Book Review: The Lemonade Year

The Lemonade Year

By:  Amy Willoughby-Burle

Published By:  Shadow Mountain

Publication Date:  April 3, 2018
Page Count:  352

Buy it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or IndieBound

Source: ARC kindly provided by publisher

Women's Fiction

The Lemonade Year is a novel about all about love and relationships. Not just romantic love, but family and friends as well.

Nina's father has just passed away, she and her husband are about to make their divorce final, and it's possible she might be losing her job. The Lemonade Year is Nina's chance to figure out how to turn her life full of lemons into lemonade. 

There are some aspects of this book I really enjoyed. I liked the truly believable feeling of the dysfunctionality of Nina's family. Sometimes authors try too hard to make all the bad things seem real, but the tragedies in Nina's family felt like they really happened. 

Nina's siblings, Lola and Ray, were great characters. Although both were flawed in their own ways, they were a great threesome with Nina, and I was rooting for all of them throughout the book. Cassie, Nina's daughter, was a little less likable. It's probably because my teenage daughter does not behave like that.  But after listening to Cassie express her feelings to her mother, I understood where she was coming from and had much more empathy for her. 

The plot of the story was also enjoyable. However, the was the ending of Nina's relationship with Oliver just didn't feel resolved. Reading the book, you could tell there was something he was hiding, but once his secret was revealed, it seemed to far out there to be plausible. However, it did allow for him to help her during the crisis at the end of the book and that was nice to see. The plot was also a little slow in parts and I wanted things to move along a little quicker. One thing I would like to have known was how Nina's job situation was resolved and that was not addressed. Although maybe that is part of what we are to learn - sometimes we just don't know how certain parts of life are going to turn out.

Overall, it was an entertaining book and I would recommend it for those who enjoy women's fiction. It's not a feel-good romance novel, but one that makes you think a bit deeper about life and love.

Summary:

LOVE. LOSS. AND SECOND CHANCES.

Nina’s once-sweet life has unexpectedly turned sour. Her marriage is over, her job is in jeopardy, and her teenage daughter is slipping away from her. Then her father dies and issues with Nina’s mother come to a head; her estranged brother, Ray, comes home; and her sister, Lola, is tempted to blow a big family secret out of the water. They say the truth will set you free, but first it will make a huge mess of things.

All Nina’s got left is her final photography assignment shooting images for the book 32 Ways to Make Lemonade. Well, that and the attention of a younger man, but Oliver’s on-again-off-again romantic interest in her ebbs and flows so much she is seasick. And then Jack, her ex-husband, shows up, wanting to get back together.

As Nina struggles to find a way through her complicated relationships and to uncover her true path, she discovers just how valuable a second chance at life and happiness can be.