20180712_210721.jpgMy Thoughts:

The Summer List by Amy Mason Doan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5 BFF stars to The Summer List! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️.5

The Summer List was hugely relatable to me from the start. I am sure many of us have stories about a childhood friend, maybe even about a lost friendship.

Growing up, Laura and Casey are as tight as two friends can be. They spend every spare minute together talking, dreaming, and the most fun of all, participating in scavenger hunts. A betrayal happens between them that tears their friendship apart. What happened is a mystery until much later in the book.

Just as time can cause friends to drift apart, it can also heal old wounds and bring loved ones back together. Seventeen years later, Casey and Laura are reunited for one more scavenger hunt. The clues lead them back to their favorite memories and force them to feel nostalgic. It seems like Casey and Laura are growing closer, but just as quickly, their tentative relationship could crumble all over again.

Amy Mason Doan “gets” the power and intricacies of female friendship, especially the glory days during the teen years. I loved the small-town lake setting, the multiple layers to the story, and as relatable as it was, the push-pull dynamics of Laura and Casey’s friendship. The Summer List captures the essence of forgiveness, friends who are family, and second chances at friendship. It’s a lovely, warm-hearted, emotional read with an uplifting ending. I felt nostalgic for my own teen years, for my best friend I don’t see often enough, and how ultimately a BFF throughout the years provides security along with that deep emotional bond.

Thank you to Harlequin/Graydon House for the complimentary copy. The Summer List is now available!
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Synopsis:

A tender yet tantalizing novel about two friends, the summer night they fell apart, and the scavenger hunt that reunites them decades later—until the clues expose a breathtaking secret that just might shatter them once and for all.

Laura and Casey were once inseparable: as they floated on their backs in the sunlit lake, as they dreamed about the future under starry skies, and as they teamed up for the wild scavenger hunts in their small California lakeside town. Until one summer night, when a shocking betrayal sent Laura running through the pines, down the dock, and into a new life, leaving Casey and a first love in her wake.

But the past is impossible to escape, and now, after seventeen years away, Laura is pulled home and into a reunion with Casey she can’t resist—one last scavenger hunt. With a twist: this time, the list of clues leads to the settings of their most cherished summer memories. From glistening Jade Cove to the vintage skating rink, each step they take becomes a bittersweet reminder of the friendship they once shared. But just as the game brings Laura and Casey back together, the clues unravel a stunning secret that threatens to tear them apart…

Mesmerizing and unforgettable, Amy Mason Doan’s The Summer List is about losing and recapturing the person who understands you best—and the unbreakable bonds of girlhood.

Have you read The Summer List? Happy Reading! ~ Jennifer THR