be able to figure out what he wants to do with the rest of his life.

Morningstar Lake is the perfect place for people to heal. It's also the perfect backdrop for two people who seem totally wrong for one another to fall in love. Despite her antagonism toward cops, Kristin is drawn to Rick's patience and generosity. Rick admires Kristin's courage and determination to help her daughter. He agrees to make some calls to check the status of Ashley's case.

With Quincy's help, Ashley slowly emerges from her cocoon. A music prodigy, the little girl begins to find comfort and strength in her music. She and Rick play duets, and she uses her music to "tell" her mother about the assault.

Thrown together by Ashley's plight, Rick and Kristin explore their newfound friendship. After four years of widowhood, Kristin finds herself attracted to the man. To her delight and dismay, he feels the same way. Can they risk getting involved when they know their own futures are so uncertain?

Once again, Linda Barrett has written a heartwarming, soul-stirring love story that is a joy to read. The story is not only about love between a man and a woman; but love between a mother and her child, love of family and friends, love of music and justice, and love of a very large German Shepherd named Quincy.

When Kristin McCarthy's eleven-year-old daughter, Ashley, is assaulted in the restroom of a movie theater, their lives seem to spin out of control. Ashley is too traumatized to even speak, much less help the police. A close friend of Kristin's offers her summer home on Morningstar Lake in the Catskill Mountains. Mother and daughter retreat to the lake house. Kristin feels helpless. She has no idea how to help Ashley and guilty for not being there when her daughter was assaulted. Then they meet their neighbor, Rick Cooper, and his German Shepherd, Quincy.

Rick Cooper has spent twelve years working on the Crisis Team of NYPD. He is the best hostage negotiator they have. But when negotiations fail and a little girl is killed, Rick begins to doubt himself. On leave, Rick takes Quincy to the lake for some time alone so he could figure out what to do with his life. Quincy is a therapy dog. So when Quincy reacts to Ashley, Rick knows the little girl is hurting. Quincy has Ashley speaking again almost immediately. Can Rick walk away instead of helping the daughter? Can he keep his growing feelings for the mother at arms length? Or will all of them take a chance?

***** This romance tugged me every which way but loose. It is so well written that I could actually feel the mother's helplessness, as well as the officer's sense of failure. At the same time that I enjoyed the tale, I also learned a bit about how law enforcement handles a child assault crime and the methods and the methods criminals use to keep their victims silent. I hope to see more novels with working animals in them. Quincy proves to me that animals can help not only solve crimes, but help heal people. Author Linda Barrett pens the most heart warming stories! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.