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Secrets of the Lost Summer (Swift River Valley #1)
by
Carla Neggers (Goodreads Author)
A wave of hope carries Olivia Frost back to her small New England hometown nestled in the beautiful Swift River Valley. She's transforming a historic home into an idyllic getaway. Picturesque and perfect, if only the absentee owner will fix up the eyesore next door...Dylan McCaffrey's ramshackle house is an inheritance he never counted on. It also holds the key to a genera...more
Audio CD
Published
May 15th 2012
by AudioGO
(first published January 31st 2012)
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Graphic designer Olivia Frost has just been stabbed in the back by another designer she had considered her best friend, and so Olivia has left her job in Boston and returned to her hometown of Knightsbridge in Western Massachusetts to start a new life and new career. As she works on reinventing a historical farmhouse as a party and conference destination, she eyes with distaste the junked-up yard of her nearest neighbor, and writes the absentee owner about it. Dylan McCaffrey, former hockey play...more
Book #65 of 2012
Started reading this on the plane ride back. I'd read one other Carla Neggers book and thought it was mostly OK.
I liked the story in this book, it is more of a slow moving book. I can read a chapter or two and not feel like I NEED to know what happens next.
It probably would have gotten 4 stars except for some complaints.
First, what is WITH this author and her complete scene changes with no break? Literally one paragraph will be about character A and the next somewhere different a...more
Started reading this on the plane ride back. I'd read one other Carla Neggers book and thought it was mostly OK.
I liked the story in this book, it is more of a slow moving book. I can read a chapter or two and not feel like I NEED to know what happens next.
It probably would have gotten 4 stars except for some complaints.
First, what is WITH this author and her complete scene changes with no break? Literally one paragraph will be about character A and the next somewhere different a...more
Two extremely interesting plotlines are melded together in this latest ‘gift’ from Carla Neggers. A story taking place in the late 1930’s - just before the start of World War II - intermingles perfectly with a story of Olivia Frost, a graphic designer living in present day Boston.
After some serious professional setbacks in her career, Olivia leaves her job and returns to her hometown of Knights Bridge in Western Massachusetts. Buying a historic home, she plans to follow what has been her dream f...more
After some serious professional setbacks in her career, Olivia leaves her job and returns to her hometown of Knights Bridge in Western Massachusetts. Buying a historic home, she plans to follow what has been her dream f...more
Jan 19, 2012
Judy & Marianne from Long and Short Reviews
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
contemporary,
non-erotic
Originally posted at: http://www.longandshortreviews.blogsp...
Curiosity about others’ secrets just keeps niggling sometimes--even when we know “we all have a right to our secrets”.
Olivia Frost’s simple letter to an absentee owner of property near her sets in motion curiosities and sends ripples of unease through some people in the picturesque community of Knights Bridges in New England—not the least of whom is the ninety plus-year-old Grace Webster, the now-retired English and Latin teacher of K...more
Curiosity about others’ secrets just keeps niggling sometimes--even when we know “we all have a right to our secrets”.
Olivia Frost’s simple letter to an absentee owner of property near her sets in motion curiosities and sends ripples of unease through some people in the picturesque community of Knights Bridges in New England—not the least of whom is the ninety plus-year-old Grace Webster, the now-retired English and Latin teacher of K...more
Review:Secrets of the Lost Summer by Carla Neggers
4 STARS
Well I had to stay up late to finish the book. It was a enjoyable read.
Oliva Frost lived in Boston for the last 5 years. But last fall bought a early nineteen hundred home in her hometown Knights Bridge to slowly turn into a business. Oliva planned to open a place for weddings, parties and someday mini conference stays.
Oliva is a graphic designers and she had a lunchen date with her biggest client.
Her friend Maggie she had been helping he...more
4 STARS
Well I had to stay up late to finish the book. It was a enjoyable read.
Oliva Frost lived in Boston for the last 5 years. But last fall bought a early nineteen hundred home in her hometown Knights Bridge to slowly turn into a business. Oliva planned to open a place for weddings, parties and someday mini conference stays.
Oliva is a graphic designers and she had a lunchen date with her biggest client.
Her friend Maggie she had been helping he...more
Secrets of the Lost Summer was an enjoyable contemporary romance that contained a historical mystery aspect. I thoroughly enjoyed both of the main characters, Olivia Frost and Dylan McCaffrey. Olivia was very loyal and sweet, and Dylan was protective and caring. There were some great secondary characters that added to the story, and I would love to see Noah get a book of his own. The storyline was very interesting, with the modern day one being integrated with events that went on in 1938.
Olivia...more
Olivia...more
Olivia Frost was a successful graphic designer working for a top design firm in Boston...until she was professionally betrayed by her best friend. Olivia decides to move back to her hometown of Knights Bridge and turn the period home she recently purchased into a destination travel location. Dylan McCafferty comes into the picture when she contacts him in San Diego, asking him to clean up his adjacent property, which has been vacant since purchase for over two years. He had no idea he owned the...more
2.5 Stars
There were things that I liked about this book, but there were also aspects that I found to be a little too unbelievable. Olivia's entire reason for leaving Boston was a betrayal, but that incident didn't seem serious enough to warrant a complete life change. I just didn't see the anger and hurt in her character that might cause a person to pick up their life and move. This was an issue that I had with Olivia's character throughout the whole book. She is a person who has built a lot of...more
There were things that I liked about this book, but there were also aspects that I found to be a little too unbelievable. Olivia's entire reason for leaving Boston was a betrayal, but that incident didn't seem serious enough to warrant a complete life change. I just didn't see the anger and hurt in her character that might cause a person to pick up their life and move. This was an issue that I had with Olivia's character throughout the whole book. She is a person who has built a lot of...more
Jan 05, 2012
Hsiau Wei
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
books-read-in-2012
What an innocent act by Olivia to get the owner to clear his front yard has leads to discovery of the ancient lost jewellery and the secret of Grace being unravel. I like Olivia very much. She reminds me of someone close to me as well. She is humble, and hate confrontation and she have every reason to.. she lost her biggest client to her close friend who in turn act as though it is normal kind of thing a human is doing. Although Marilyn did not have much scene in this book, but i do hate her cha...more
Oliva Frost returns to her hometown in New England next to the Quabbin Reservoir to heal after being stabbed in the back by a "friend". Prior to moving she was at the top of her career as a graphic designer. She helped a her friend Marilyn, out of a slump in her career and Marilyn's a rising star. That rising star, went after Oliva's high profile client. Hurt, she decides to return home to a historic house that she had purchased and had been planning in a couple of years, afer she got more money...more
After losing one of her biggest clients to a so called friend in Boston, Olivia decides to come home and rebuild her business. Instead of designing she buys an old run down house so that she can host parties/showers/tea parties for the town. The only problem? The eyesore next door won't have the guests coming back.
Dylan gets a letter from Olivia asking if he could move the junk from his property, or better yet, she'll do it for him. The problem? Dylan has no clue what the woman is talking about...more
Dylan gets a letter from Olivia asking if he could move the junk from his property, or better yet, she'll do it for him. The problem? Dylan has no clue what the woman is talking about...more
May 20, 2013
Kim
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
no one
Recommended to Kim by:
library websiteI think
I started out liking this book but it soon got annoying. Everyone in Olivia's family (except her father) has anxiety issues. No one tells each other the truth. Her mother is seeing a therapist, but when asked if her husband knows, she says it isn't his business - then who the hell's business is it?! And the conversations between Olivia & Dylan were odd. I found the other storyline with Grace pretty lame once you found out what was going on - no huge secret, no big deal. Everyone was so secre...more
Thank you Netgalley.
The cover is really pretty!
This was my first novel by Carla Neggers and while I found it to be well written and the way she wove two different story lines of love and romance into one mystery, interesting, this book wasn't for me.
I found it slow in places and the main character, Olivia somewhat irritating. I'm not a plant or herb person so any time the story veered in that direction, my attention was lost.
No one book is going to satisfy all readers and that's my opinion of...more
The cover is really pretty!
This was my first novel by Carla Neggers and while I found it to be well written and the way she wove two different story lines of love and romance into one mystery, interesting, this book wasn't for me.
I found it slow in places and the main character, Olivia somewhat irritating. I'm not a plant or herb person so any time the story veered in that direction, my attention was lost.
No one book is going to satisfy all readers and that's my opinion of...more
The first book I read by Carla Neggers was Saint's Gate and I loved it. I decided after reading it that I would read any book by Neggers because I assumed they would all be as suspenseful, romantic, and plot twisted. If I had read this book first though...I probably wouldn't have read another book by her. Now don't get me wrong, the book was ok, just not what I expected from the author and not what I was in the mood for when I picked it up.
This book is about Olivia, a talented graphic designer...more
This book is about Olivia, a talented graphic designer...more
Reviewed for Speaking of Audiobooks column on AAR. http://www.likesbooks.com/blog/?p=8353
2.5 stars
Grade C
Narrated by Susan Boyce
I haven’t read Carla Neggers before but it’s my understanding that she usually writes romantic suspense. I admit that’s what I thought I’d be getting with Secrets of a Lost Summer. Instead I got the feeling someone told Neggers that small-town contemporary romances are the thing right now, and she set about writing one. That would probably have been fine if the book did...more
2.5 stars
Grade C
Narrated by Susan Boyce
I haven’t read Carla Neggers before but it’s my understanding that she usually writes romantic suspense. I admit that’s what I thought I’d be getting with Secrets of a Lost Summer. Instead I got the feeling someone told Neggers that small-town contemporary romances are the thing right now, and she set about writing one. That would probably have been fine if the book did...more
2 likes · like · see review
Jun 19, 2012
farmwifetwo
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
romance-romantic-suspense
It's really a 3 star read. It's a gentle little romance, with family issues that are glossed over and fixed without any page time, one gentle little sex scene and a nice little mystery. Felt like I was missing a lot of the story since much of it was glossed over or barely explained.
BUT, it kept me reading without looking for another book - which lately hasn't happened often. The woe-is-me's were dealt with, moved forward and life kept on going.... which I really, really like in a book.
So, it's g...more
BUT, it kept me reading without looking for another book - which lately hasn't happened often. The woe-is-me's were dealt with, moved forward and life kept on going.... which I really, really like in a book.
So, it's g...more
Dec 09, 2012
Michelle
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
contemporary-fiction
Olivia life has been turned upside down when a supposed friend that she has been mentoring takes one of her key clients and moves in to her design firm in Boston. She decides that it is time to make a change and returns to her small hometown to open a retreat/conference/party space. Olivia writes a letter to the absentee owner of the rundown property adjacent to hers, thinking that the older man who bought it will at least give her permission to clean it up so that the yard looks presentable. Sh...more
This book I bought through Harlequin’s reader group. It’s the story of Olivia Frost who moves out of Boston after someone she thought was her friend stole her biggest client, feeling hurt she returns home to Knights Bridge hoping to turn a house into a profitable business, the only problem she sees is the eye sore down the street once owned by a local school teacher Grace Webster who sold it to Ducan MCaffrey. Grace decides to write to Duncan hoping he wil clean up the old refrigerator and washe...more
Olivia has returned to her hometown to transform her beautiful historic home into a retreat, some place she can share with friends, family and colleagues. The only thing standing in her way of perfection is the run down, garbage filled house and yard next door. After writing polite but firm letter, she hopes that it will be remedied before her grand opening.
Dylan's life is exactly the way he likes it; all that changes when a letter throws a wrench in it. He had no idea he had inherited a house f...more
Dylan's life is exactly the way he likes it; all that changes when a letter throws a wrench in it. He had no idea he had inherited a house f...more
Carla Neggers goes back to her roots with Secrets of the Lost Summer. I have always been a fan of her earlier romance novels, so I was excited to read this new one when I first heard about it. I wasn't disappointed. I loved this book. Dylan and Olivia are the main characters and their love story is very sweet. I liked that it was a slow fall into love and they took time to get to know and trust each other. Olivia has come home to regroup and figure out her future. Dylan is looking for his next s...more
Feb 01, 2012
Jennifer Estep
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
contemporary-romance
Secrets of the Lost Summer by Carla Neggers is a contemporary romance.
When a friend steals a client from her, graphic designer Olivia Frost decides to finally pursue her dream of moving back to her small Massachusetts hometown and opening up a bed and breakfast-type home to host showers, weddings, and more. However, the property next to hers is in a state of disarray, so she writes to the owner in hopes of being allowed to clean up the grounds herself. To her surprise, the owner, ex-hockey playe...more
When a friend steals a client from her, graphic designer Olivia Frost decides to finally pursue her dream of moving back to her small Massachusetts hometown and opening up a bed and breakfast-type home to host showers, weddings, and more. However, the property next to hers is in a state of disarray, so she writes to the owner in hopes of being allowed to clean up the grounds herself. To her surprise, the owner, ex-hockey playe...more
One of the most interesting books I've read, plus I loved the writing style. I'll be honest about the interest-that was probably mostly because I was brought up in the area of the Quabbin Reservoir, where this book was set, and yet I never knew or cared to know the History. Now I can't wait to go back up there, visit the visitor's center and learn more of the history. And the love story itself was such a sweet romance. Some have said it was slow moving, but to me the pace was just right. I adore...more
When Olivia's traitorous 'friend' steals her clients and her job, Olivia decides to return to Knight's Bridge and develop the house and grounds she bought into a tea house and retreat. At the end of a country lane her place has only one other house- a decrepit junky place that she really wants cleaned up. She writes the absentee owner and offers to clean the place up. She is quite surprised to find that the owner is not an old man, but a hot young millionaire. ...
This is one of Carl Neggers best novels. Olivia Frost is a sympathetic character who the reader cares about from the first. She is striving to build a life for herself. Like her mother and sister, she suffers from panic attacks and find it difficult to travel. This is presented realistically. The romance between herself and Dylan McCaffrey includes an interesting mystery that had me interested from first to last. An exceptional read.
Carla Neggers only gets better and better. This 2012 book held me spellbound all the way through. Olivia and Dylan are brought together by a mystery and long-buried secrets in an unexpected bunch of circumstances. Seems almost fate that they end up neighbors at Carriage Hill and find romance and solve the mystery of riches lost and found. Love stories---past and present. How intriguing.
I really enjoyed this book---no murders, no secret agendas, etc. It's the story about a woman who contacts her absentee next door neighbor to clean up his yard. He is unaware he even owns the property, so he pays a visit. The two discover a lot about their respective families and about how a town was built when a dam/reservoir was built 70 years earlier. A wonderful story to read!
I liked this story even though it didn't have ANY heat to it. I mean none. It was a good story strictly PG, maybe PG 13 at the most. The plot was interesting secrets kept by a 92 year old woman, missing jewels. The history of the Quabbin was quite interesting, and this is where Carla Neggers actually was from. So it was tastefully done.
Love, love love this book. A deviation from the usual books I read by Carla Neggers, but definitely highly recommend this book. Olivia and Dylan had great chemistry and I was pleasantly surprised to learn the depths of Grace's "secret". I can't wait to pass this book on to the ladies at work who live to read (almost) as much as I do.
There was a good story in there. I wanted to know what the secrets were and I was a little surprised in the end.
I did have to read through a lot of unnecessary words, little boring at times, I found myself skimming a little. Too my main characters with weird character flaws. it seemed like everyone had anxiety issues. This book should have been a short story.
I did have to read through a lot of unnecessary words, little boring at times, I found myself skimming a little. Too my main characters with weird character flaws. it seemed like everyone had anxiety issues. This book should have been a short story.
I think this is one of Carla's very best books. I managed to read most of one night when I should have been sleeping. So it's a real page-turner!
The ending was definitely NOT predictable -- a surprise that made the story so much more than a usual romance. Kudos to the author.
The ending was definitely NOT predictable -- a surprise that made the story so much more than a usual romance. Kudos to the author.
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Also writes as Amalia James.
Carla Neggers started writing at a young age, when she'd grab a pad and pen and climb a tree to spin stories. She grew up in rural western Massachusetts with six brothers and sisters and assorted dogs, cats, pigs, chickens, sheep, guinea pigs and one cow. Her father was a Dutch sailor who immigrated to the U.S. after World War II, and her mother hails from the Florida P...more
More about Carla Neggers...
Carla Neggers started writing at a young age, when she'd grab a pad and pen and climb a tree to spin stories. She grew up in rural western Massachusetts with six brothers and sisters and assorted dogs, cats, pigs, chickens, sheep, guinea pigs and one cow. Her father was a Dutch sailor who immigrated to the U.S. after World War II, and her mother hails from the Florida P...more
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May 20, 2013 06:27pm