Chase the Light by Suzanne Woods Fisher

 

If you could visit a national park this summer, which park would you chose?

Scout Johnson is a ranger at Acadia National Park.  She finds old papers behind a loose brick at a light house in the park.  The papers indicate that a previous lighthouse keeper purposely turned off his light to cause the sinking of a ship that was carrying gold.  The gold is now hidden around Acadia.  Will Scout and her friends be able to find it before the public finds out about the treasure?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This was a fun light story with mystery and romance.  It was perfect reading during a stressful time!

·       This was a contemporary clean read. 

·       Chase the Light is the second book in the National Parks Summers series.  I have not read the first book and this book worked fine as a standalone novel.

·       I really liked the character Wabanaki (Naki) Dana.  He is a Native American from the Penobscot Tribe.  He has the knowledge to decipher most of the clues and Scout finds herself attracted to him. Naki gave the story more depth.

·       There is a love triangle of sorts as Chase Fletcher is also on the team.  He has been on dates with Scout previously and is trying to use the news of the treasure to save his family’s newspaper.

·       There are many other characters including Scout’s flamboyant southern mother, two teenagers that tend to mess things up, etc.  They were all very entertaining.

·       There are great plot twists in the story.

·       I already wanted to visit Acadia National Park in Maine, and this book makes me want to visit even more.  There are beautiful descriptions of the park in the novel.

·       There were light faith elements in the novel.  It was inspirational.

Overall, Chase the Light by Suzanne Woods Fisher is a fun mystery, romance, contemporary adventure and a perfect summer read.

Book Source:  Thank-you to @suzannewoodsfisher @revellfiction @greatreadsbookpromo for a review copy of the novel as part of the Great Reads Promo Book Tour.

On a Summer Tide by Suzanne Woods Fisher

 

On a Summer Tide was the August pick for the Page-turners Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.  We had a nice lunch time meeting last week to discuss this book.

On the Summer Tide is the story of the Grayson family.  Father Paul Grayson has recently lost his voice and career as a sports broadcaster.  He also lost his wife, Corinna, years before.  He decides to buy an island that is the location of the summer camp where he and his beloved wife met.  He hopes that putting the camp together will bring his three daughters back together. The oldest Camden is focused on her career, but her son Cooper is dealing with a lot of issues.  Middle child Maddie is almost finished with her degree and is engaged, but not thrilled about it.  Youngest Blaine strives to be taken seriously as she can’t seem to settle down on a career or pathway.  What happened to Corinna that set them all down this path?  Will they be able to get the camp ready to be opened for the season?

I enjoyed this novel.  It was a nice mellow novel that is perfect for the summer.  I thought the story was engaging.  I also liked that it was about all three sisters and their father.  The book club did discuss that switching to different viewpoints within the chapter was confusing at first until you got used to it. Our favorite character was Peg, the owner of a combined hardware story/eatery in town that gives out indispensable advise.  This novel is the first in a trilogy.  I only read this first novel, but other ladies in my book club read on and loved the future books as well.  This was a nice clean read and had a nice discussion of faith. There was a major plot point that seemed too convenient to me, but it did go along with the overall arc of the story.  I loved the family drama, the Maine island setting, and the fixing up of the old camp.

Favorite Quotes:

“Even as a girl, Cam had a hard time just being a part of something without finding a way to improve it.”  - I can relate to this.

“So many times, he had chosen work over family, always assuming there’d be plenty of time to catch up.  Boy, was that a dumb idea.  Time had no mercy.”

“You can’t live other people’s lives for them, even if you love them.  Sometimes love means trusting people to make their own decisions.”

“Planning doesn’t make the wedding.  And the wedding doesn’t make the marriage.  The marriage is what we live with, day in and day out.”

“How’d you like to be defined by your nineteen-year-old self for the rest of your life.” – This was our book club’s favorite quote.

Overall, On a Summer Tide was a nice summer read on families, love, and forgiveness.

Book Source:  Kewaunee Public Library