Listened to this one on audio. I read that it was set in Asheville NC, and wanted to read a book with that setting. It was a pleasant listen - a bit like a Hallmark movie, with a few plot twists. The book had two timelines - one told the story of Esme's grandmother, and one focused on Esme's life. I enjoyed Esme's growth, and some of the side characters, but felt the storyline did not tell anything surprising, and followed a progression of "girl fails at life. girl returns home.
Girl saves the day by saving the family lake side retreat. The romance element was pretty non existent, the storyline focusing on how Esme finds a home and her purpose in life.

Esme Cahill might fail spectacularly, but the book was on overall win. Esme returns to save her family’s lakeside retreat outside of Asheville, and we are in for a treat of our own as we meet a fun cast of characters. As someone who often thinks the life we are taught to believe we want, might not in fact be as great as it has been made to seem, this is a life I’d want to live… failures and all.

3.5 starts - when Esme’s perfect life plan falls apart, she’s forced to return home to her grandfather’s lake lodge and is forced to process her difficult past with her mother and the death of her grandmother.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and aspire to love and be loved like George and Adele. However, I disliked the entire role of Dawson. I understand that the chef needed to leave the lodge high and dry but I felt like the will they/won’t they storyline was a waste of time (especially when they won’t). All in all, a good summer read that made me wish I was at a lake lodge in North Carolina.
3.5 starts - when Esme’s perfect life plan falls apart, she’s forced to return home to her grandfather’s lake lodge and is forced to process her difficult past with her mother and the death of her grandmother.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and aspire to love and be loved like George and Adele. However, I disliked the entire role of Dawson. I understand that the chef needed to leave the lodge high and dry but I felt like the will they/won’t they storyline was a waste of time (especially when they won’t). All in all, a good summer read that made me wish I was at a lake lodge in North Carolina.

3.5 stars.

"Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly" by Marie Bostwick is a lovely little book full of changing minds, second chances, redemption, discovered secrets, and altered lives. The characters are grand, and I found myself attached to them by the book's end. I loved Esme and her grandmother Adele. We learn about their lives as they unfold across a dual timeline. As Esme licks her wounds from a divorce, the loss of a job, and the loss of her grandmother, she learns what's really important in Asheville, NC, where she is from (though it is a place where she hasn't been back to in quite some time). Esme decides to use her savings to help repair and renovate the family business, a rustic resort lodge in the mountains, where her grandpa George and her estranged mother Robin reside. While she's there, Esme discovers another side of Adele when she finds a box of quilts that she made throughout her life, as well as many letters detailing her life and her relationship with George in the 1940s. Esme gets the idea to write about her grandmother and hopes to get the book published. The longer she stays at the resort in North Carolina, the longer her pull back to New York dwindles. Esme has always been a perfectionist and a rule follower, someone who thinks ad nauseum before leaping into anything, so when she jumps at the chance to renovate the resort without so much as a backup plan, it's surprising to everyone around her. She eventually finds that she prefers a more quiet, laid-back life to the Big Apple rat race by connecting with her grandmother's written word and stitched creations. I think this story is pretty successful, though it does go on a bit long. I figured out what was going to happen long before it was ever written. This story reminds me of something I have read before, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe it's an amalgam of a lot of different books rolled into one. It's familiar, sure, but does enough new stuff that I was never bored by it (despite its length). This would be a *very* successful Hallmark Channel adaptation. Put this on your summer reading list for sure. It passes the small-town vibe check.

Thank you to NetGalley, Marie Bostwick, and William Morrow for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

I adore mid-life (or a little less-than) change of life trajectories. It's inspiring to see characters lose who they thought they were and find the real "them." This title did not disappoint. A great read!

I truly need to stop requesting books especially from unknown authors. Just from finishing this book, I still don't understand what I read. Nothing connects with me after reading this story. I just can't.

I love a heartwarming story and and an unforgettable character like Esme Cahill whose life has spiraled downhill or so she thought after losing her publishing job in NYC, a failed marriage, and nothing to account for. With her tail between her legs she comes home to Asheville at her late grandmother Adele’s request and with her family to rebuild their lakeside retreat back to life. There she rediscovers not only herself but a little something Adele has left behind.

The writing was beautiful that brought me to tears. Marie Bostick sure knows how to tug your heartstrings and write poignant stories with redeeming characters.

Esme feels like a failure because of her divorce and being fired from her job. She moves back to Asheville at her late grandmother's request and works at the family retreat her family has run. Along with the chef her grandfather hired, they work on saving the retreat and finding love. It's a lovely novel about family and how to succeed from failure.

Esme has failed. I mean, spectacularly. Her life is in shambles so she goes home. Home is a rundown lakeside cottage resort where her amazing grandparents and her mess of a mother live. The grandmother's backstory is so intriguing. I loved thinking about the hows and whys of it all. Sometimes you CAN go home.

After an unexpected job loss, Esme Cahill returns to her hometown of Asheville, NC. She has worked in the publishing field for many years and is pretty good at editing. But, she needs time to regroup and her grandmother has passed away recently. She joins her widower grandfather in Asheville at the family business, a resort. Her estranged mother is there, too. Esme had tried for years to avoid being in the same place as her mother, so things are strained on her arrival. With a goal to spruce up and sell the resort, Esme and her mother find themselves working toward a common goal.
Job changes, though hard, are sometimes for the good of the person. Esme must sort through where she’s supposed to be, along with her place in time.

A wonderful character driven story with southern charm. It's women's fiction at its finest. What I loved most was the them of family, born and made. It's a feel good story with fantastic characters.

I think it was the cover that attracted me to this book, but it was the characters that made me love it. One might think that it would have been Esme that I appreciated the most, but it was her grandmother Adele who I found fascinating and her steadfast husband George that made the book memorable for me. Adele who worked at Biltmore House during the war in a top secret job found an unending love and a passion for making quilts. Her granddaughter returned to Ashville when her life blew up in NYC and found--maybe not love (or maybe she will), but the life she really wanted in the mountains of North Carolina. The book had ups and downs for Esme, and while the ending did not resolve everything, it did leave the reader hope that all her dream would come true.

Heartwarming tale of a woman lost after her life implodes. Esme Cahill finds herself fired from her dream job book editing in NYC on the heels of her divorce. Shattered, she heads back to North Carolina, to her grandfather as her beloved grandmother had just passed away. She finds her estranged mother and grandfather struggling to keep rustic resort open. Tucked away is a story within the story of her grandmother, her war years and the glorious quilts she created. An enjoyable sick read.

Wanted to love this one so much after being obsessed with Restoration of Celia Fairchild, but it was just a big miss for me. I did love the grandparent relationships, but it just didn’t feel like it went together. I don’t know - if you like historical elements, found family, and are in the mood for a book in North Carolina then you’d love! 2 ⭐️

I love a good Hallmark movie and this one was a movie in book form!! Definitely enjoyed every moment with Esme. Highly recommend!!

*Thank you @williammorrowbooks for the #gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.*

I loved this story by Marie Bostwick! It was my first by this author and I saved it for a trip to the mountains in NC. It was perfect for my trip and made me enjoy that much more! Esme has done everything according to her timeline, but it hasn't worked out so she returns home to the fishing resort that she grew up at. Now, her mom and grandpa are running the resort, but business is not great. Over the course of the resort season, she tries to turn things around and maybe find what she's looking for on its own timeline. Bostwick did an excellent job with setting the characters up and had alternate storyline which helped propel and explain things happening in the present. I also appreciated that this was a woman rediscovering and finding herself instead of a romance. If you need a feel-good, summer book with lots of heart, this is the book for you!

I received this book from NetGalley and the publishers to read and review. All statements above are my true
opinions after fully reading this book. This was a quick & enjoyable read!

Marie Bostwick's new novel Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly is a perfect summer read. Esme comes back to the camp of her childhood as she's dealing with adult issues. Concurrent with her story is a historical timeline that is also fun to follow. Ultimately I enjoyed spending time with these characters and seeing what life would bring them and how they would react. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. This book is available now.

This was a feel good dual timeline family drama set at a struggling North Carolina lakeside resort that sees Esme returning home after her grandmother dies and she gets fired from her New York City editor job.

Esme is determined to save the resort and is forced to make amends with her estranged mother, Robin. She also develops feelings for the resort chef and takes solace in reconnecting with her ailing grandfather George.

When Esme discovers a box of letters and old quilts from her grandmother and learns about her and George's love story and finds inspiration to write their story, hoping this is the book she'll finally be able to get published.

This was a moving summer story with good disability rep (dyslexia and synesthesia). Perfect for fans of Kristy Henry Woodson and Dorthea Frank Benton or fans of the Elyssa Friedland's Last summer at the Golden Hotel or J Ryan Stradel's Saturday night at the Lakeside Supper Club. Good on audio too!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

a delightful romance novel, i really enjoyed it

thank you to netgalley and to the publisher for this review copy.