This book was interesting but seemed too muddled overall. It felt like there were too many secrets happening to keep track of them. The book was paced really slowly, which made it hard to get into as well.

I didn't really connect with the characters and didn't feel like I knew any of them that well. I did admire Marin and her strong character, though.

This is a good book. This is a story of a family. They arrive at their grandparents’ house to clean it out, due to the recent death of the grandfather. The mother of the family has lost both of her parents and her husband in the past three years. The daughter has lost her job and been assaulted by her boss. The son has separated from his wife, who is pregnant. It is about coming together as a family, that loves one another.

This is my first book by Jill Lynn and it won't be the last. I really enjoyed this book. It's tagged as Christian fiction, as well as Romance, Mystery, Women's Fiction, etc., but honestly, if I hadn't seen the tag, I wouldn't have known.

Marin Henderson and her two adult children each have a secret, and the three of them return to the family home to prepare it for selling, unaware they will find another secret, maybe even two. The book is about solving a family mystery, solving their problems and helping each other out. The family element of the story is what really kept me reading. How do you parent adult children? Do you parent or support them as a friend? Isn't it their life?

The author got everything right and I was happy with the ending. I kind of want to move to Colorado now.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read and review a digital copy of this book. All opinions are mine and freely expressed. Now I'm off to find more books by this author.

A story about family but also grief. It was very well written, but just didn't resonate for me. Wonderful for the right person though

I received this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I DNF this book as I could not connect with the story or the characters. I tried both the print and the audio version, and kept feeling like I had already read this book, or one similar.

Thank you Harlequin & NetGalley for the eARC of this book.

4 star review.

From page one, I could NOT stop reading. My absolute favorite part was the family aspect of the story. Marni goes through all the feelings when both of her parents have passed as well as being recently widowed. She and her children return to her parents home to sort out the mess and discover a mysterious death taking place on the property. All the secrets, the romances, and the family bonding throughout this story kept my reeled in.

Every time I read a Jill Lynn book, I'm captivated by her characters and the story each one has to share--The Summer of Keeping Secrets was no different. It had everything I was looking for--mystery/intrigue, humor and charisma, passion (for family!), redemption, and romance. Definitely looking forward to whatever Lynn puts our next!

The Summer of Keeping Secrets was a page-turner! I loved seeing the family dynamics shift as Marin's kids pushed back against her superficial answers. Seeing the long-kept secrets and lies unravel unpredictably made the ending very satisfying. The touches of romance were just enough to provide that feel-good vibe.

This was so much longer than it needed to be. Really dragged at points. I enjoyed the resolution of the story, but it took some determination to make it through to the end. The men in this story were all written with a grain of salt. I would have liked a little more of a realistic story line. Wouldn’t be on my must read list for the year.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC.

As the title implies, everyone in the family is keeping secrets from each other. But will those secrets tear them apart or bring them closer together? Only time will tell. Set against the backdrop of the Colorado Rockies with a house full of memories to clean out, Marin, Slade, and Reed must decide if they can trust each other with their internal struggles.

I really enjoyed this book! I loved that the characters felt very real and were not a perfect happy family with just a couple hidden secrets. They had complicated relationships with each other and with other characters to begin with, but they were all willing to work on their issues in authentic ways.

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Read if you like:
Family stories
Light romance
Colorado settings

I found this book a bit slow paced. I’m pretty sure the author intended it that way, but I struggled to get engaged for a bit.
That being said this is a sweet sorry about family, loss, and secrets.
I didn’t hate it but I wasn’t crazy about it either.
Thank you netgalley for the ARC!

A typical story of a Mother and her 2 grown children going back to a Colorado family home to clean it out. All have secrets and it is a little painful to read about the way they hide their secrets from each other. The story is just a little heavy for me.

The Summer of Keeping Secrets by Jill Lynn had many twists and turns. It wasn't fast paced but it also had me wanting to keep reading to see how it ended it.
This was a sweet story of a mom and her two children, cleaning out a grandparents home and uncovering secrets that had long been hidden. I did not guess the ending so that was a fun surprise!

The Summer of Keeping Secrets is a story about family and secrets. After a slow start, I found the book ok. I just had a hard time staying interested in the book for very long at a time. This story just wasn't for me. Thanks to the author, Harlequin, and NetGalley. I received a complimentary copy of this ebook. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Emotional book

This story really resonated with me. There are many parallels with my own life experiences and the characters in this book that drew me in. I loved the close relationship between Slade and her brother Reed, and the way they pulled together to help Marin, their mother, clean out the grandparents home.

Every family has secrets, and in the course of a couple of weeks cleaning out, their secrets came to light. New relationships are formed, older ones are questioned and eventually all secrets are resolved. The story moves along fast and is enjoyable.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

This book is aptly titled as the characters in this novel are all withholding secrets from their family, but like all family does, they come to together in a joint effort to clean their grandparents’ property and slowly the secrets are revealed. This story involves a mother’s love for her children and navigating how to gently guide them as grown adults.

This book is perfect for lovers of clean women’s fiction with family drama/dynamics, a taste of romance, and a touch of mystery. Combined with Lynn’s skill of humor and story-telling, there’s sure to be something for all. A definite add to your book club/beach read/summer TBR. 😍

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫ARC Review

This was a refreshing summer read. I loved that the story takes place in The Colorado Rockies! The book has three different stories within the main storyline. Each character is on a journey and finds love or repairs their relationships. Marin and her two adult children Slade and Reed come together to clean out the home of Marin’s deceased parents. They have a lot of reminiscing and discover some big secrets along the way.

I enjoyed reading this a lot. The focus on grief and how it impacts us all differently was enlightening and impactful. I liked the aspect of parenting adult children and how the that relationship changes. More of what you can expect:

🖤 Family Secrets
🩶 Grief/Healing Journey
🤍 Family Reconciliation
🩵 Clean Women’s contemporary Fiction
💙 Great Summer Read

Thank you to the author Jill Lynn and NetGalley for the electronic advanced copy of the book.

The Summer of Keeping Secrets, by Jill Lynn, will keep you riveted. This story captured me from the opening page to the very last. When recently widowed Marin Henderson returns to her small Colorado town to clean out her deceased parents’ home, her secrets from thirty-four years ago arrive with her.

Her adult children join her in the large task of clearing the home of memories, sentimental items, and papers. Each of them also brings secrets with them. Marin can tell they’re each not talking about things, but she doesn’t dare pry, lest they pry into what she’s hiding. They create a plan for dealing with the stuff and get to work.

But when Marin’s daughter, Slade, discovers a decades-old newspaper clipping about a body found on the rocks below the house, she has to keep digging to discover the full story. She asks her mom, but Marin only offers vague answers. Slade is bugged that her parents never told her and her brother about this mystery. But she finds it easier to research this than to deal with her own career turmoil.

The more Slade digs, the more Marin wonders if her daughter will uncover the truth behind the newspaper clipping. Things happen with the house that challenge Marin and her children's ability to prepare it for the market.

The house is almost a symbol of how when we hold onto secrets, they become harder to work through. As Slade gets closer to the story behind the newspaper story, all three of their secrets begin to unravel.

I loved that this story takes place in a town I love: Dillon, Colorado. This setting is almost its own character. Each of the characters was likable and engaging. I loved the plot and how Marin and her children each had to come to the place where they might, maybe, be willing to be honest about what was going on in each of their lives. There was good tension between the characters and some unexpected twists and turns that made me keep turning pages.

The themes of second chances, of secrets and of the necessity of honest communication in relationships are beautifully woven throughout the story.

If you enjoy clean women’s fiction/family drama and healing stories with some romantic threads, you will love this book.

***I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley and the publisher. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.***

The Summer of Keeping Secrets by Jill Lynn was a beautiful read. A journey to self-discovery and healing.
A captivating story that held my attention from the very beginning.
A refreshing, thought-provoking, compelling, emotional and sweet read that absolutely stole my heart.

Thank You NetGalley and Love Inspired Trade for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

The Summer of Keeping Secrets, is aptly named, as Marin Henderson and her two adult children are all hiding something unbeknownst to one another. Reconvening in Dillion Colorado with the mission of purging her parents home to be listed, the secrets start to spill, when the house itself reveals a mysterious death on the property in 1990.

Every choice, whether done out of protection or for another reason, has implications. Author Jill Lynn, does a phenomenal job of dialoguing each characters internal struggle with revealing their secret as well as how complicated making a choice can be. Through a beautiful analogy of wounds and scars, Jill reminds readers even when a hurt has healed, it still results in a scar, a physical reminder of all overcoming.

The Summer of Keeping Secrets is a must read this summer, enjoy the picturesque town, sprouts of romance and the unique parenting adult children perspective; especially the uncertainty of when to offer advice and when to not to, amongst the parental lifelong desire to put ones children’s needs first and the different ways individuals process grief after loss.