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I really wanted to love Summer at Firefly Lake by Jen Gilroy. It was August, the height of summer, and a small town contemporary romance. It should have worked but I really, really struggled with this book.

I have to be able to connect with the characters of a book. My first and most honest assessment of Summer on Firefly Lake’s characters were that it was amazing that anything ever happened between any of the characters because of how afraid these people were of everything. Gabrielle was afraid of a serious illness returning and how her relationship with her children would resolve, Mia was afraid of everything, Nick was afraid of rejection and he was never good enough, and Kylie was afraid to open herself up to anyone.

I have to be honest, I didn’t pay much attention to the plot because a lot of it was integrated with everyone’s fear. I understand fear of emotions but it was so ramped up in this book that there wasn’t room for anything else. The romance suffered in my opinion. Had the plot focused on one problem and not branched out to include everyone’s worries and fears this book would have been amazing for me!

My greatest motivation in reading Summer on Firefly Lake was to finish it. I wasn’t drawn to it and picked up a few books here and there while trying to finish this one. I enjoy a small town romance and loved seeing the interactions between Mia and Charlie. While I didn’t love this book, I didn’t hate it either. I won’t be continuing the series.