Set at the lakeside retreat of her family, Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly is a delightful summer read. After life doesn't go as she had planned, Esme returns to her family's home while she decides her next life move and in the meantime helps them rebuild their estate. Esme finds many connections to herself in the life of her recently deceased Grandmother as she learns more about her past, and begins to rebuild her own future. This book is heartwarming, funny, and filled with imperfect characters that all have a place in each others lives. Thank you to Harper Collins and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book, all opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

Esme Cahill's life if falling apart. She loses her husband, her job, and then her beloved grandmother, leading her to go home to the lakeside resort in NC where she was raised by her grandparents. Part of the story was historical fiction told from her grandmother's perspective. The other chapters were Esme's current timeline. The theme of second chances is weaved throughout, not only from our main character, but side characters as well.

This is a story of healing and finding forgiveness. Many of the characters are trying to find their place in the world, discovering who they truly are. The growth of the characters, and the changing bonds between them was an emotional journey.

While the ending came full circle, I was a little disappointed on the way things turned out with Dawes. There was a happily ever after, just not fully the direction my romantic heart envisioned.

3.5 stars

As a quilter I absolutely loved Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly by Marie Bostwick. Esme has failed at everything in her life, and now fired and divorced she is heading back to hometown to help with the family lakeside retreat. Her grandmother requested that she comes home, but passed away before Esme arrived. While at home, she finds a box of beautiful quilts her grandmother made, and that, along with a few other things, help Esme turn her life around. But will it be to go back to NYC? Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

This is exactly the kind of story I expect from Marie Bostwick. It's full of believable characters doing the best they can in a difficult situation with some sticky relationships mixed in. There were a few things that were a bit too much of a coincidence (Yolanda and Oscar showing up at the resort) but I was willing to overlook them for the sake of a good story. I saw this described as a "southern summer" book and I think that is apt. It's a great book for the beach or relaxing by the pool while sipping a cold drink and coming away feeling good about the world.

I am a little embarrassed to say that this is my first Marie Bostwick book (insert shy emoji here). Esme completely captivated me and I immediately checked out Marie’s blacklist and am looking forward to starting The Restoration of Cecilia Fairchild next! Bostwick has a way of really transforming you into her world and everything sort of melts away around you and I LOVE that! I loved the way tougher topics were explored while also showcasing the more relatable topics like family dynamics and identity.

This story mainly follows Esme and her grandmother Adele, alternative in point of view, and I found myself really relating to Esme and also missing my grandmother so much. The story transitions between past and present timelines and is a bit of historical and contemporary fiction. Esme loses everything she always thought she wanted and needed in New York and heads back to Last Lake, a resort that her grandparents built in Asheville, North Carolina. When she returns home she helps her family and really explores who she is and what really matters to her.

When Esme first arrives in New York we get to meet Carl Zinfandel, the first senior editor that Esme works with, and I LOVED how he explains loving books. He says, “what reading is all about: finding connection, knowing we’re not the only ones who struggle, or dream. You’ve got to understand other people before you can understand yourself.” I found this quote so relatable and added it to my long list of book quotes I carry around in a journal. I felt so seen with this quote!

When Esme arrived back at Last Lake I was completely enamored with the little lake resort. My wife and I love to go on road trips and camp. It's our favorite thing when we are able to find little lake towns exactly like this one and it was fun to follow along on the journey to restore the resort. I also really enjoyed learning about the quilting process. My grandmother was an avid quilter and I often read with one of her quilts draped over my legs. It gave me a newfound understanding and appreciation for what she has made. It is one of my most prized possessions and I love the deeper understanding I have for quilting now. Adele really reminded me so much of my grandmother. I found it so interesting that she lived for many years as a synesthete and I would have loved to learn more about that in the story.

For so many of us like Ese, work is often an anecdote for pain and we run around going a hundred miles an hour with our hair on fire not stopping to catch our breath and remember what it is that we really want and need. I found so much peace and understanding in Esme’s growth. She may be one of my new favorites and I will miss her and George and everyone else at Last Lake.

Esme Cahill has reached a low point in her life. She is newly divorced, has lost her editing job unexpectedly, and heads home to the lake resort where she grew up with her grandparents. Back home in Asheville, she discovers her grandfather is in the early stages of dementia and her estranged mother is helping run the resort. The resort itself is in great need of repairs. Esme discovers a box her grandmother left her, and a collection of her grandmother's artistic quilts. The summer she spends at the lake resort changes everything.

I wanted to read this book because I love Asheville (one of my favorite southern cities) and also love books set at old fashioned resorts. I had not read Marie Bostwick before but had heard good things about her books, and that contributed to my desire to read Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly as well.

This is such a lovely and altogether unexpected book! It is told in two timelines -- Esme, in present day, and her beloved grandmother Adele in the 1940's. Despite the years that separate these narratives, there are some common themes - creativity, finding what you love, empowerment.

I really liked Esme, such a warm, relatable character. I loved some of the supporting characters too - particularly her grandfather George and her best friend Yolanda.

The author has such a gift for descriptions - I was so engrossed with this novel and especially the old fashioned resort setting:

"The Last Lake Lodge sits on sixteen acres that slope toward the water, so every cabin has a view. The land was raw when George and Adele bought it, just after World War II. George cleared the trees himself and used the logs to build four small cabins near the water, renting the extra three to fishermen. Though remote, the setting was gorgeous, the lake was full of fish, and the prices were right— eighteen dollars a week in 1944. A boxed lunch cost fifty cents but iced tea with homemade cake or cookies was complimentary, served on the porch every afternoon. When the fishermen started bringing their families, George rented a bulldozer to create terraces in the hillside where he could build more cabins. By the late 1950s, there was a marina, a snack shack, a beach area made with trucked-in sand that sported a volleyball net, picnic tables, and an old school bell hanging from a wooden support that was supposed to be rung only in emergencies but which eleven-year old boys couldn’t resist, as well as twenty-five rustic log cabin accommodations connected by meandering pathways" (eBook location 615)

I enjoyed this book so much and look forward to reading more by Marie Bostwick. I recommend Esme Cahill fails spectacularly for fans of summer settings, Southern fiction, old tourist resorts, women's fiction. It is truly such a lovely read.

This book was quite interesting, as it really was almost like two different storylines going on at once. Esme in her current life is going through huge life changes, and ends up at her Grandfather's failing inn/resort. She takes up the effort to help the inn get back on its feet. We also have the timeline going in the past, with the focus on Adele and George. While I enjoyed both timelines perhaps I felt I struggled a bit to get invested into either story fully before we swapped to the other. However I enjoyed the book overall and found it to be an enjoyable, mostly breezy, summer read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to provide my honest review.

Beautiful story about finding where you’re supposed to be. I liked the dual timeline but was happy that the story was mostly told in the present rather than every other chapter. While I enjoyed the setting and the story overall, I felt that this book dragged on in places and was entirely too long to tell the same story that others have done before; there is nothing new here – MC goes home after “insert recent failure here”, struggles to get along with family and finds a way to save them all. I would have liked more focus on either George and Adele, the lodge, or Dawes, but this book just slightly tells a little about each so there’s no full story to get lost in.

I loved The Restoration of Celia Fairchild and I couldn't wait to get started on this book. Marie Bostwick writes incredibly relatable characters and situations that you can't help but come to love. Esme experiences a pivotal life change and it turns out to be a new beginning to a life she didn't realize she needed and wanted. I love reading about life lessons that come full circle for the better and find them to be very inspiring. This story brings on all the emotions and leaves you with a smile.

This is such a sweet book and I loved it!

Esme is a book editor in NYC who has just lost her job and gone through a divorce so she goes back home to Asheville, NC to re-evaluate her life. She was raised by her grandparents who ran a lakeside fishing lodge and over the years it’s become a little run-down. So she spends the summer fixing up the lodge and figuring out her next steps. This story is just filled with interesting characters who make up parts of Esme’s story. Her absent mother is back so they are trying to re-assemble their relationship. Her grandfather, George, is aging but is still the fun-loving, always busy man he was. Adele is her grandmother and is an artist who designs and creates beautiful and unusual quilts. Dawes is the handsome new chef with a mysterious back story. Oscar is the once prolific thriller author who’s career is in the dumps. Yolanda is Esme’s best friend who she lost touch with years ago. All of these wonderful characters make up this sweet story about second chances and the importance of family and friends.This book definitely falls in the “clean reads” category too. I loved the ending; it ties everything up neatly but not exactly as you expect.

I really enjoyed this one! Definitely throw this book in your travel or pool bag this summer!

Esme has lost her job and her husband. She moves back home after her grandmother’s death. She realizes her childhood home, a beautiful, charming lakeside retreat, is on the verge of financial ruin. On top of that, her estranged mother is there too. Esme is about to pull her hair out with all of the issues surrounding her, until she discovers a mystery…her grandmother’s untold story!

I really enjoyed Esme. She is a sweet girl but she has trouble accepting stuff that is right in front of her eyes (as most people do!). She is so set on things happening the way she expects them to, she has trouble accepting it when life does not go as planned.

This is such a cute tale with wonderful characters…I loved the chef! And the story surrounding her grandmother is marvelous.

Need a story about mending relationships with a great setting and a good bit of humor thrown in…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

Spectacular story of truly learning who you are while discovering the connection to your past. Esme Cahill returns home to a lake side resort after her grandmother dies to find the place in disrepair. From page one I was interested in Esme and her family’s story and how it would all turn out. My mom is a quilter so this brought a nostalgic element for me. A well crafted story and an enjoyable read.

Such a heartwarming read with a cast full of interesting and loveable characters! This is a perfect read for the summer, and it really makes you want to take a trip to a small town lake resort. While it was a bit of a slow read at times for me, I really enjoyed the back and forth telling of Esme's and her grandmother's stories. This book made me laugh, cry, and want to break out my sewing machine to learn to quilt!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Esme, a writer, finds her big city life a complete mess, and retreats back to her North Carolina home in Asheville. The lakeside resort is where she was raised by her grandparents. They taught her the joys reading, sewing and the outdoors. She came to be in her grandparents care after her mother’s missteps in life. Esme has been unforgiving toward her mother ever since.

Back home she’s confronted by her mother, the lose of her grandmother, an aging grandfather and a resort that needs some TLC. She begins the work to heal not only herself but her relationships and her home.

Esme also uncovers secrets about her grandmother and her time working at the Biltmore during the war. The information she uncovers inspires her write about her grandparents life in the 1940’s.

Esme, her family and the secondary cast of characters made this story truly enjoyable and heartwarming. I recently toured the Biltmore estate, and what is played out in the book was mentioned on my audio tour. It was fun to see it played out in this fictional tale, as I know the exact room they were talking about in the book.

Thank you William Morrow for the complimentary copy.

Happy Publication Day to Marie Bostwick for Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly! I finished this novel late last night, and let me tell you—it did NOT disappoint! This was an absolute delight, my friends. It’s a historical fiction/southern fiction/contemporary fiction mash-up with a sprinkle of romance thrown in. There’s truly something for everyone, and no doubt about it, Esme Cahill will charm the socks right off of you. She’s down on her luck, recently divorced, and just got fired from her New York City publishing job. She decides to make her way back home to Asheville, North Carolina, and the plot excitedly thickens from there.

READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY:

- Family drama
- Dual timelines
- Complex mother/daughter relationships
- North Carolina lakeside resort setting
- Southern charm and hospitality
- Summer vibes galore
- Friendship fiction
- Writer’s life/publishing world
- Second chances/starting over stories
- A book within a book

This is the first novel I’ve read by Marie Bostwick, but definitely won’t be my last. If you’re a fan of Kristy Woodson Harvey or Mary Alice Monroe, I highly recommend that you read this book. You won’t be disappointed—trust me! 4.5/5 stars for Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly! Grab your copy TODAY!

3.5/5

Esme Cahill is living the dream she had so carefully mapped out in the publishing industry in NYC…until she’s fired, disrupting all of her carefully laid plans. She returns home to Asheville, NC at the request of her deceased grandmother Adele, to the lakeside retreat family business and her grandfather and estranged mother. Sadly, the refuge she called home with her grandparents is now run down and losing money. Together with her mother, her grandfather George and an adventurous chef named Dawes, they work to bring the retreat back to its glory days. While doing so, Esme learns more about her grandmother’s past through her unusual handmade quilts found in an attic and begins to write her fascinating story. As the retreat begins a new resurgence and Esme’s writing does as well, will she return to NYC and the literary world she loves, or will she remain with her roots in NC surrounded by the friends and family who love and support her dreams?

I enjoyed this one for the most part. The chapters alternate between Esme’s life and her grandmother Adele’s in the 1940s. I found the Adele chapters fascinating in parts especially relating to the Biltmore Estate. But while the storyline was fine, I had some difficulty connecting with the characters themselves at times. I didn’t feel the depth that I would have liked with Esme, and there is a whole surprising development with the chef Dawes at the end that really threw me off balance. And once things began wrapping up, it all felt a bit too neatly tied up with a bow.

All-in-all, well written and interesting but with some depth issues for me.

My sincere thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing the free early arc of Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

I love stories about family, friendships and finding your path and was drawn to the cover of Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly by Marie Bostwick. The author takes us on one woman’s journey from a publishing house in New York to her grandparent’s lakeside resort. Along the way she heals, makes connections and finds herself.

Marie Bostwick pulled me into the story of Esme Cahill, who finds herself divorced, loses her beloved grandmother, and her job. Her dreams of a garden apartment and writing her own novel are dashed. She soon finds herself defeated and heads back to her grandparent’s lakeside resort to regroup for the summer.

Esme hasn’t been back since her estranged mother showed up years ago and is shocked to see the place rundown and her grandfather having issues. Esme plans to stay until summer’s end. A package from her late grandmother sets her on a journey to discover more about her and the quilts she made. I loved this thread with its touches of magical realism and history.

I loved Esme and enjoyed the growth we witness in her from restoring the resort to dealings with a curmudgeon writer. I laughed, cheered, cried, and felt as if I were there.

The lakeside resort is delightful and the new cook whips up delectable dishes and cakes. All the food talk had me wanting to pack my bags and visit for a week.

You’ll cheer Esme on as she tries to save the resort, reunite with an old friend and enjoy the possibilities of a new romance. This story has it all, from mending relationships to restoring your passion.

Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly is the PERFECT beach read this summer. Fans of family, healing and finding yourself will love Esme.

Nothing has worked as Esme had hoped, so she heads back to her family lakeside retreat. There she finds a mother that she is not close to, a grandfather who is struggling, and the retreat that has fallen into disrepair. She sets herself up to stay for the summer and get everything back in running order. Of course, things do not go as planned and surprises happen.



I really enjoyed this book. Esme is not a poor me character, she is a character that works hard for what she has and is not afraid to go for what she wants. I enjoyed watching her work through her life and figure out what was important. The choices she made were not always easy and often caused her extra work, but they were the choices that she felt good about, most often they were the right choices. I liked the fact that as the story went on, her life seemed to come together and not always as she thought it would.


Esme Cahill Hails Spectacularly is a fun book. I read it pretty quick and enjoyed each page.

What an enjoyable read! This is my first by this author and definitely not my last

This story is full of love and loss, hope and failures. Esme is heading home after experiencing an incident at work that causes her to lose her job. Home is Asheville, NC (one of my favorite vacation spots AND where I married last year!). Adele and George, her grandparents, own a cabin resort that is in a bit of despair.

Esme didn’t come back home much after her move to NY fifteen years prior and life isn’t the same at the cabins without Adele. George is getting older and more and more forgetful and let’s not get started on Robyn, Esme’s troubled mother

Esme plans to only stay home long enough to get a new job and get her life back but she ends up engrossed in wanting to help the failing resort. Not to mention a box of random items from Adele’s life inspires Esme to write. Esme gave up writing years ago after multiple rejections, but maybe this summer at the cabin is all she needs to achieve her dream and share the story of her grandmother’s life.

Told in Esme’s perspective and the perspective of Adele in the 1940s through Esme’s eyes, this is a beautifully written summer beach read you must add to your tbr! I devoured this in a day! I loved all the characters and found Esme to be so relatable. Perfect for literary fiction fans

“When your world turns upside down, there’s comfort in the idea that some things never change.”

Esme has just lost her job, divorced her husband and has to return to her grandparents lodge while she gets back on her feet. While she believes she is failing spectacularly, she is actually discovering truths she didn’t know were hidden.

I loved Esme, she was a colorful character who gave her all to anything she set her mind on.

What initially drew me in, was the cover of this novel, however I’m very happy I was given the opportunity to read this, I enjoyed it greatly. The description of the scenery was by far my favorite part of this book, as it really painted a picture of a peaceful lakeside lodge I would love to visit.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.