Review: By Summer's End

By Summer’s End

by Pamela Morsi

Why did you choose this book? seemed like a good ‘beach read’ 

When did you read this book? May 2012

Who should read this book? readers looking for a light summer read...or something to think about

Source: book fair

Here is a synopsis of ‘By Summer’s End' from Goodreads, where it rates 3.44 stars.

When Dawn Leland's husband died, sixteen years ago, she and her girls thought they were leaving Knoxville forever. She never thought that they would ever end up back with her in-laws, but life has dealt her something unexpected. And even after all this time, bitterness remains with her mother-in-law, Sephrona Leland. It takes some forgiveness, a little understanding, and the magic of two young girls to make everyone see that they have all ended up where they belong.

My Review 

I wasn’t expecting much from this one. I picked it up on the last day of our library book fair last year when paperback romances were 5/$1. I had picked out four books, so I figured this was ‘free’ since I had to pick a 5th one. It didn’t matter if I didn’t finish it. But I was really surprised! It was very good!

Dawn is the mother of 2 teenage girls, Sierra and Dakota. She was widowed just before Dakota was born. And Dawn has a bit of a quirk; she only dates guys named ‘Sonny’, which was her husband’s name. Dawn left town shortly after the death of her husband, due to a falling out with her mother-in-law. But she now returns to beg them to help her. She has cancer and does not want the girls go be alone if she dies. 

There are two alternating storyline to this book. One is labeled ‘Real Life’ and follows Dawn and the girls as they return to Dawn’s in-laws. The second is labeled ‘Sonny Days’ and gives an alternate story in which Sonny did not die. It gets very confusing and you are left wondering what is going on; did Sonny really die? is this a dream? is Sonny in hiding? and how will the author resolve this? But resolve it she does, and very nicely! I really don’t want to spoil this, but it has to do with ‘chaos theory’ and the ‘butterfly effect’ and how small changes can make major differences in outcomes......or does it? There is a second part to ‘chaos theory’ that most of us don’t know about. Read this book and you will not only know about it, but have an example of how it all plays out. The book is thought provoking, and on very deep levels!

Don’t be scared off by that though. You can read it on the ‘light summer read’ mode and enjoy it. But if you want something to chew on, this book can give you that, too! 

My Rating:  ★★★1/2  3-1/2 Stars