This summer, they’ll learn that home is where the heart is.
Somerset Lake is the perfect place for Trisha Langly and her son to start over. As the new manager for the Somerset Cottages, Trisha is instantly charmed by the property’s elderly residents and her firecracker of a new boss, Vi Fletcher. But Trisha is less enchanted by Vi’s protective grandson Jake. No matter how tempting she finds the handsome lawyer, Trisha knows that if Jake discovers the truth about her past, she’ll lose the new life she’s worked so hard to build.
Jake Fletcher left Somerset Lake after a tragic loss, but he’s returning for the summer to care for his beloved grandmother, hoping Vi will sell the run-down cottages and finally slow down. There’s just one problem: Trisha, Vi’s new employee. She’s smart, beautiful, and kind, but Jake’s job is to protect his grandmother’s interests, and his gut is telling him Trisha’s hiding something that could jeopardize Vi’s future. However, as they spend summer days renovating the property and bonding over their love for the town, Jake realizes that Trisha is a risk worth taking—if only she can trust him with her secrets . . . and her heart.
Includes the bonus novella Kiss Me in Sweetwater Springs!
Titles in the Somerset Lake series include — The Summer Cottage – The Christmas Village –
Title: The Summer Cottage
Series: Somerset Lake #1
Author: Annie Rains
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: May 25, 2021
Publisher: Forever
My Rating: 4 stars
I love starting a new series by Annie Rains because there are several things I know right off the bat. I’m going to get good, believable stories, I’ll discover a unique small town with its own spin on quirky residents, I’ll find secondary characters that will be in the background throughout the series yet will always give a familiar feel to any scene they’re in. But most of all I’m going to find a couple who deserve to find love no matter what life has tossed their way in the past… they just might have to fight against some obstacles (often themselves) on the way to finding their happy ending.
Trisha and her young son, Petey, have left their past behind them when they moved to this lovely small town on the lake. A fresh start in a charming place where no one whispers, at times quite loudly, or bullies her son for the actions of her ex-husband who is now in prison. Becoming the manager of the Somerset Cottages was a life-saving moment, and she adored her new boss, Vi, an older woman who doesn’t think or act her age who gave Trish a second chance. Life would be smooth if it weren’t for one hardened lawyer, Vi’s grandson, who is back in town to try to convince his grandmother to sell a property that it’s obvious she can no longer keep up with. Jake has a gut feeling that Trish is hiding something, and in spite of the sparks between them, and he’ll admit, her cute little boy he’s still here for one reason only… to destroy her second chance, and bring his grandmother closer to the family who can watch over her.
The Summer Cottage gave me everything I expect from this author and opened the door to a new location with brand new people, situations, and community. I fell for little Petey quickly, it’s hard not to. Watching Jake’s transformation from a suspicious, trust-no-one kind of guy into a man who is finally seeing things through his grandmother’s eyes, of how much she loves these cottages and this community, and how loved and needed she is in return. As Jake opens his emotions and begins to trust Trisha we see a new family forming from the chaos of their pasts. Yes, they each have trust issues to overcome but the journey to happiness might have been rocky at times yet was so worth it. I loved Trish and Jake both together and individually, adored little Petey, and cracked up over Vi’s antics. I had fun in this new series and look forward to many enjoyable hours getting lost in the world of Somerset Lake.
*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*
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