Thank you NetGalley for this advance reader copy in exchange for my free and honest review. This was a nice, heart grabbing, family story with a bit of a mystery twist to it. Sweet with enough of a tense undertone to keep it from being too sappy. Great read that kept me hooked enough to read I ,one sitting, one evening. Recommend!

Family, Secrets, Forgiveness. This book has it all. A wonderful story that you will not want to put down. Clare is a wonderful character with so much to process, from her mothers death to the stranger who arrives on her doorstep. This story will tug the heartstrings, will make you think and will get right to the core of humanity.

A great read and a well written book which has all the emotion, secrets, heart-break and love that you can possibly want in a good book.

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is an emotional story, filled with family secrets and as the secrets come to life, she starts questioning who she is and why her mother lied to her. I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend reading it.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
What an emotionally charged novel. Loved this book and there was just so much thought put into writing it. This would make a great summer beach read as well. Well done by the author.

I really wanted to like this. The premise is a good one and it started well. Unfortunately I just couldn’t stand Claire as a character and that really impacted all of my reading of the story. The setting is done well and all the ingredients were there but it just didn’t hit right for me.

This was a good book to read that had a lot of twists and turns but ended up good. Will recommend. Was a little predictable but a good mind escape

Told by Claires POV, its a book about secrets, friendship, sadness and found family. Loved the setting set in a small town. I did find it hard to connect to the characters, hence my lower rating.

This story is about Clare and Audrey, who both somehow are connected but not by blood.

The story has parts for which both Clare and Audrey were hidden from and they both need to find an answer to.

Synopsis

he stands on the doorstep and I catch my breath. Everything about her reminds me of my beloved mom, whose funeral was just a week ago. And when she says her name is Audrey – the name of my baby sister – my world falls apart.

Because Audrey died in a car crash when I was a toddler. At least, that’s what my mother told me. Afterwards, my father couldn’t cope with the grief, and he left us. She brought me up on her own and was always fiercely protective. She never let me out of her sight.

Now, as Audrey and I sip wine on my deck by the lakeside and begin to piece together the puzzle of our family history, it turns out the past didn’t happen the way I was told.

It turns out my mother lied. And, as the secrets she kept from me finally come to light, everything I thought I knew about motherhood and family crumbles to dust.

What if I’m not who I thought I was? And will I ever be able to forgive my mom for what she did?

My thoughts ….

Your mother lies and the secret is devastating, your sister turns up but wasn’t she dead.?
The novel unravels with everyone trying to work every thing out with Claire at the heart of it.
It’s a sweet easy read a first for me from this author, the imagery of the places were bits of the story I will remember.

This isn’t your average sisters story or beach read! Prepare for The Summerville Sisters to take you in directions you aren’t expecting. Atmospheric, and honest, this is a story of unconventional families and the raw feelings that go along with them!

This was a good book and it kept me entertained and wanting to read to find out what happened. I liked the characters and the storyline was different.
I just reviewed The Summerville Sisters by Heather Dixon. #TheSummervilleSisters #NetGalley
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I liked this one. A bit emotional for the key characters and the trauma they were discovering and coping with.

A compelling story of sisters and family secrets. It looks at the love/hate relationship between the women and trying to find a relationship that really works for them.

Just finished this book, unfortunately this book was not something I would recommend. While I love books with secrets and family secrets this was just unbelievable. How did a mother take another child knowing that she'd have to give up her natural child? And the story kept changing - did she know where her husband and daughter went? Later in the book Veronica says that she checked in with her ex-husband from time to time- so how did she not know where they were?
And the relationship Clare had with her own daughter - I have 2 teenagers and this was just not believable. She was scanning photos from a camp website to make sure she was still at camp? And why was she so paranoid about her daughter to begin with ?
And they just let this stranger move in with them for a few weeks?

Sorry, won't be recommending this.

Wow!! Family drama is my thing and this did not disappoint. We all have our secrets, and we keep them for a reason. My sister and I have a love hate relationship and this novel helped me see that as a problem. We have been spending more time together as a result. Thank you!

2.5 stars

This book had all the ingredients to be a wonderful feel good one. Claire, mother to 12-year-old Lilah, just lost her mother to cancer. A woman shows up in town with a striking resemblance to her mother, and claims to be her sister.

There are definitely some feel good parts to this book, and the premise is a good one. But the characters (especially our main character) were miserable at times. Claire clearly has some psychological issues/scars from her upbringing- but her reactions and actions are just off putting. Her paranoia seemed totally unrealistic and ruined this one for me.

She gets life advice from her 12-year-old. Who is the only one who seems to have her head screwed on right. Claire’s ex-husband seems to be a doormat who supports her off the wall tendencies unconditionally. The “sister” is very pushy and annoyed me as well (she did pull it together in the end). So, basically the 12 year old raised by these people, seems to somehow be the only voice of reason in this family.

I did enjoy the lake setting, the description of family love and family bonds. The ending redeemed the book for me, as much as was possible.

Thank you Storm Publishing and Netgalley for my e book in exchange for my honest review.

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This was such a good book! I was surprised at the twist in the book! I cheered for the characters and cried with them. I would definitely recommend this book.

This book was just “meh” for me. I felt like I was reading it because I had to finish it instead of reading it because I wanted to finish it. I can’t quite put my finger on what it was.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! The Summerville Sisters by Heather Dixon is story about how life can change with just one small piece of information. When Claire's mother passes away, she never imagined that she would find her long lost baby sister. As the story unfolds, Claire, learns to accept things that she cannot change nor control and also learns a valuable lesson about leaning on others and asking for help. The different family dynamics that are present in the story help the reader better understand how fragile Claire is and how necessary she finds it to keep to a certain safe routine so that she can function in her day to day life. I felt both her fear and anxiety over the newfound information and I found that Dixon's portrayal of Audrey and the support she is able to lend to Claire very touching. Overall a story I would recommend to others.

The second in the series, but really a stand alone . Beyond the place, in Canada, there is no overlap between the books. Claire is dealing with the aftermath of her mother's death when she sees a woman in town who looks like her mother. Later the same woman arrives at her door, suggesting that she is her sister. The book is concerned with their relationship and the reasons that they were not brought up together.
The story is told from Claires point of view and as such is very (too) introspective. Claire needs to be in control in her family relationships and her egotistical view of events does mean that the book is fairly one sided. I think it would have benefitted from alternating viewpoints with some one else (her daughter, her ex or Audrey maybe) . There is description of the place which is well done, but some of Claires decisions are off, such as her behaviour with others. There are also parts where opportunities to explain relationships are missed, as when Greg, the ex is kept up to date, and where there is too much repetition . That Greg and Claire are divorced is not really explored and maybe not relevant to the plot, but it is stated regularly that they do care about each other. Communication does not always sound realistic.
Not bad, could be better .
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC