Happy Friday, friends! I can’t believe that tomorrow is already the first day of summer! That makes the book I’m featuring today for First Line Friday the perfect book to enjoy this weekend – The Summer House by Lauren K. Denton.
“The morning Worth left, something pulled Lily from her sleep, though at first glance nothing seemed out of place.”
The Summer House by Lauren K. Denton
That line definitely makes me want to keep reading! Preferably from a beautiful porch swing like the one on this cover 🙂
The Basics
Title: The Summer House
Author: Lauren K. Denton
Genre: Contemporary Women’s Fiction/Southern Fiction
My Rating: 5 Stars
From the Back Cover: Sometimes it takes losing everything to find yourself again.
Lily Bishop wakes up one morning to find a good-bye note and divorce papers from her husband on the kitchen counter. Having moved to Alabama for his job only weeks before, Lily is devastated, but a flyer at the grocery store for a hair stylist position in a local retirement community provides a refuge while she contemplates her next steps.
Rose Carrigan built the small retirement village of Safe Harbor years ago—just before her husband ran off with his assistant. Now she runs a tight ship, making sure the residents follow her strict rules. Rose keeps everyone at arm’s length, including her own family. But when Lily shows up asking for a job and a place to live, Rose’s cold exterior begins to thaw.
Lily and Rose form an unlikely friendship, and Lily’s salon soon becomes the place where residents share town gossip, as well as a few secrets. Lily soon finds herself drawn to Rose’s nephew, Rawlins—a single dad and shrimper who’s had some practice at starting over—and one of the residents may be carrying a torch for Rose as well.
Neither Lily nor Rose is where she expected to be, but the summer makes them both wonder if there’s more to life and love than what they’ve experienced so far. The Summer House weaves Lauren K. Denton’s inviting Southern charm around a woman’s journey to find herself.
My Thoughts
“This life is a beautiful thing – it’s precious and fleeting, and we’d all be crazy not to reach out and grab it with both hands and hang on tight.”
From the first page of this story, I felt like I was transported to the small village called Safe Harbor on the Alabama coast. With her signature Southern charm and grace, Lauren K. Denton has written a beautiful story about starting over, taking chances, and becoming who you were meant to be. Rose and Lily couldn’t have done that without the community around them, and there are definitely some some fun, slightly eccentric characters who add both lightheartedness and depth to the story! Besides the beautiful setting, which could be a character itself, my favorite part of the story was seeing Lily’s transformation from a betrayed, hurting woman to one who has found her purpose and is ready to open her heart again. When I finished the book, I wished I could stay in Safe Harbor a little longer – that’s a sign of a great story!
Now it’s your turn! Please share the first line of the book you’re reading in the comments below. Don’t forget to head to Hoarding Books to see what first lines other bloggers are sharing, or to share your own!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Happy Friday!
Today on my blog, I’m sharing the first line from Fair as a Star by Mimi Matthews: https://christianfictiongirl.blog/2020/06/19/first-line-friday-140/. I’m currently reading The Killing Tide by Dani Pettrey so I will share a line from there:
“Rissi followed Noah into the station, glad to be back. It’d already been a long day.”
Hope you have a great weekend! 🙂❤📚
I loved The Killing Tide – can’t wait for The Crushing Depths! 😊 Have a great weekend!
Such a beautiful porch on the cover! It looks as inviting as the first line sounds!
It definitely does! I would love to spend a few hours there! 😉
Happy Friday! I’m reading from an old book, and the kindle edition is free on Amazon. I have probably read it 10 times! My first line is from “Uncle Max” by Rosa Nouchette Carey:
“It appears to me, looking back over a past experience, that certain days in one’s life stand out prominently as landmarks, when we arrive at some finger-post pointing out the road that we should follow.”
Wow, that must be a good one! That’s a great first line!!
I love the cover!! Have a wonderful weekend!
My first line is from A Gilded Lady by Elizabeth Camden which I finished this week.
June 30, 1900
There was no such thing as a typical day at the White House, but Caroline Delacroix’s morning took a particularly difficult turn the moment she walked into her crowded office,
Happy Reading!
I finished that one this week too! So good! 😃
Happy Friday! Today, I’m sharing the first line from The Heart of a Hero by Susan May Warren: “In the daylight, Jake Silver wasn’t the devil.”
https://moments-of-beauty.blogspot.com/2020/06/first-line-fridays-heart-of-hero-by.html
Such a gripping first line! Susan May Warren is one of my favorites! ❤️
Happy Friday!!
Over on my blog I shared one of the lines from Key to Everything by Valerie Frasier Luesse
“Sometime during the night, it had begun to rain, a steady downpour pelting the tin roof of Aunt Gert’s bungalow and lightly misting Peyton’s face.”
https://www.musingsofasassybookishmama.com/2020/06/first-line-friday-key-to-everything.html
I’m just getting ready to start that one! Thanks for sharing! 😊
I love the cover and it looks like a good book. I’m currently reading A Bee in Her Bonnet by Jennifer Beckstrand and the first line is “Poppy Christner was screaming her lungs out.” I hope you have a great weekend!
What a great title! Sounds like a fun one 😊
Happy Saturday!
What a beautiful first line and cover. It seems like the perfect read to be enjoy on hot summer day.
On my blog this week, I’m sharing the first line from Set the Stars Alight by Amanda Dykes:
London, England
May 1987:
“The smell of cinders permanently etched the abandoned Bessette Match Factory into the minds of all who passed.”
Hope you have a lovely weekend 🙂
Ooh, I can’t wait to read that one! Enjoy! 😃❤️