Firefly Summer Paperback – July 26, 2016

Great flow, easy, heartwarming read! Cape Cod is always a great backdrop for any story! Love love love loved it!

The plot was light. It was a quick read. My only problem with the book is that there are so many characters and family members, that I felt that I needed a score card to keep up with who was who, who had what problem and since each chapter did not deal with all of the characters, by the time you got back to a chapter that addressed a certain character, it was hard to remember what was going on it that character's life the last time that character was written about.

A year of changes for four women. . .This story carried me along at just the right pace. I was looking for something interesting to read, but also taking care of me. I had been jumping around like crazy trying to meet everyone's need -- everyone's but my own!I told myself this book was your break: it truly was a break from the pace I had been going, but I was missing the point! A very personal point. This story wrapped me up in a warm blanket and there it was right in front of me! A book of changes in four sisters' lives. Changes to accept or fight against, either way, lives change. A view into a family who had shattered from loss, yet finally found their way home again.

[SPOILERS BELOW]This was a tough one - I enjoyed "Firefly Summer" overall. Unlike some reviewers, I didn't have a problem telling the sisters apart, and I didn't have a problem with the level of detail (which is detailed indeed) - it seemed to fit the characters' personalities.That said, there were too many coincidences and loose ends that got tied up in a big bow. One character is spiraling towards alcoholism and then BOOM - one lost dog, one health crisis (not hers), and she's drinking water. I can understand those events and her reaction to them putting her on the road to recovery, but having known people with a drinking problem, I don't think it would be overnight. At least let her tell one of the other characters that it's tough, but she's trying. Another character is having memory lapses (it seems like early Alzheimer's) and is being screened for what seems to be cancer. If I knew all it took to cure those two conditions was getting a boyfriend, I would have put my great-aunt on Tinder! Worse than her mystery cure is that her problems are never mentioned again. She gets a doctor boyfriend and he never mentions her test results (I don't know if she ever got the results, actually) or helping her remember things - her memory seems just fine from that point on and we don't hear anything about her tests or even having to run to a restroom. Pre-boyfriend, she has to pee in the woods because she can't hold it, and post-boyfriend, she's hiking for hours without an issue. Huh? Then all the sisters decide at the exact same time to talk about a family tragedy they haven't discussed in fifty years?!? And the one character's kids just up and decide to show up at the annual picnic, without calling anyone to mention this fact. I get wanting to make a happy ending even happier but who goes to visit family in another state without so much as a text or call?Those logistical impossibilities aside, "Firefly Summer" was a fairly enjoyable light read about some heavy topics.

I liked the way the author revealed the dysfunctional family dynamics by viewing the individual lives of each sister, hinting at what had happened the night of Easton's tragic death. The solution might have been a little too pat, but it was a satisfying ending.

We age. We carry memories - of old wounds, of family, of lives lived and lost. We surrender old pain and disappointments. We release what hurts and holds us back. These characters are so real, it’s as though the reader is in the room, mind and hearts of each authentically gifted, flawed and aging person in the story. Their relationships, with themselves and each other, demonstrate the kind of commitment, acceptance, tolerance, connection and shared history that can hold us together.

Teary eyed is how I was as the book came to an end. The book is about 4 sisters who lost a brother to a tragic accident when they were young and he was almost eight. The family never spoke of him again. But it affected all of them in many different ways. I don't often read books with the depth and love I felt while reading this book. I highly recommend it.

Sisters seek to heal from a sad loss of their only brother...it took almost a full lifetime before they all realize how hard it is to heal each of their broken hearts. Each endures loss, disillusionment, and sadness along with many joys of life yet the death of their brother as a child haunts each sister. Finding solace within themselves seems to be what each sister hopes for...how will they reach that moment? Can they each settle in that state of mind?