A Sweethaven Summer by Courtney Walsh

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing A Sweethaven Summer Guidepost Books (February 7, 2012) by Courtney Walsh

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Courtney Walsh is a published author, scrapbooker, theater director, and playwright. Her debut novel, A Sweethaven Summer, will be followed by two additional novels in the series. She’s also written two papercrafting books, Scrapbooking Your Faith and The Busy Scrapper. Courtney has been a contributing editor for Memory Makers Magazine and Children’s Ministry Magazine and is a frequent contributor to Group Publishing curriculum. She works as the PR Manager for Webster’s Pages from her home in Colorado, where she lives with her husband and three kids, who range in age from 4 to 10. Courtney drinks entirely too much coffee.



ABOUT THE BOOK

Suzanne's daughter, Campbell, journeys there in search of answers to her questions about her mother's history.Suzanne's three friends-Lila, Jane, and Meghan-were torn apart by long-buried secrets and heartbreak. Though they haven't spoken in years, each has pieces of a scrapbook they made together in Sweethaven. 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 one by one, old wounds are mended, lives are changed,
and friendships are restored-just as Suzanne intended.

If you would like to read the first chapter of A Sweethaven Summer, go HERE.





My review of A Sweethaven Summer:


At first, I was not sure I was going to like this book.  It was the second book in a row about a young woman whose mother has passed away and today happens to be the anniversary of my mom’s passing away, so it just felt like a bit too much of that.  But, I quickly got into the story and really started to care about the characters and their stories.  Everything about this book was terrific.  I am so glad that I did not let my early reservations about this book prevent me from getting into the story.  Once again a debut author has succeeded in wowing me with an amazing story that I found hard to put down.

I like a book with characters who have complex stories, but at the same time the author manages to prevent the book from feeling complex.  A Sweethaven Summer is one of those books.  With my busy schedule, I have to budget my reading time very carefully and I don’t like to get stuck in a story that just does not go anywhere.  This book moved along smoothly without feeling rushed or undone.  I really can’t think of anything I didn’t like about A Sweethaven Summer.  Courtney Walsh is an author that I will be keeping my eye on form here on out.