When Stuart Summerfield finally realized he was gay, he knew that telling his beloved wife Claire would be one of the hardest, most heartbreaking things he would ever do. Unfortunately Stu’s coming out wasn’t simply heartbreaking… it had the most unexpected and tragic consequences imaginable.
Now, almost one year after the car accident that took Claire’s life, Stu has buried himself in his work to push through the pain and guilt while doing his best to raise, Atticus, their young son, who has himself handled his grief in his own unique way. While getting by one day at a time proves difficult enough, it never crossed Stu’s mind that the family’s annual weekend away at the lakeside home of his sister-in-law, Bethany, would still go ahead now that Claire was gone.
Atticus, however, has other ideas. With his loyal beagle Digby by his side, Atty makes a phone call to Aunt Bethany in an effort to keep the family tradition alive, no matter what chaos and calamity might ensue.
And so over the course of one weekend filled with commotion—and emotion—Stu and Atty are about to learn that healing can open up your heart, that grief can sometimes be good, and that nobody travels the road to recovery alone.
Amazon
Ok, so this is the first for me by this author, but a cute kid and a puppy on the front? A must have, right?
So, I was a little bit confused by the beginning of this one, the puppy follows the kid into school and nobody says anything? Then, these reports, or, whatever they’re doing in the class, seems a bit old for 8 year olds. I wasn’t even doing things like that in middle school, let alone elementary, as a matter of fact…everyone seems to treat Atty like an adult, rather than an 8 year old.…. And those teachers, while maybe well meaning, were extremely disrespectful, in my opinion…Speaking of disrespectful… I spent a good half of this book, fuming with all the disrespect. Be prepared for that.
Now, on to the story… Stuart and his son Atticus are trying to get on with their life after a terrible car accident takes the life of Stuarts wife, (Atticus’s mom)…. Seems she left in a hurry when finding out that Stu was in fact gay. I felt bad for Stu, because it was obvious he loved his wife, and his son; but he couldn’t deny who he was any longer. On the way to her sister Claire’s, she had an accident and didn’t make it.
Now, Atticus had planned their traditional weekend away at Claire’s, even though neither of them wanted to, they packed their things and went anyway. Claire and her family were the epitome of the worst kind of people. Her children were spawns of the devil, and Claire herself was just…..awful. I don’t care if she sort of redeemed herself at the end, nothing excuses how nasty, hateful and just mean she was throughout the whole thing. I literally hated every second that nobody put them in their place.
All through this terrible weekend, we see only a few glimpses of the officer that pulls Stu and Atty over, I hoped he had a bigger role in the story, but… he didn’t. Once in the beginning, once in the middle, and once at the end. That’s it. They do share a kiss at the end, but that’s it. I was kinda disappointed by that.
And lastly, the twist at the end, broke my heart. It was a good bad kind of twist, one that I did not see coming and had me tearing up a bit… poor Digby, and poor Atticus. It was the best part of the story, that twist, and it was a gut wrencher.
Overall, though…. I just couldn’t get over how terrible everyone was to Atticus and Stu… It was a lot to take, and too much to get over for me. I don’t think this is one I”ll be revisiting.
3 pieces of eye candy from me
