Author: Mary McNear
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Genre: Romance
Source: Kristin of Kritters Ramblings

Goodreads:  It’s been ten years since Allie Beckett crossed the threshold of her family cabin at Butternut Lake, Minnesota. Now, newly widowed after the death of her husband in Afghanistan, she’s returned with her five-year-old son.

There, she reconnects with the friends she had in childhood-best girlfriend Jax, now married with three kids and one on the way, and Caroline, owner of the local coffee shop. What Allie doesn’t count on is a newcomer to Butternut Lake, Walker Ford.

Up at Butternut Lake follows these four unforgettable characters across a single summer as they struggle with love, loss, and what it means to take risks, confront fears, and embrace life, in all of its excitement and unpredictability.

Allie Beckett could never have imagined, when she ran away from her old life, that she was running into a whole new life, up at the lake…. 

Ope’s Opinion:  If you enjoy Robyn Carr’s series or RaeAnne Thayne’s series, you’ll enjoy this series.  I suggest you start with the first one,  you will miss some background information if you start in the middle.  

This is the first in the series.  As you can see I am behind on this series, number six is about to come out.  It is an easy read, enjoyable story.  You know where it is going to end, but there are a few twists along the way.  Allie is at the center of this book, but you are introduced to several other people in the town and their stories move along at the same time as Allie’s.  

For me, the steamy parts are unnecessary, but you know they are always there in the romance genre.  I just slide right by them and keep reading because the story is good.