20181118_115453.jpgToday I have a review of Swimming for Sunlight by Allie Larkin. This precious book will be available from Atria Books on Tuesday, April 23, 2019!

My Thoughts:

Ahh, Swimming for Sunlight is so sweet and refreshing! Just what I needed!

Katie is an aspiring costume designer, and I knew she was my kind of gal when I read she gave up everything in her divorce settlement- everything- in order to keep her rescue dog. At a loss on what her next steps should be, Katie moves home to Florida to live with her grandmother. Her former underwater performer grandmother. 

Nan was a mermaid performer in a roadside show, and she had a group of close friends who performed with her. Unfortunately, the women lost touch over the years, but Katie helps Nan find her friends via social media in hopes of reuniting them for one more show. Of course, if this happens, Katie will make the costumes! 

Katie’s college boyfriend, Luca, re-enters the scene. Now a documentary filmmaker, Katie is feeling sparks between them. Katie has a real battle between all of her dreams and her anxiety holding her back from obtaining them. She makes a connection between her own fear and the anxiety her dog experiences. This aspect was SO sensitive and well-done, it melts my heart just thinking about it again. 

Swimming for Sunlight is a charming and moving story. If you are a lover of dogs or any animal, you can’t miss it, and even if you aren’t, this is a beautiful story that is sure to capture your heart like it did mine. Will Katie and Bark find their happily ever after?

I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own. 

Synopsis:

When recently divorced Katie Ellis and her rescue dog Bark move back in with Katie’s grandmother in Florida, she becomes swept up in a reunion of her grandmother’s troupe of underwater performers—finding hope and renewal in unexpected places, in this sweet novel perfect for fans of Kristan Higgins and Claire Cook.

Aspiring costume designer Katie gave up everything in her divorce to gain custody of her fearful, faithful rescue dog, Barkimedes. While she figures out what to do next, she heads back to Florida to live with her grandmother, Nan.

But Katie quickly learns there’s a lot she doesn’t know about Nan—like the fact that in her youth Nan was a mermaid performer in a roadside attraction show, swimming and dancing underwater with a close-knit cast of talented women. Although most of the mermaids have since lost touch, Katie helps Nan search for her old friends on Facebook, sparking hopes for a reunion show. Katie is up for making some fabulous costumes, but first, she has to contend with her crippling fear of water.

As Katie’s college love Luca, a documentary filmmaker, enters the fray, Katie struggles to balance her hopes with her anxiety, and begins to realize just how much Bark’s fears are connected to her own, in this thoughtful, charming novel about hope after loss and friendships that span generations.

Have you read Swimming for Sunlight, or is it on your TBR? Happy Reading! ~ Jennifer THR