title: Summers at Blue Lake: A Novel
author:  Jill Althouse-Wood 
description: Barbara Jean Ellington, BJ, is at a crossroads. Recently separated from her cheating husband, Bryce, BJ and five-year-old son Sam depart Michigan for her late grandmother Nonna's home in Pennsylvania. While sorting out her life, BJ comes across Nonna's private notebooks, and she uncovers family secretsincluding how Nonna and her lesbian partner, Grandma Lena, came to spend their lives together. As BJ learns more about her family history, she is haunted by memories of her childhood and her first true love (and Lena's nephew), Travis. Things begin to look up when he appears one day, recently divorced, on her lawn, but a late reappearance by Bryce could muck things up. This is Althouse-Wood's first novel, and though she begins with an interesting premise, the novel falls victim to prose leaden with preciousness (I spoke the name, Sam, holding the <i>m</i> in my mouth like the taste of a Life Saver I was trying to commit to memory) and banal plotting. <i>(Aug.)</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  PRAISE FOR BETTE LEE CROSBY’S NOVELS
  
  
  THE SUMMER OF NEW BEGINNINGS
  
  
  “Once again Crosby has written a beautiful story filled with loving,
  caring—and sometimes a little flawed—characters who struggle to end up with
  the lives they are meant to live.”
  
  
  —The Book Bag
  
  
  “A heartwarming story about family, forgiveness, and the magic of new
  beginnings.”
  
  
  —Christine Nolfi, bestselling author of Sweet Lake
  
  
  “A heartwarming, captivating, and intriguing story about the importance of
  family . . . The colorful cast of characters are flawed, quirky, mostly loyal,
  determined and mostly likable.”
  
  
  —Linda’s Book Obsession
  
  
  “Crosby’s Southern voice comes through in all of her books and lends a
  believable element to everything she writes. The Summer of New Beginnings is
  no exception.”
  
  
  —Book Chat
  
  
  SPARE CHANGE
  
  
  “Skillfully written, Spare Change clearly demonstrates Crosby’s ability to
  engage her readers’ rapt attention from beginning to end. A thoroughly
  entertaining work of immense literary 