Book Review: Summer on Lilac Island by Lindsay MacMillan

GOODREAD SUMMARY:

Broke and newly unemployed, Gigi Jenkins is heading home to the horse-and-buggy Mackinac Island that she once couldn't wait to leave behind. She's going to be spending the summer with her mother, and she's not sure what that close proximity will do to their already fraught relationship. Almost immediately, they find themselves in a battle of wills, and they agree to play matchmaker for each other. Both women are certain that the other couldn't possibly understand them, so surely these potential connections will fizzle out before they even begin.

Misunderstandings, interference, and near-misses are skillfully wielded. Gigi and James circle each other through the curse of small-town encounters--cornhole tournaments, church fundraisers, and lakeside run-ins--and a fresh nemesis-to-lovers plot plays out. Meanwhile, Eloise feels sparks for the resident-for-the-summer Scottish author that she never thought she'd feel again.

But the greatest love story of the summer is the one between Gigi and her mother, Eloise. As they navigate the world as two single women, staying up late to wait for each other to get home from dates and helping each other pick out outfits and draft texts to their respective suitors, their strained relationship starts to heal as they transition from mother-daughter to confidantes and friends.

TEE'S THOUGHTS:

As a kid my husband spent his summers in the UP of Michigan, so I was so excited thee first time he took me to Mackinac Island. I was a Southerner, and honestly the only thing I knew about the Island was the Grand Hotel from the movie Somewhere In Time, but once there I fell in love with the area, especially the fact that their was no cars traveling about the streets, it gave everything the most quaint feel I had probably ever experienced. 

Summer On Lilac Island takes place on Mackinac, so it became a sure read for me. ( Lilac Island is Mackinac's nickname due to the amount of Lilac bushes that are on the island, they also have a Lilac Festival there every June )

The story is about Gigi, who moves back home to live with her mom, as you can imagine, it is an emotional time for her, no one wants to have to go home to their parents once living on their own.. Right off the bat, her mother tries to fix her up with the towns single doctor ( makes me, a Jewish woman, wonder if Gigi has a Jewish mother hahaha ) but Gigi will not agree until her mother also agrees to a date with a man Gigi met on the Ferry on the way to the island. Throughout the book you will see each to the two women grow from the place they started at the beginning of the book. 

The book does have several perspectives of the story, five to be exact. This is usually a sore spot with me because I sometimes get confused on who is who, but Macmillan's writing was smooth and coherent and I had no trouble keeping up with the amount, The entire book is light and charming and the Island even felt like an additional character.

Publishing in July, this is a perfect summer read. Everything about the book is summery and you feel the warmth as you read. There is light romance, it doesn't rule the story, the story is the woman and their lives. 

Pick up Summer on Lilac Island this July, and escape to Mackinac, no matter where you are, it is so easy to do with Macmillan's vivid descriptions and imaginative world building!