Goodreads

Release date: May 11, 2021

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Audio

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Synopsis:

The coming of spring usually means renewal, but for Linnea Rutledge, it begins a season of challenge. Linnea faces another layoff, this time from the aquarium she adores. For her—and for her family—finances, emotions, and health teeter on the brink. To complicate matters, her new love interest, Gordon, struggles to return to the Isle of Palms from England. Meanwhile, her old flame, John, turns up from California and is quarantining next door. She tries to ignore him, but when he sends her plaintive notes in the form of paper airplanes, old sparks ignite. When Gordon at last reaches the island, Linnea wonders—is it possible to love two men at the same time? 

Love in the time of COVID-19 proves challenging, at times humorous, and ever changing. Relationships are redefined, friendships made and broken, and marriages tested. As the weeks turn to months, and another sea turtle season comes to a close, Linnea learns there are more meaningful lessons during this summer than opportunities lost: that summer is a time of wonder, and that the exotic lives in our own backyards. In The Summer of Lost and Found, Linnea and the Rutledge family continue to face their challenges with the strength, faith, and commitment that has inspired fans for decades.

Review:

Well, I thought I was ready to read a book set during the pandemic and was curious to see how the author would navigate things but I think it may have been a little too soon for me. I’ve been watching a few TV shows that incorporated the real life events recently and have been ok with it but for some reason this just didn’t translate to a book well for me. I think maybe it’s set primarily in the early days, March 2020 to be exact, and it just brought me back to a place of anxiety and fear that I wasn’t into. So I wanted to start by saying that right off because this is more about me than the book and my own emotions and feelings so take that into consideration when you hear what I’m saying here.

As much as this one unsettled me there was still things to like, I enjoyed the large cast of characters and their various challenges and problems. With an ensemble cast there is a lot going on and while it felt a little chaotic, it definitely kept things interesting. I truly have to give some major credit to the narrator, I don’t know if I would’ve finished this one had I read it in print actually but Cassandra Campbell did a fantastic job of keeping me engaged. There’s a lot of family drama, life drama, friendship drama and just overall drama and that’s usually right up my alley, but again having it centered around the pandemic was just too much too soon for me. If you think that wouldn’t bother you though give this a try, if the pandemic wasn’t mentioned I would’ve adored this one I think, a total me issue and not the book at all, MAM is a wonderful writer and I’m sure many will love this one.

Overall rating: 3/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.