An Island Summer

Cara Rutledge is back on Isle of Palms, a small barrier island off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, in the house she inherited from her beloved mother, Lovie. Cara has always loved coming to the beach house, but now there’s a difference. She has an adopted baby. Cara is an experienced business woman, but she’s finding a baby, even a delightful baby like Hope, to be a challenge. She needs the support of friends and family.

Linnea, Cara’s niece, has just graduated from college. She’s back in her beautiful Charleston home, but being home also has responsibilities that Linnea isn’t ready to accept. When Cara offers her a job taking care of Hope for the summer, she jumps at it.

This is a beautiful story of women finding themselves. Cara, in addition to the baby, is trying to recover from her husband’s death three years ago. Linnea feels the weight of family expectations and wants to discover who she is and what she wants. The beach house is a catalyst for recovery from grief and anger. Family and friends join in supporting the new mother and her niece, and there are the turtles.

This is the fifth book exploring the lives of the Rutledge family of Charleston. It can be read as a standalone, but the family is so entertaining, you may want to go back and meet them in the previous books.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.