TLC Book Tour: The Light in Summer

The Light in Summer by Mary McNear is the fifth in the Butternut Lake series. I have read them all, and with each new installment I fall a little more in love with this series, the characters and the town where the book is set.

Billy Harper is a single mother to a teen-age son, Luke, who is giving her a hard time as he enters his adolescent years.  Luke was the result of a fling Billy had as a teenager, and until recently she didn't know the whereabouts of Luke's father.  And Luke's father didn't even know he had a teen-age son.

Cal Cooper has come back to Butternut Lake, the place he spent summers while growing up, trying to get over a divorce and betrayal.  

Billy has to deal with Luke's desire to know his father and also the idea that she can go on with her life and have a relationship.  

The appearance of characters from previous books in this series adds to my growing love of these books.  Butternut Lake is a small town in Minnesota that is similar to the small town I'm from and the towns I am surrounded by.  I love the easy way of life, the relationships between residents and the way things still seem simple in these books.  

I knew where this story was heading from nearly the beginning, but it didn't lessen my enjoyment of this book.  I've read an interview with McNair recently where she revealed there will be a sixth Butternut Lake novel.  I'm excited to read the next installment already, but am crossing my fingers that this series won't end at six.  

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for providing a copy of this book for my review.  All opinions expressed are, as always,  my own.

For more information, visit the HarperCollins website.