I wanted to gt into this - it's such a great cover - but the narration was no good. ( )

Molly and Adam are both reluctant to trust their growing feelings - plus there are secrets between them. There's a little mystery and some interesting coincidences that tie things up in the end. I feel like the faith aspect actually made the ending more believable and less "Deus ex machina". ( )

Lake Season, by Denise Hunter, is the first book in A Bluebell Inn Romance series. The story focuses on three siblings that lose their parents. To allow the youngest child, Grace, to finish school with her friends, Levi leaves his job and Molly turns down her dream internship. The siblings work together to turn their family home into the bed and breakfast her parents planned.
Their first guest, Adam, is researching for his new book. During the remodel, an unmailed letter is found and Molly asks Adam to help her research and find the person who attempted to mail it and the person is was intended to go to.
This is a great story. It is a wonderful, inspirational dual story that takes place in modern day as well as the 1960's. The story is so well written it is easy to envision the transformation the home goes through and the surroundings. The story points out how the family works together for the sake of the family. The story also shows the changes Adam goes through when he discloses his secret. I really enjoyed the character of Grace. I enjoyed how she teased her sister about having a crush on an author. I also enjoyed the mystery surrounding the unmailed letter as well. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. ( )

I have never met a Denise Hunter book that I didn't absolutely fall in love with and Lake Season is no exception to that rule. This book is the first in her newest series titled the Bluebell Inn Romance. An added bonus for me is the story takes place in North Carolina, the state I call home.

After losing their parents in a car accident, three siblings continue their parents dream of turning their home into an inn. This book centers around the middle daughter of the family, Molly. The inn is about to open and now enters their first guest, Adam Bradford. Unknown to Molly, Adam is really her favorite author who writes under the pen name Nathaniel Gray and has come to Bluebell looking for inspiration for his next novel. During the time Adam is staying at the inn, Molly finds a mysterious love letter in the wall of the inn because the building used to be the town post office. Molly and Adam set off on a mission of tracking down the author and recipient of that letter while getting closer to each other in the process.

I can't say too much more for fear of giving away too much information, but this is a must read for lovers of a fun contemporary romance. Somehow I just loved that Molly is an avid reader who is falling in love with an author that she doesn't know is an author. That as well as many other surprises are in store for readers of this novel.

Carolina Breeze, the second in the series, is due for release in May of 2020. The next installment centers around Levi, the oldest sibling. Can't wait to read that one!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Net Galley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. ( )

Lake Season by Denise Hunter is so good! When I found out that Ms. Hunter would be setting her newest series in North Carolina, I knew I needed to read it. I connected with the story right away and, honestly, it got better and better the further I read. I loved the ending.

Adam has come to Bluebell, NC to find the perfect setting for his newest novel. He writes under a pseudonym (Nathanial Grey) and has been wildly successful in his writing career. Nobody knows his true identity, including one of his biggest fans, who happens to be Innkeeper at the Bluebell Inn. Adam came to Bluebell Inn to book a room for an extended stay during the summer so he could do research and work on his next manuscript. When he and Molly strike up conversation, and then become good friends, he knows that he really needs to tell her his true identity. Especially since Molly is such a big fan of Nathanial Grey’s books.

The way that Adam and Molly become closer is so sweet and great to read. There are also other things at play in their relationship, including a mystery involving a long lost letter, some interference by Adam’s agent, and lingering fear from events that happened to both Adam and Molly in their individual pasts. I loved watching these two working to solve the mystery around the letter while working through their past hurts, but it was sometimes a little bit torturous to watch them wrestle with their complicated feelings. My own emotions related to this story intensified as I got closer to the end. I love the way Ms. Hunter weaved the present-day storyline in with the one from the past, and I love that these two stories had some common themes. There were a couple of twists thrown in that I didn’t see coming, and I was overjoyed at the way everything worked out. One scene near the end of the story was quite emotional and made my eyes sting with tears.

This is a strong start to the Bluebell Inn series, and I am impatient for the release of the next book. It seems to me that the next book will focus on Molly’s brother, and I’m excited to know more about him in (hopefully) this same Inn setting.

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you, Thomas Nelson! ( )