A SEASON OF PERFECT HAPPINESS is a tough but worthwhile read. When the marketing materials says "an unspeakable tragedy," that's a good indication of what lies within these well-written pages. The author hints and drops clues about what happened in Claire's past, and I began to get impatient for the big reveal. It came just in time, and wow, it packed an emotional punch. This is not a story for highly sensitive readers. However, I enjoyed Claire's voice and her attempts to rebuild her life, including a romantic relationship with Erik. Her ability to also develop a relationship with his ex-wife and their kids was admirable -- and also ratcheted up the tension. It's interesting and a bit surprising how many years the story ends up covering. The author did a good job of tackling this difficult mental health issue (no spoilers here) and the trajectory of healing, including what it means to love someone with all their faults and tragic past. Are there limits to what you can forgive?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance e-galley; all opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

A Season of Perfect Happiness by Maribeth Fischer tells us the story of Claire’s life ten years after an unspeakable tragedy.

I found this novel to be heart wrenching at time with believable and likable characters. This is a compassionate book about someone who made a seemingly unforgivable decision that comes back to haunt them.

I enjoyed this book, definitely hooked me early - the pages turned easily!

This book. My goodness. The amount of times I was wiping my eyes and rooting for their love! Second chance romance will always be my favorite trope. Everyone deserves to be forgiven.

Oh I just adored this book and characters. Claire had to leave her home (Delaware) because of a horrible accident that happened with her daughter. She flees to Wisconsin to start a new life where she falls in love and meets her best friends.... the only thing is- she hasn't told anyone about her past.

It is a beautiful book about friendships, secrets and pasts... 4 stars because I truly don't understand why she wouldn't share what happened to her and why she felt it was such a big secret.

Highly recommend!!

I cannot even begin to imagine the feelings that Claire has lived with since the accident. That black cloud would be following you around if it isn't hanging right over you all the time. How do you find that happiness again? And yet she thought she almost had. Something is always changing though. Something out of your control. If not in your life, in the life of someone you know. Is there ever a season of perfect happiness?

A Season of Perfect Happiness by Maribeth Fischer takes one into the story of Claire’s life ten years after an unspeakable tragedy.

This engaging, emotional novel has believable characters and a story that pulls you along with it. It can even make one feel compassionate towards a character who has made a seemingly unforgivable mistake.

Publication Date 20 Aug 2024
Penguin Group Dutton

I loved this book! My stomach was in knots the whole time waiting for the other shoe to drop. And finding out Claire’s secret was absolutely heartbreaking. It’s definitely a mental illness that is not talked about enough. I loved all the friendships that Claire had and how normal she felt after everything that had happened. It really makes you think about postpartum issues in a different light. I will definitely be purchasing this book when it is released!

Maribeth Fischer's A Season of Perfect Happiness is beautiful, heartbreaking, heartwarming, all wrapped in one.

We gradually learn the secrets of Claire's past and what she's been running from. When she finds herself falling in love, she's worried that her secrets will come out and ruin her newfound love (which she's not sure she deserves) and the group of friends that come along with her new beau.

Gradually we learn more and more about her past life, while her connection grows stronger with her new group of friends. This group is the group of friends everyone wishes they had, wishes they were a part of. They take care of each other, they're not just friends, they are family.

When the secrets of everyone's past threaten to unravel the whole group, they must decide if love and their friendship is strong enough to stand the test of time.

I loved it. Hauntingly beautiful.

Mental health. A hot topic. I love how this book touched on a little-known mental health disease. You can feel the emotions Claire is feeling and her fear of how she will be portrayed and treated. And how she learns to find happiness within all of that with Erik and his family and friends.

It's heartbreaking and hopeful to watch things unravel and how Claire will hold on and fight to keep who she loves so fiercely.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A Season of Perfect Happiness
By Maribeth Fischer
Publication Date: August 20, 2024

Claire leaves her beach home in Delaware after a tragic, life altering event. Ten years later, she is finally opening up. She has decided to be as low key as possible small, tight group of friends and minimal social activity. She meets Eric and all of a sudden she is opening up a little but still hesitant to talk about why she ended up in Wisconsin. She becomes a wife and step mother to Eric and his three children as well as a part of his friends' circle. This circle includes his ex-wife. Claire is keeping things in her past a secret and is now keeping the secrets of the friend group. A chance run in with someone from the past can destroy it all.....

This story was so well written and wonderfully engaging. It tugged at my emotional strings repeatedly. I had tears flowing throughout. I was rooting for Claire. The character development was outstanding. Supplying some background for each character helped to understand the way they moved throughout the story. Second chance love is one of my favorite storylines. The author did an excellent job with it. Showing the different actions and reactions people have to fear and trauma was chef's kiss. It was heartwarming, emotional, loving and sad all at once. There are triggers: postpartum issues, betrayal and Autism. I highly recommend this book.

I cannot even begin to imagine the feelings that Claire has lived with since the accident. That black cloud would be following you around if it isn't hanging right over you all the time. How do you find that happiness again? And yet she thought she almost had. Something is always changing though. Something out of your control. If not in your life, in the life of someone you know. Is there ever a season of perfect happiness?

📚 PRE-PUBLICATION BOOK REVIEW 📚

A Season of Perfect Happiness
By Maribeth Fischer
Publication Date: August 20, 2024

📚 MY RATING:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚 THE SYNOPSIS:

Ten years after an unspeakable tragedy caused Claire to flee her hometown in Delaware, she finally feels content. She has a quiet, tidy life in Wisconsin, a place she picked at random for its shape on a map. Her careful existence centers on a simple plan: keep her social circle small and keep the past a secret.

But when she meets Erik—a lighthearted theater nerd who gives Claire more of a chance than she’s given herself in a long time—that plan seems increasingly impossible, especially after she finds herself emotionally entangled not only with Erik, but with his ex-wife, Annabelle; their three young children; and a small set of friends, the kind she’d always wanted to have around her. Life after the accident can be full of joy, Claire realizes—going on a date to see a thousand-pound pig at the state fair, giggling over obscure inside jokes with friends at a music gig, making smoothies while the kids wear their infamous cooking hats. Being a partner, a best friend, a mother.

But when a person from her past arrives, Claire’s worst mistake threatens her new life, and the deep friendships she’s made hang in the balance. If Claire chooses to share the parts of herself she has kept locked away for so long, will the family she has built still recognize her—and have a place for her? Or will everything she has spent the last decade working toward fall apart?

📚 MY REVIEW:

This book gave me ALL the feels! 🥹

This wasn't one of the typical thrillers I gravitate toward...This was a heartfelt and emotionally-driven novel about the power of resiliency, second chances, forgiveness, friendship, and love. It was a slow burn and took a little bit for me to feel invested. But once I got about 40% of the way in, I couldn't stop reading till I finished. I felt my heart urging me to keep reading, which I did well into the wee hours of the morning. I simply didn't feel like I'd be able to sleep until I knew how the story would end for these characters.

The characters are written with such loving detail, I felt like I was reading about high school classmates and the ways in which life happened for them. The main character and her story was so endearing and you couldn't help but want to envelop her in a big hug so many times during the book...I definitely wiped away tears multiple times in the book's final pages, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I highly recommend this book and its remarkable story of the triumph of the human spirit. ❤️

Thanks to Net Galley and Penguin Group Dutton for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

#netgalley #ASeasonofPerfectHappiness #MaribethFischer #bookrecommendations #bookreviews

Claire has a horrible experience that pains her for years. Just when things are going well her friend learns what happened and turns on Her. Many secrets have been kept that affect more than just Claire.

I didn’t love this book but I felt the need to
Finish it with hope that all would work out for Claire.

This book was amazing! I cried so much. I love books that really shatter you. I loved that the author touched upon post partum psychosis since it's such a taboo subject.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

A well written family drama with a few surprises along the way, thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. I look forward to recommending this book to library patrons and other readers I encounter.

Oh, Claire! Such a beautiful story about tragedy, loss, acceptance and allowing oneself to open up to living in the present. I’m often moved but rarely brought to tears by a book but this one had me sobbing in one particular place. Lovely believable story that taught me some important things about the serious complications of having a baby. Well done.