I didn't enjoy this one as much as I had hoped. I found the season names to be a little cheesy in my head and I had a hard time getting past that to really enjoy other parts of the story. Sometimes you just get stuck on something and that was the case for me. Amazing cover and I am sure Christian fiction readers will pick this up and hopefully enjoy it more than me!

Another fantastic book by Rachel Hauck! This coming-of-age story revolves around four best friends and is set in two time periods—1977 and 1997. While it’s different than any of Hauck’s other novels I’ve read, it’s everything I’ve come to expect from her books—a beautiful story of hope and healing.

Rachel Hauck is one of my favorite authors. I love how she demonstrates her faith through her writing and usually adds a touch of the supernatural to her stories. I have read nearly everything she has written.
This story is of four girlfriends cleverly named Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring and their history of working at a camp together as their punishments for a prank they pulled in 1977.
Then the story picks up again in the present as they reunite.
This would be a great summer read for some but for not for me. I found the characters are to keep up with who was who. And I could not really connect with the them.
I am grateful to Net Galley for allowing me to read this book. The opinions are entirely my own.

I loved this story. Reminded me a touch of 'Daisy Jones': the 70s setting, the multi-POVs and the music of the era. Oh yes, the music! Each chapter heading is a song of the era! And Rachel has prepared a Spotify playlist to accompany the book. Just grand!

4 best friends: Summer, Autumn, Snow and Spring! The Four Seasons, kids since kindergarten and naively thought they'd be besties for life. Don't we all think that when we're teens?

The story jumps between two years: 1977 and 1997. Most of the first half of the book is spent in the 70s. The friends are counsellors at a girls holiday camp in Tumbleweed, Oklahoma. And they all have secrets which we progressively learn of before the girls do. And then we discover the impact twenty years later.

Summer Wilde, is the lead character. She's the leader of the seasons. The rebellious one, the difficult one, love her, hate her. She's musical and chases the Nashville dream. It doesn't turn out the way she hoped. And she's lost. No friends, not sure where to live, what to do with her music. She returns to Tumbleweed hoping to get some answers, to find the one that 20 years earlier captured her with the words 'Sing for me'.

The Preacher! His image has haunted her for the 20 years. Who is he and what does 'sing for me' mean?

I loved how Hauck used this presence: The Preacher. To show how God pursues, never giving up and gives us the opportunity to find him even when we don't know how. The ending of the story is just brilliant! Loved it!

And then there was Baby Season, Greta! The precocious bossy 11 year old teen who won all four girls hearts that summer of 1977. She plays a pivotal role in the story. As does Levi Foley, Summer's love interest. I loved both of these characters.

There's so much in this story especially for those of us who lived through the 70s ... it takes us back to those lazy summer days, of friendship, of dreaming of the future.

I'm so pleased I read this story and feel blessed to have received an early ebook copy from Bethany House via NetGalley. This has had no bearing on my review. It's a great story.

This is the first book I have read by this author. I can see myself reading more. I loved how it talked about the different characters. This is a wonderful book about friendship and forgiveness. I am grateful that netgalley and the publishers let me read this in exchange for an honest review.

This story nails the bond between childhood friends who grew into adults. The love and conflicts between four girls kept me turning the pages. Fun times riddled with painful secrets, and betrayals, displayed the reality of human relationships. I loved the creative way the characters were named and the oldies music took me back to a time I had forgotten. This one is a keeper. I was given an advance copy in return for a review. The opinion is entirely my own..

Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me. I found it difficult to invest in the characters, and even sometimes had difficulty keeping the girls and their stories straight (it jumped between each of the girls’ voices telling the story, and also jumped between 1977 and 1997.) I also found the pacing a bit slower than I’m looking for in a summer read.

Still, if you’re looking for a clean book about the lasting power of faith and friendship, this one might be worth checking out.

Thank you to @bethanyhousefiction for a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved reading this one. I just love this kind of books.
3.5 stars read for me. I love this author snd her writing style.
Thanks to netgally for this arc.

Wow! I loved "The Best Summer of Our Lives" by Rachel Hauck! I loved the way this book was told from each girl's perspectives and how the story went from the past to the present. I felt like I was actually friends with the four seasons (Summer, Spring, Autumn and Snow). The characters were very believable, and their stories/situations were so true to life. I've only read one other book by Rachel Hauck, but I look forward to reading more. I highly recommend this book.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for my honest opinion.

The Best Summer of Our Lives is a novel told in two timelines. In 1997, Summer Wilde is revisiting Tumbleweed, Oklahoma. She remembers spending summer there with her best friends Spring, Autumn, and Snow in 1977. At that time the girls had to spend the summer working as camp counselors after they participate in a destructive college prank. Returning to Tumbleweed brings that summer - with memories of her friends and her first love - back to Summer.

I wanted to read this novel because I have enjoyed the Rachel Hauck books I've read. I also found the summer camp setting appealing.

This is a leisurely paced summer read. It took me a while to get used to the four friends and learn about their personalities and backgrounds. As the summer goes on, we learn the secrets all the friends are hiding.

There is a strong faith aspect to this novel - I won't say more as I want to avoid spoilers!

Recommended for fans of summer reads with nostalgia and a Christian message.

The Best Summer of Our Lives is a story of a friendship that had been rubbed raw by secrets, unspoken hurt, grief, and comparison to name a few. It took four lifelong friends and forced them to face the dark truths in their lives resulting in pain too much to bear. A cord had been severed, and what resulted was years of silence.

I loved following the story of the Four Seasons (Summer, Spring, Autumn and Snow) in 1977. Each girl was able to share her own perspective, giving the reader a more in-depth look into this web of feelings and experiences. And when the timeline switched to 1997, it succeeded in my longing to go back to the 70s to read more of the story and to see how the decades fit together. I also wanted to know how it would all play out in the end. This is the type of writing I love. It was flawless and made sense despite the twenty missing years.

Anyone who has read the synopsis of this novel could guess that relationships would be a focus, but it wasn’t just the relationships with her friends that Summer Wilde struggled with. When a shocking secret had been revealed during camp, she had to navigate the choppy waters with her parents. She also found a special place in her heart for Levi, but her life’s goals overshadowed her desire to be with him.

Rachel Hauck knows how to weave a powerful tale while using the physical presence of God. What Christian doesn’t long to sit with God, to see Him and speak with Him? To be brought to a place so overwhelming that you end up face down on the ground in humble adoration? This is where Summer was brought to, though she didn’t quite understand it. And with any good story, it wasn’t the end. The journey had only begun, and God’s timing was at work. This is what I absolutely love about Hauck’s stories.

On a bit of a “nerdy” note, since Summer was really the main character in the story, I began to think that, perhaps, she was looking for the best Summer of her life. To be who God was calling her to be after trying to walk her own path. A play on words.

I can’t recommend this book enough. It’s a coming-of-age novel with characters who make mistakes as they try to step into adulthood. It’s also a looking back on those mistakes and deciding where to go from that moment on. It takes humility, love, and another special character to make it right.

🧐 my thoughts:
A great summer girlie read!

👌🏻what i liked:
I really enjoyed the journey that Summer, Autumn, Spring, and Snow were on. It was super relatable. The dual timeline was everything to me. If you’ve read my reviews before, you know that I am a sucker for a dual timeline! I love how it pieces together “today” based on what happened then. These often become my favorite books. The multiple POV’s was the icing on the cake. It really helped everything come full circle and keep you invested in the characters personal lives. I also really enjoyed the side characters.

🙃 what i didn’t like:
At times, I felt like it was a little hard to follow, but maybe that was just me!

🥰 special thanks
Thank you to NetGalley, Rachel Hauck, and Bethany House Publishers for granting me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

The Best Summer of Our Lives by Rachel Hauk follows four young women the summer after they graduated from high school. The Four Season: Summer, Snow, Autumn and Spring, wanted to have the best summer of their lives. After a mishap they ended up in Tumbleweed, OK at a camp and that summer changed everything!

This was a beautifully written redemptive story, and there is nothing I like better than a redemptive story. It was told seamlessly from each character’s perspective in 1977 and 1997. The author did an amazing job with coming of age issues and how they were carried into each character’s adult lives. I was invested in the story and each character. The story shares of how “The Preacher” gently woos us and walks with us through the hard times. The story was not preachy, but shared the heart of the Father. The ending was amazing and so well done.

The Best Summer of Our Lives is a thoughtful, enduring, and timeless story. The author is an incredible story teller and I am so glad it was a part of my summer reading. I highly recommend.

I was given a copy by the publisher and not required to give a positive review.

When “Not Good” Becomes “Best”

What are your memories of great summers? Going back to my teens, summer camps figured high on the list. Learning new crafts and nature skills, singing around the campfire, acting in skits, and laughing with so many new friends were so fun!

Because it awakened those happy memories, I plunged into “The Best Summer of our Lives” by Rachel Hauck.

The “Four Seasons”, Summer, Autumn, Snow, and Spring are best friends - all for one and one for all. When a high school prank instigated by Summer gets them arrested, the judge offers them a choice: A summer wearing orange vests and picking up roadside litter or a stint as counselors at Camp Tumbleweed.

While avoiding spoilers, I love how the “Seasons” interact with the rustic camp setting and quirky staff with humorous allusions to scary movies. I also enjoyed the chapter titles, which referenced titles of popular classic songs. Nostalgic for me were: Turn, Turn, Turn; We May Never Pass This Way Again; and How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.

Besides the light-hearted scenes, the “Seasons” also faced a few of life’s grittier challenges--sometimes in a helpful manner, sometimes not. Ultimately, the characters grew in a natural way because of the challenges they overcame.

I highly recommend “Best Summer of Our Lives” if you enjoy clean Women’s Fiction, Summer Reads, and stories containing music and musicians. It is at once a feel-good novel and an exploration of long-time friendships and other relationships.

While I received a free review copy of this book, I’ve also purchased another as a gift. This review expresses my honest opinions.

This book...wow. It was nothing like I expected, yet was filled with such angst, anger, hope, and inspiration. As was mentioned in other reviews, it does read a little like a YA novel because in one timeline, the 4 friends known as the Four Seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Snow) have just graduated from high school and are all 17-18. It was a summer of many changes, challenges, and unexpected events, but the Four Seasons are determined to make it the best summer of their lives. I gasped, cried, laughed, and mourned right along with them. In the other timeline, it's roughly 15 years later and these beautiful women find their ways back to one another taking a variety of paths, changing the course of their lives once again. Being that the book is written as a Christian novel I saw glimmers of faith, but when He shows up, HE SHOWS UP! I was astounded in so many good ways, and it will long be a book that I recommend and remember. I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher & was under no obligation to provide a positive review.

Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Snow--the Four Seasons--are headed off to be camp counselors during the summer of 77, a summer that will change their lives forever. Hidden anger, wreckless choices, and long-kept secrets combine to try and tear the four apart. Twenty years later, in 1997, Summer is a struggling singer, still trying to make it big in music. She makes commitments to no one, especially Spring, Autumn, and Snow, who she left behind years ago.

This is a wonderful coming-of-age story with explosive hidden secrets that will keep the reader riveted to the page. The characters are easy to connect with, and The Four Seasons are a special group. All of the relationships in this book are complex and nuanced, and the author brings in real life tragic events--the murder of three girls at Camp Scott, Oklahoma, in 1977, and the Ted Bundy murders at Florida State in 1978.

With a compelling plot and memorable characters, this story will touch your heart.

I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House via Netgalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

Want to be a Tumbler? Go to camp in 1977 at Camp Tumbleweed in Oklahoma? This book will take you there with four friends who are each named after a season. Summer is the unofficial ringleader. Then there is Spring -- a true Southern belle, Autumn -- smart as a whip and into cosmetology, and Snow -- the quiet photographer for the group. This is a story about friendship, family, and finding love. We discover that the Summer of 1997 is still looking for many of the same things she wanted that long ago camp summer. Hauck adds some delightful insights into the greatest love of all and introduces "The Preacher." Will there be a happy ending for all of the Seasons? It may take some time, healing and a heaping helping of courage. As Rachel Hauck reminds us in her Acknowledgments, "Perfect love drives out fear." ~ I John 4:18.

Thank you to Bethany House and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is a book that will resonate with so many people and it's being released at the perfect time of year! The Best Summer of Our Lives is a great beach read that is definitely a trip down memory lane because each chapter has the title of a song that was popular during that era. Songs that were blaring from car radios or playing on the transistor radios as we tried to get that perfect tan! These song titles perfectly illustrate the challenges of the four main characters in this book---four best friends who were expecting the best summer of their lives. How did their plans change so drastically?

We're introduced to best friends Summer, Autumn, Spring, and Snow in 1977 and author Rachel Hauck uses a dual timeline to reveal their lives as they are in 1997, twenty years later. Twenty years of secrets, successes, and failures, along with recollections of a friendship that once seemed unbreakable. There are painful memories and gritty realities, but Hauck weaves them together with a powerful faith message to remind us that love endures, redemption is possible, and forgiveness is a must! Grab a box of tissues and prepare to lose yourself in a story that may very well take you back to your own best summer. I recommend The Best Summer of Our Lives to all who enjoy contemporary Christian fiction!

I received a complimentary copy from the author and publisher. There was no obligation for a favorable review. These are my own thoughts.

This is an author that I have enjoyed reading from the first book I picked up with her. This is one of my favorites by her. This is a story that is written with alot of heart and soul. The characters pull you into the story from the start. They are relateable and took me on a roller coaster of emotions. I found this book to be well written and hard to put down. I read this book in two days, it is a must read and not one to miss. I enjoyed watching the growth of these characters throughout with made the story easy to read as well. This is a fast paced story that has a touch of suspense, romance and friendship. I really enjoyed reading this book and I highly recommend it.

If you have loved or lost friends from your younger years, this story will encourage you. It is set in both the 1970's and the 1990's, and will bring back good memories for you. The characters each have unique personalities and struggles, and we learn more about them throughout the book. If you're looking for an easy read that's focused on summer themes, this one is a solid pick.