I absolutely hated the tropes found in this book- accidental pregnancy, lying within marriage, immature conflict resolution! No thank you

I loved this story and how it brought back memories of growing up in the late seventies. I really liked the four seasons. I loved that each of these girls were very different from each other but they were best friends. I loved that this story made me laugh and cry. I recommend having many tissues handy while reading and be willing to stay up late to finish. I really enjoyed how the story went back and forth from the summer of 1977 to 1997. I received a copy of this book from the publisher for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 | 𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙪𝙘𝙠 ♡

read if you love:
•summer nostalgia
•dual timelines
•second chance love and friendships
•the movie now and then
•character growth

“𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧𝘧. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘪𝘯’𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘚𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯.”

the four seasons — summer, spring, autumn, and snow — what a wild ride these four teenagers/women were! i loved this book. it had all of the teenage angst and drama that i just crave sometimes and it was beautifully woven into a broader story of growth and forgiveness. so much unfolds over the summer of ‘77 for these four best friends. so many life altering secrets — some that were obvious and others that made my jaw drop.

the fallout from that summer had consequences that are still unresolved 20 years later and i enjoyed seeing how the present would play out as the past unfolds. rachel hauck cleverly bounced between ‘77 and ‘97 and constantly had me turning the pages to find out what happened next!

the main focus of this book are the friendships, but there is some sweet romance as well throughout — both past and present. i loved the theme of forgiveness and it’s powerful affect in friendships and other relationships. i loved all of the seasons individually and their unique personalities and voices stood out. my favorite was summer though. she’s tough to love sometimes, but as the story unfolds you understand her more and more. you can’t help but root for her and just want to wrap her up in a hug. this book was truly satisfying from beginning to end.

thank you to bethany house for the book. my thoughts are my own.

This one was not for me, and that’s ok. I was reeled in by the Oklahoma setting because I live there! My husband works in the town the Girl Scout murders occurred so it all felt real in that since. However I just couldn’t get on board with the writing style of this book. The characters appeared immature in both present and past timelines and one of the topics handled was a huge red flag for me. Overall I’ve seen great reviews so I don’t think it’s the author just my personal preferences not being met.

This was really good! I loved the ending, but it felt that it wrapped up a bit quickly, though overall I enjoyed just about everything in this story.

**Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced readers copy**

3.5 stars—
I haven’t read any of Rachel Hauck’s books prior to this one, but may start checking some out given the care she provides to the characters in her story. As an Oklahoman, there’s a lot to this story for me and it’s probably the reason it took me a bit longer to read. I had heard about the case discussed in the book and it’s a heartbreaking one. I think Hauck did a great job in handling it, as well as writing each of the individuals that make up the Four Seasons.

Everybody has secrets and ambitions. With four different POVs, it was a little difficult to follow in the beginning. However, they each had something that called me back to the book when I’d set it down.

Summer, Spring, Autumn, and Snow are four best friends who find themselves in a bit of trouble after a prank gone awry to kick off the summer of ‘77. All of a sudden, the “best summer ever” changes from a trip abroad to a summer as camp counselors at the newly revived Camp Tumbleweed. With a dual timeline occasionally switching from ‘77 to ‘97, they are each forced to face decisions they’ve made and feelings they’ve been pushing down in this coming-of-age Christian contemporary story!

n interesting story using a parallel timeline using four best friends. They go through a summer of various struggles the summer after graduation. They've had the motto all for one and one for all and have lived their lives as four best friends for years.

The parallel of the twenty year gap sees how that summer of 1977 changed all four of them in ways you wonder if they will grow stronger or grow apart.

Well done.

Disclaimer: I received a NetGalley copy compliments of the publisher with no expectations in return. The thoughts and comments above are my own I chose to share voluntarily.

I've really enjoyed many of Hauck's books, but this one missed the mark for me in a lot of ways. I was aware that there would be a Christian angle/message, so readers should expect that going in. I struggled with the four POVs. In general, I love multiple POV books, but in this case, the characters were too similar, so it made it more confusing to track throughout the book. Sadly, I didn't find the characters, especially Summer, likeable. I did appreciate the strong friendship between the girls. Some plot points took a bit too long to be mentioned.

What an absolutely beautiful story of redemption and reconciliation…between friends and the Lord.

This story was written so well and the dual timeline flowed flawlessly. I enjoyed getting to meet each of the Four Seasons and coming to understand their differences and similarities…fears and insecurities too!

I’m thankful to have been able to read this book as it really spoke to me. As Rachel writes in her Author’s Note, “We all go through [wilderness seasons]. It’s our choice if we go with Him or without Him.”

I definitely recommend this book and know that you will be blessed and encouraged by it!

Rating: 3.5⭐️

‘The Best Summer of Our Lives’ by Rachel Hauck is a contemporary (somewhat historical?) story set in two timelines, 1977 and 1997. We follow a group of friends, Summer, Spring, Autumn and Snow - The Seasons. The girls spend the summer of ‘77 volunteering at a camp for young girls, after being caught in a prank.

The story is mainly set in the 1977 time period, occasionally switching to 1997 when you see where the girls have ended up 20 years later, and we get to hear from each girls’ perspective.
The girls’ friendship was pretty cute, and reminded a bit of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants! If you enjoyed the friendships in those books/movies, I’d recommend this book for you.

This is a Christian fiction book, so there are elements of faith in the story, however more on the subtle side in my opinion, rather than being overly explicit about it. (See spoiler section at the end for more). I think you should give it a go, even if you aren’t a Christian.
The end of the story definitely had me tearing up, and the way that was written was really quite beautiful.

I loved the summer camp vibes. I’ve never enjoyed camping personally but this made me wish I did - it sounded like fun!
The girls are typical teenagers, involved in a bit of drama and hiding secrets from each other. The story also touches on a lot of serious and sad topics that were at times hard to read about but well done.

Unfortunately a few things fell flat for me. A lot of the time I couldn’t tell the characters apart, and would have to go back to remind myself whose perspective I was reading. Later into the story it became easier to tell them apart.
It took me a while to get into the story overall, it wasn’t until about 40% through that I felt invested in the story, but once I was intrigued it was easy to fly through the rest.

The parts of the story that most stood out to me were the friendship and themes of redemption and hope despite heartaches, trials and loss.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy. All opinions are honest and my own.

This is the absolute best summer book read! I love the friendships between the Seasons. I appreciate the mandatory summer camp setting and the dual storyline of past and present. I would highly recommend this book to others!

The Best Summer of Our LIves
Rachel Hauch
June 27, 2023’

They were in elementary school together, the four delightful little girls. They were known as the seasons as their names were Summer, Autumn, Spring and Snow (whose real name was Margaret Snow). Together forever, a favorite slogan. It was when they left high school making plans for college the group pulled a prank at a local event. In light of the punishment, all four headed to a camp in Tumbleweed, OKlahoma. Summer’s mom was the leader and convinced the judge that she needed their help in cleaning cabins and acting as counselors. So much for their trip to Europe backpacking. Each loaded their gear onto the bus and headed to ‘Nowhere’, OK.
Lives past and present are explored by Hauck. At times the girls bickered and pulled out their verbal weapons to strike. Other actions called for friendship and softhearted sympathy.
The Best Summer of Our Lives will be published on June 27, 2023 by Baker Publishing Company. I appreciate their allowing me to read and review Hauck’s latest novel via NetGalley. It was an excellent book although with the complexity of the storyline from 1977 to 1995 I sometimes found their memoirs difficult to follow. It is a worthwhile journey reading The Best Summer of our LIves, I just found myself backtracking to make certain I comprehended the saga. It is a long book that explores years of the women’s lives. Well written and encouraging it is a story that should not be missed.

Rachel Hauck's books are hit or miss for me (my personal style), but this one sounded really intriguing to me, so I requested it. With multiple perspectives and 2 timelines, this one was super tedious to write, I'm sure, but she pulled it off flawlessly, in my opinion. In the summer of 1977, best friends Summer, Spring, Autumn and Snow, otherwise known as the Four Seasons, pull off a prank at their future college and end up sentenced with community service. When Summer's mom pleads with the judge, it is agreed that their service can be spent as camp counselors at Camp Tumbleweed instead of picking up trash alongside the road. Their plan for the "best summer of their lives" is derailed as they pull into the small Oklahoma town. But they come to realize that the best summer doesn't have to be what they planned, but can come from something totally unexpected. This story was a good "coming of age" story along with a story about friendships, romantic relationships, and all of the things that accompany one's transition to adulthood.

At the beginning, I wasn't sure if I would like this book at all as I struggled with liking the characters. But by the end, I was laughing at the banter, sniffling at the emotional moments, and cheering for relational healing. This book was chock-full of character development (so please don't give up if you also don't like the characters at first). I also had to wait quite a bit to get to the faith element of this story, but once it showed up, it became a central theme. Though there is potential difficulty in keeping up with the POV transitions and the time jumps, the author maintained a 3rd person voice throughout, so that made it easier to follow the POV transitions. The jumps between 1977 and 1997 were a bit more abrupt, but as a person who loves dual timeline novels, I didn't have any issue maneuvering back and forth. Chapters and sections were clearly labeled with whose POV we were encountering and which year we were in, so as long as you pay attention to that, you shouldn't have any issue following along. Though I typically enjoy plot-driven novels over character-driven novels, there was enough that happened to move the story along in this character-driven novel for me that I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

All in all, if you enjoy character-development stories with a "coming of age" vibe and a powerful "coming to faith" story along with good relationship stories, this is one I would definitely recommend. Special thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for an advance e-copy of this novel. I was under no obligation to provide a review and the thoughts contained herein are my own.

First, I have to say that I loved the prank and though it went horribly wrong I thought it was the best idea ever. Yes, that's the oneriness in me.

In a dual-time format, Ms. Hauck tells a coming-of-age story of the Seasons; Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Snow. Young girls who, met in kindergarten and have been best friends ever since. After their prank at the end of high school at the FSU pool, they are sent packing from Florida to Oklahoma to serve as camp counselors. I went to college from Florida to Oklahoma and agonized with them as they sat on a bus to their summer destiny.

Hauck writes this story in four POVs spanning two decades with all of the angst and tension that comes with teen girlfriends and growing up. Add in all the secrets that come out at camp in Tumbleweed, Oklahoma and you are sure to have a fire or two.

This book is definitely different from her royal wedding series. Yet, I was completely and utterly captivated by Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Snow; with the addition of Baby Season, who's added to the group from their time at camp. She was the only character I didn't jive with. I wished for another season so she wasn't referred to as Baby Season.

Bottom Line: This is the absolute best summer book read! It is full of friendships both good and bad. Ms. Hauck in a very clever and yet perfect way adds in spiritual thread that is not overdone or unnoticeable. I loved how she used the character of "the preacher." I highly recommend this book!

The Best Summer Of Our Lives
By Rachel Hauck

1977 was supposed to be the best summer of her life, but everything started going wrong before it even started. And by the end of summer, Summer Wilde's life was no longer on the long charted course that she and her 3 BFFs had planned together for years.

1997 finds Summer's life once again not where she wants it. Music is the life she wants, but nothing has really worked out for her since her one big hit. At loose ends, Summer heads back to the place where everything went off course.

When offered a choice, would she choose love or fame? Summer is about to discover just where her heart truly lies. Can she make peace with the secrets and hurts of the past and move on to a future she never believed was possible?

I really enjoyed this book. It was a bit different from what I normally read, but it was still the same excellent writing/storytelling one has come to expect from Rachel Hauck. Highly recommend it as a beach read, cozy corner read, or a late into-the-night read.

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book with no expectations but that I provide my honest opinion. All thoughts expressed are my own.


Be sure to learn more about Rachel Hauck at www.rachelhauck.com

Four friends are sent to a camp in nowhere-ville Oklahoma as punishment during the summer between high school and college. As they seek to have the best summer of their lives, secrets and past hurts rise to the surface. 20 years later, the 4 girls are barely in contact with one another. Is there hope for healing?

20 years, 4 best friends, so many secrets! I loved reading about the 4 seasons, and following their friendship from high-school into adulthood. The dual-timeline helps unfold the story and you learn what really went on during their time at camp. I was really interested in the stories. Parts seemed slow at times.

I did not know how I was going to like this book since it was told in 4 POVs and in dual setting (20 years apart)-somethings these moving parts are a bit much. But overall I enjoyed this book quite a bit.

It releases at the end of June and is considered a contemporary Christian fiction. It follows 4 friends as they attempt to have the best summer of their lives at a summer camp for kids in no where Oklahoma. Each of the girls come to camp with secrets as they have just graduated high school and are planning to go off to college. The book also brings the reader into present day-where the 4 friends are no longer friends.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I really enjoyed this book. Even though it was a departure from my usual thrillers and mysteries, it did have some twists and surprises in it. I love the it inspires and is loosely filled with messages of faith. The best parts though are the relationships. The relationships of friends, family, romances. It covers it all and intertwines then seamlessly. The characters are rich and flawed just like real human beings. I came to love them all. The setting is almost another character in the book. I could almost feel the humidity, and smell the great food. I definitely felt like I could hear the music. This book will make you laugh, cry, and will definitely surprise you as it did me. I highly recommend it. Thank you to the publisher for the free copy.

They called themselves the Seasons, Spring Duval, Summer Wilde, Autumn Childe, and Margaret Snowden (aka Snow). Twelve years after forming a friendship in kindergarten, the girls planned to celebrate the summer between high school and college with an epic adventure.

But one thoughtless prank sent them to face a judge and a choice that would ruin the best summer of their lives—pick up trash along the Florida highways for a summer, or act as counselors at Camp Tumbleweed in nowhere, Oklahoma. The girls choose Oklahoma; after all, Summer’s mom directs the camp and agrees to act as their parole officer. If they’re together, they can redeem the summer. Can’t they?

Each of them holds a secret that has the power to fundamentally change the way they see each other and their futures.

Twenty Years Later

The unbreakable friendship of the four seasons takes a hit during that unforgettable summer in Tumbleweed. A murderer on the loose, resentment and circumstances rupture the fabric of their lives.

Can the four seasons reunite, forgive, forget, and move beyond their pain and suffering? Will the first 12 years of friendship counterbalance the 20 years of silence? Only a miracle can bring them together again.

What I Loved About This Book

Growing up, I didn’t have strong bonds with female friends. We moved a lot, making it difficult to form lasting friendships. This peak into the lives of four friends forever moved me in ways I didn’t anticipate.

As in most of her books, Hauck uses a touch of magical realism to help one character through a particularly difficult time in her life. Modern critics call it magical realism, and Christians call it divine intervention.

Whatever the case, the message rings clear—friendships between humans must model the friendship Jesus wants with us. He wants us to lavishly release the come-as-you-are-kind-of-grace we all too often grip with our fists into a hurting world. We must match our forgiveness of the wrongs others do to the forgiveness God liberally bestows upon us. Otherwise, our friendships don’t count for much.