Stardust Summer

by Lauren Clark

• ISBN10: 0984725091
• ISBN13: 9780984725090
• Publish Date: 30 March 2013
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Monterey Press
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 346
• Language: English

Reviews

[Cocktails and Books]

This was a great story about realizing the importance of family, believing in love and starting over.

Grace Mason lived her life for her son, remembering that fairy tales don't happen. She keep a small house in the town in Ocean Springs, Mississippi and works as a teacher's aide so she could be there for her son. But when her estranged father falls ill, Grace finds herself rushing to the small town he lives in off Keuka Lake. She thought she would be there for a few days and return to her orderly life. She didn't realize that everything was about to change.

I loved Grace. She was one of those characters that you just hope she'd find a way to let go of the hurt and anger she's held on to for so long and find her happy. She was this amazingly strong woman who raised a son on her own and did it without her family close by because of the rift between herself and her father and step-mother. It was sad to think that when she finally understood why her father moved and worked on her relationship with her step-mother so many years had passed. But she was a woman who wasn't afraid to admit when she was wrong and she did it. Not only with her step-mother, Kathleen, but also with the only man who has sparked any romantic interest for her in years, Ryan.

Ryan was another character that I loved. He was a workaholic that didn't know who to let go of the hurt and anger over his marriage falling apart. It wasn't until Grace appeared next door that Ryan started feeling again. He was quirky, funny and exactly what Grace needed. My only wish was for their slow growing romance was to have it develop more on the page. It seemed like all of a sudden it was so clear what they meant to each other, without having actually gone through their courtship.

This was a lovely read and another example of why I love Lauren Clark's books. She's able to create these characters that you just "get" from the very moment you meet them and you want nothing more than for them to figure their life out and get their happily ever after. This is definitely one that you should pick up to read this summer.

[Leah]

Lauren Clark is an author I very much enjoy. I really enjoyed her debut novel, Stay Tuned, and I absolutely adored Dancing Naked In Dixie when I read it last year. So I was really chuffed to see Lauren’s third novel was finally being released. It wasn’t Pie Girls, which was meant to be Lauren’s third novel but which is delayed until later on this year (yay), instead her new release is Stardust Summer, and although I didn’t enjoy it as much as Dancing Naked In Dixie, it is still a novel that I’d recommend.

When Grace Mason’s father dies, she finds herself leaving her Mississippi home and heading to New York for his funeral with her son, Evan. Grace and her father, along with his wife Kathleen, haven’t had the best of relationships but she’s devastated to not have been able to say a final goodbye. Grace only plans to stay in New York for a short time, but she ends up staying the entire summer after spending more time with her step-mother and although she’s not entirely able to forgive Kathleen, she understands that Kathleen now feels lost without her husband and Grace and Kathleen’s next-door-neighbour Ryan, a doctor, try to help Kathleen move forward. When the time comes for Grace to head home again, will she be able to pull herself away from New York and its beautiful lakes?

I really liked the plot of Stardust Summer, I liked the fact that it delved into Grace’s past and I spent a lot of time wondering just what Kathleen and Grace’s father Henry had done to make their relationship so strained. If I’m being honest, Grace’s anger was a bit unfair. When all was said and done, I felt she’d treated Kathleen a bit meanly, and I was sort of hoping for them to have a one-to-one to properly air their grievances, or, rather, for Grace to air her grievances as it was Grace with the issues. A lot happens in the novel – think of every bad thing that could happen to multiple people and they all happened to Grace and Kathleen during Grace’s stay. At times, it was a bit much for one family to cope with but I admired how Grace and Kathleen coped.

I thought the setting of the novel was spectacular. I wanted to move to New York, next to the lake with a beautiful cottage. I wanted to swim in the lake, and see the beautiful sunrise and sunset. One of my favourite people in the novel was definitely Doctor Gordon, he was an ace character, someone I felt so sad for when we learned about his wife leaving, but I loved how he and Grace clicked. I really, really liked the book. I love the title – Stardust Summer, isn’t it beautiful? The cover, too, is stunning. I can’t wait for Lauren Clark’s next novel, she’s a really good storyteller, and I love the stories she weaves and the characters she creates. Pie Girl’s can’t come soon enough and Lauren Clark is definitely on my list of authors whose books I must read as soon as they’re released.