Ellen invites her friend, Lara, who is starting chemo treatments, to spend the summer with her at her beach house in North Carolina. Lara meets new friends during her treatments and forms a support group. The group hangs out on the porch of the beach house which overlooks the ocean giving them the perfect spot for sharing stories and thoughts. As Ellen gets to know the people on the porch, she realizes she needs to make changes in her life.

I really liked the premise of the story! I also enjoyed the depth of each character and how they influenced Ellen’s life for the better. The middle got a little boring for me, but I enjoyed the ending. This is a good book to read if you are in a reflective mood or looking for a book about friendship!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

The book had some slow moments, but it really redeemed itself overall. A summer romance book is always a good choice, and this delivered. I especially loved the journey of friendship mixed in, it was delightful.

Ellen is spending the summer at the Delaware shore getting ready to sell the family cottage. On impulse she invites her friend, Lara who has just been informed she has cancer after a 10 year remission. Their goal is to help each other become better friends. Ellen is in a rut after a rough divorce, losing her parents and hating her job. Lara has accepted her diagnosis of bone cancer with grace and forms a support group for other's getting chemo. The front porch group has all ages and different forms of cancer. Keep a hanky handy. A wonderful summer read with friends staying close when the going gets rough. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Ellen is not an impulsive person. Everything is thought out through and planned so there are no unpleasant surprises. This was what hit her hard when her husband of twenty years walked out on her - his complaint was that she was predictable, in other words boring. She has also lost her parents and is now trying to come to terms with loss as a thing itself. She wants her life to be better, to be more meaningful and having inherited a beach cottage she decides to go there, clean it out with the intention of selling it. On impulse she invites her friend Lara, now sick with a bout of a recurrence of cancer, needing treatment and a friend.

Ellen did not envisage that the flamboyant Lara will gather together like minded souls in the cancer clinic she attends and her little coterie meets at the cottage and though Ellen tries to keep away from the group, she is invariably drawn into their thoughts, their activities and their day to day life. At Lara's insistence Ellen joins a writer's group to try to rekindle the author in her, she knows is buried deep within and also puts Ellen on a dating site (for Ellen this is the worst thing that could happen to her!).

Gradually Ellen's barriers come down and she realises that life is for living and for taking what comes your way and making the best of whatever is given. Learning lessons from the group of survivors from cancer, she applies these to her own self.

This was a coming of age story, though the character was middle aged and not a youngster. Enlightening read.

This one was an okay read, but not if you are looking for a light a fluffy beach read. I'm all for 'finding oneself', as the book would indicate the main character was looking to do, however there was just a little too much extra going on with everyone else... all the sad news and depressing illnesses just went a tad overboard for me. It wasn't a terrible book, I finished it - but it did feel misleading and much more sad than I anticipated. Maybe that's on me. I would read another by this author as the writing was wonderful.

The cover was attractive which is what drew me to the book. The read itself drew me in and in no time the reader is invested in the characters.

Ellen Tolliver, an English professor, dreams of writing a book. However, she lacks the confidence. An untimely divorce leads her to introspect as she goes to the beach house inherited from her ostenta, to clean it up for sale. She takes along her best friend, Lara, whose cancer has returned and Lara can’t be left alone.

Ellen looks after Lara but doesn’t realise that Lara was just what she needed to find herself and the world around her. Ellen learns to live and love.

The supporting characters were excellent . The cancer support group and their bonhomie and zest for life , culminating in a drag fashion show , teach us that even if we are dying we are still alive; and that life must be cherished.

The Summer I found Myself, by Colleen French, is one of the most touching stories I have ever read! Breaking from her traditional period pieces, this story is set in modern times in Albany Beach, Delaware. Ellen Tolliver Edmundson, daughter of renowned author Joseph Tolliver, has suffered much loss over the last few years: her parents’ deaths, an unwanted divorce, and now her best friend since childhood, Lara, has again had a cancer diagnosis.

As Ellen is going from her Raleigh home to her inherited family beach house in Albany Beach and there is a local hospital and cancer center there, Ellen invites Lara to join her at the beach house where Lara can enjoy the location while undergoing treatment and Ellen expects she can help Lara during her treatment while spending some quality time together.

What Ellen doesn’t expect when Lara asks to invite some of her new friends to sit on the porch was that they would all be cancer patients or that they would have so many stories, so many life lessons, and so much joy! But then, Lara’s mission, other than to stem her disease, is to help her friend open up to a better life, and her new friends are just the ones to help.

In a summer of self discovery and learning life lessons, regardless of sadness or loss, Ellen will overcome and grow as a person. The story is rewarding to read, enlightening, and leads to hope for the future. I truly hope there will be a sequel to this wonderful book. I did enjoy this book and wholeheartedly recommend it!

Sometimes you find the book and you realize that that book has a lesson to teach you. The Summer I found Myself by Colleen French offered many lessons, some of which I needed to hear. Perhaps the most important lesson was that it's never too late to take on a new path.

Ellen Tolliver has faced a lot in the last two years. She's lost her parents, her son has grown up and moved on and she's become divorced, so when she finds out her best friend Lara’s cancer has returned she knows she needs to help. Ellen invites Lara to spend the summer with her on Albany Beach knowing the beach will be a place of healing. What Ellen doesn't realize is that she will be healing as well as Lara.

Lara turns Ellen's back porch into a retreat for other cancer patients. Every day they sit and they face their life together by sharing and coming up with their own truths. The group is as disparate as you can imagine with each facing their own cancer and their own prognosis. What I found interesting is that by Lara doing this, Ellen was forced to face her future.

The Summer I Found Myself by Colleen French is a wonderful journey into people; what makes them interesting and charismatic are the hearts and souls they carry inside. The story, while extremely poignant, makes you realize how much you want each of them to find comfort. I thought the book was a glorious celebration of life and an excellent read.

My first read from Colleen French. This is a superbly well written story of loss, recovery, and finding who you are. French leads you through the thought processes of two different women and how they cope. I look forward to reading many more books by Colleen French.

I received an ebook ARC from Netgalley and this is my voluntary, honest review.

The Summer I Found Myself by Colleen French is a women’s fiction title that I will admit I picked up after what was a case of instant cover love. I ended up enjoying the story inside although I will admit not quite as much as that cover. The story pulled at the heartstrings along the way and was one of personal growth for the main character Ellen.

Ellen Tolliver is an English Professor who always dreamed of writing her own novel one day and after going through an unwanted divorce Ellen wonders if it’s time to give writing a try. Ellen’s plan was to pack up and head to the Delaware beach house she inherited from her parents for the summer to clean out the home and get it ready for sale and with the time figure out what she wanted from her now empty life.

However, before Ellen was ready to leave to head to the beach house her friend, Lara, shared the horrible news that Lara’s cancer had returned. Without thinking twice Ellen invites Lara to spend the summer with her as Lara goes through her treatment at the local hospital so Lara wouldn’t have to be alone. Little did Ellen realize Lara was just what Ellen needed in her life to open her eyes to the world around her.

I have to say The Summer I Found Myself was a perfect title for this one as the book certainly encompassed Ellen’s time finding herself and all of her personal growth. The story got off to a rocky start for me because quite honestly Ellen didn’t start off as all that likable as she wallowed in her own personal problems and seemed to only think of herself too often. However, the many side characters brought in along the way more than made up for the rocky beginning and with them they brought a light to the story and the emotional connection I didn’t have in the start. Overall I would give this one three and a half stars noting that it did improve along the way for me.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Ellen has had several losses and decided she was going to spend the summer at the beach house she inherited from her parents. Her best friend Lara's cancer has come back and Ellen invites her to come to the beach house and have her cancer treatment there, so she can take care of her.
When they arrive, Ellen has always wanted to write a novel and is hoping this will be the summer. Lara encourages Ellen to start to live again. Ellen is uptight, worries, and overthinks, while Lara seems to just go for it and see what happens. I could definitely relate to Ellen. When Lara started chemo she met some new friends there, and she started to invite them back to sit on the porch, and they became known as the porch friends. Ellen being who she was, worried about someone would fall, she would get sued, her best friend would like one of them better than her. But Lara kept on bringing her new friends who had different kinds of cancer and at first Ellen thought she was helping them, but soon realized they were helping her. She started writing short snippets of things she did or heard through her day, until she started to write in a journal.
The porch friends would come to the porch after chemo, and they would still have such excitement about life. Ellen wasn't realizing she has been stepping out of her comfort zone and doing things because she was worried about the people on her porch.
As summer goes on things begin to change, attitudes change, everyone is sharing different things about themselves. They realize how much they have grown and changed this summer. They all start to not just accept the way things are but to do what they want to do. There is a lot of evolving this summer, finding out whom you truly are, and having the courage to go for it. Once they find the courage, they take on life, and start to live.
I think there is going to be a lot of people reading this book that is going to see themselves. One thing Ellen did on her snippets was writing down what she wanted. One of the things she wanted was to be happy which surprised her because she didn't think she was unhappy, and it made her think about that. She did come to realize what that meant. I did too.
This book is for all ages, there is a teenager, moms, dads, elderly, and each one brings something unique to this story, and it all blends together.
I received an ARC from Kensington Press through NetGalley.

What a beautiful, poignant story about living and life. I found it interesting how Ellen came to Albany Beach and was dreading cleaning out the house and attic. She planned to sell it at the end of summer. I liked that she invited her best friend, Lara to spend her summer there as she went through chemo treatmemts for the second time.

How interesting the story became as Lara's chemo friends took up residence and became known as The Porch. I found the group to be unique with various ages, ethnicities, amd backgrounds. They all had cancer and most had an expiration date, but they were living life and teaching Ellen many lessons about life and living .

I liked how Ellen changed from a bitter, divorced woman with a very structured life to more of a warm, free spirited character, living life to the fullest and finally writing her novel. I also liked how the other characters from The Porch added so much to the story. Their stories pulled me right in and made the book so very interesting and different. They also helped Ellen to finally be able to live in the moment and not the past. She was finally free of her divorce and ready to live. I received an advance copy of this book and I willingly chose to write an honest review.

Lara has a cancer relapse so her best friend since childhood Ellen invites her to the Delaware beach house she inherited. Lara is a free spirit and Ellen is so repressed that she drinks white wine instead of her favorite red wine, because red will stain. Thus, fun oil and water clashes abound.

This seemed like a by-the-numbers beach read that kept me turning pages but there wasn't much to help the book rise above all the other summer reads. For a book with various characters undergoing cancer treatment, this book felt more like a light beach read than something delving into the meaning of life, without minimizing the intensity of cancer treatment. Lara's cancer support group has memorable people but we only learn a little about their past, even though we know enough that their pasts would be interesting.

The book had a satisfying ending but I'm not planning on searching out other books by the same author.

Wow! Loved it! My eyes are still moist. It was good to see the growth of the main character. It was difficult to read of the death and issues of many of the others. I probably related much too closely to this story as I have cancer. I also was the chauffer for a friend to her chemo. I was able to read this in a day as I could not put it down. Mainly because I did not want to have leaky eyes while reading in bed.

Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. My review opinion is my own.

I enjoyed this summer read of two very different women who are good friends spending a summer at a beach house. Of course the beach house is inherited (yawn) and they have no financial troubles. Its a little annoying to read such luxury but the charcters the author portrayed saved the book. One has cancer that has come back and is hoping to rest and rejuvenate her body at the house. The other her friend that suffered family losses and is licking her wounds. Both long time friends find out that friendship is at the heart of life .

When I chose this book, I expected a summer romance with a bit of self-discovery thrown in for good measure. What I found was a thoughtful journey in friendship and the meaning of living life to its fullest.

Ellen is a rather conservative English professor who is recently divorced . Her closest friend, Lara, has been recently diagnosed with cancer and they decide to spend the summer together at the beach in the house Ellen has inherited. Ellen wants to help Lara deal with the effects of chemotherapy and also to get away from the drama in her life.

As the summer progresses, an unlikely band of cancer patients find their way into Ellen's life and she is forced to face life in a different way. Overshadowing the friendships is the disease they are all fighting or choosing not to fight and those choices make Ellen look carefully at her own. Throw a handsome bookstore owner into the mix and you have the makings for a great summer read.

As the book draws to a close, Colleen writes "Ellen was still marveling at how much she had learned about living from those who were dying..." A perfect summation of the book!

Ellen's impulsive invitation to her friend Lara to join her for the summer at the family beach house turns out to be the best thing she could have done for herself, and for Lara. Ellen's had a lot of loss but that's nothing compared to the fact that Lara's cancer has returned, Lara, however, has made a lot of friends at chemo and she brings them home to sit on the porch and chat. Lara, and then the group, challenge Ellen to stretch herself- to do different things (nothing really big but enough). This is meant to be about Ellen remaking her life but it's also about friendship, grief, grit, and living life out loud. There's time when it's sad- the porch crew members are all struggling with illness- but there are also moments of lightness. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing to me an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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In Colleen French's heartfelt summer read, a Delaware oceanside cottage is the perfect setting for a season of surprising lessons about how much there is to gain--when you finally let go...

In the last two years, English professor Ellen Tolliver has weathered heartache with grace--including an unwelcome divorce and losing her parents. In her more honest moments, Ellen might admit that she's sick of loss. She longs to stretch and grow, to truly fill her days. Maybe this year, she'll have something to recount in her Christmas letter other than her son's travel adventures. Maybe she'll be too busy to even write a Christmas letter.

On impulse, Ellen invites her ailing best friend, Lara, to spend the summer with her at the Delaware beach house she inherited from her parents. Lara can relax on the big front porch after chemo while Ellen readies the house for sale. But Lara has plans too--she'd like to help Ellen discover who she is, or better yet, who she can still become.

At Lara's urging, Ellen joins a local writer's group, tries online dating, and mingles with the new friends Lara brings home from her support group. She forgoes white wine (won't stain if you spill it!) for red and eats French fries for breakfast. She even flirts with the local bookstore owner, a handsome, sun-kissed, younger man. And as she embraces the freedom that comes with breaking her own rules, she wonders if it's not just her past that lies in this beloved quirky town, but her future too...
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I had a little trouble getting into this one, mostly because I initially really disliked the main character, Ellen. As noted in the title, this was the summer in which she was going to find herself, and in the beginning, I just did not see how that was going to happen. She had several character traits that I found very off-putting. However, as I settled into the plot, many other characters were introduced into the storyline and ended up redeeming it for me. I did find myself having to suspend my disbelief over one major plot point toward the end of the book, but I just took the advice of a beloved English teacher from high school - "It's fiction; accept it." - and plowed ahead.

This is a story of struggle and sadness but also small moments of joy and little victories. Set against the backdrop of a beach town, which is key to any summer read for me, the book teaches the importance of letting go of some of our old habits and beliefs and embracing the unknown...giving up those narrow viewpoints that sometimes seem to be keeping us safe and risking opening ourselves up to things that may hurt us but may also free us from that which has us stuck. It was an enjoyable read, if not my best of the beach reads of the year.

A wonderful read. Ellen and her friend Lara go to the Delaware shore while Ellen readies the house for sale. Lara has cancer, so this could be their last time together. Heartwarming story of learning to adjust to change, loss and everything in between. Enjoyed this one, and like the idea of learning and remembering something (even the small things) from all we meet. Highly recommend.

Hankie alert- you know a character in the book has chemo, so no surprise, you MAY need a box of tissues to get through this understated book!

Filled with older characters, this book is about what we have, what we think we have, and what is so easy to slip through our fingers, without us realizing it. It's a book about learning to live, when life offers you a chance to take door #2, even if it seems the opposite of everything you've ever done and been. Sometimes letting go is harder than taking the leap of faith. It's also a book about what we should value in life, and one not to be missed