Review: The Dogwood Days of Summer (The Southern Isles Book 2) by Laurie Beach

Should she choose love or freedom?

After years of committing her life to a man she knew wasn’t right for her, Brooke Warter found the backbone to quit that relationship—and now she’s back in Goose Island, South Carolina, sharing a house with her squabbling parents and kooky grandmother.

On the other hand, she has a job working with her best friend at the local winery, and she has space to figure out what comes next. Brooke just needs to keep moving forward and a solid future will automatically follow.

So when old summer camp friends return to her life, she’s not gung-ho on going backward. Especially since she never really let go of her first love—Nathan Daugherty, whom she met when he showed up to camp with his clothes in a Wal-Mart bag. After all, childhood fantasies don’t always equal good adult choices, and she needs to stop defining herself based on her relationship status.

But what if a second chance with Nate could offer a whole lot more?

 

My Review:

A beautifully written stunner of a story.

Have you ever read a book that you knew was going to stick with you forever?  This is one of those.  Written so well, that I felt like I knew every character and inch of Goose Island.  The book started out sad with a breakup, but when Brooke moved back home to her family and friends, memories of their summer camp came rushing back.  In those memories came Nate, the first boy Brooke kissed and never forgot.  I enjoyed seeing Brooke and Nate find their way back to each other and Brooke reconnecting with her old friends and even the childhood bully.  There are also a lot of great little stories within this book that added so much more to it.  This is my favorite book, that I have read this year, and I highly recommend it.