Secrets of a Summer Place (Secrets of Mustang Island Book 1)

WOMEN'S FICTION: Reeling from her husband’s infidelity and unexpected death in the arms of his mistress, Jennifer Moss moves back home to Mustang Island, where she grew up. There, she invests herself in restoring the family home, and getting prepared for her grown children to finish school and come join her. On the day her husband died, she’d received a letter from the daughter she was forced to give up twenty-five years ago. The daughter, Madison, wanted to meet her. Back on Mustang Island, it isn’t long before she runs into Dylan Scott, her childhood summer fling, now divorced father of two girls, and the father of the infant daughter she gave up. Perhaps now she will learn why he never answered any of the letters she’d sent him back then.

 

Lovers of second chance romances, take notice! This one is for you! This story balances romance and family with the choices one makes to create a satisfying read. Jennifer and Dylan have some issues they need to work through once they reunite, including their grown children from other spouses, and the secrets left from Jennifer’s mother. Multiple problems dragged the story’s overall score down. This includes frequent repeated wording, pacing issues, sluggish dialogue, and technical accuracy. Adding more sensory descriptions of the location and characters would have fleshed the story out better. However, this novel from a proven author shows great promise for the new series. Readers should follow this succession of Mustang Island novels to see who is keeping secrets next!

 

Emerson Matthews