Up at Butternut Lake (Butternut Lake Series #1)

by Mary McNear

Overview

New York Times and USA Today Bestseller!

In the tradition of Kristin Hannah and Susan Wiggs, Mary McNear introduces readers to the town of Butternut Lake and to the unforgettable people who call it home.

It's summer, and after ten years away, Allie Beckett has returned to her family's cabin beside tranquil Butternut Lake, where as a teenager she spent so many carefree days. She's promised her five-year-old son, Wyatt, they will be happy there. She's promised herself this is the place to begin again after her husband's death in Afghanistan. The cabin holds so many wonderful memories, but from the moment she crosses its threshold Allie is seized with doubts. Has she done the right thing uprooting her little boy from the only home he's ever known?

Allie and her son are embraced by the townsfolk, and her reunions with old acquaintances—her friend Jax, now a young mother of three with one more on the way, and Caroline, the owner of the local coffee shop—are joyous ones. And then there are newcomers like Walker Ford, who mostly keeps to himself—until he takes a shine to Wyatt . . . and to Allie.

Everyone knows that moving forward is never easy, and as the long, lazy days of summer take hold, Allie must learn to unlock the hidden longings of her heart, and to accept that in order to face the future she must also confront—and understand—what has come before.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062283153
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	04/08/2014
Series:	The Reykjavik Murder Mysteries #05 , #1
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	85,915
File size:	840 KB

About the Author

Mary McNear, the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Butternut Lake series, writes in a local doughnut shop, where she sips Diet Pepsi, observes the hubbub of neighborhood life, and tries to resist the constant temptation of freshly made doughnuts. Mary bases her novels on a lifetime of summers spent in a small town on a lake in the northern Midwest. She lives in San Francisco with her family.

Editorial Reviews

this [...] charming debut should attract fans of Susan Wiggs and Luanne Rice.

Booklist

heartwarming love story

Women's Day

McNear has created a sweet romance wrapped in several interesting storylines. It’s easy to root for the happiness of all the leads, and it seems likely that all will find peace and contentment.

New York Journal of Books

A great, emotional read for every woman who must face the past before moving forward

#1 New York Times bestselling author Sherryl Woods

Up at Butternut Lake is charming and uplifting [...] Readers will likely cherish and appreciate this romantic and refreshing debut.

RT Book Reviews (4 Stars)

2014-01-04
The first in a homey, feel-good series, McNear's small-town tale offers lakeside views and likable characters. Since her husband's death in Afghanistan, Allie can no longer bear the intrusiveness of suburbia: the pitiful stares at the grocery, the useless advice, the weight of all those happy memories. So she sells the house, puts her furniture in storage, and moves herself and 5-year-old Wyatt to her family's cabin on Minnesota's Butternut Lake. Though slightly derelict, the cabin will be their new home, a new start. There, she reconnects with childhood friend Jax (pregnant with girl No. 4) and Caroline, owner of the local diner. Things seem pleasingly unchanged in Butternut, except for the large lake house that has recently appeared across from Allie's more modest cabin. The modernist affair belongs to the town's most eligible bachelor, Walker Ford, owner of a string of successful boatyards. It seems inevitable that Allie and Walker will make their ways to each other, but there is a novel's worth of obstacles in their path: Allie's fear of betraying the memory of her husband, Walker's fear of commitment, and their mutual, initial dislike for each other. While their romance works itself out, there is other trouble in Butternut: Jax's old boyfriend (and secretly the father of her first child) is out of prison and is blackmailing her to keep quiet. Caroline, bereft that her only child has just moved away to college, brushes off the advances of a friendly retired pilot. And then, despite a passionate weekend together, Allie misinterprets a visit from Walker's ex-wife and calls off the blossoming romance. Jax's husband finds out about the blackmail, and the two separate. Caroline eases her loneliness by babysitting Wyatt. Will the three women remain alone by novel's end? Unlikely. Plot really isn't the point of books like these; it's about the characters, and McNear has admirably crafted people worth following.

Kirkus Reviews