Three Stars
I was really excited to read SUMMER ON MIRROR LAKE by JoAnn Ross after enjoying the previous book in this series. This book follows Gabe, a workaholic Wall Street broker who is working himself into an early grave. He comes home to the PNW where he grew up for the summer and meets the adorable and independent librarian, Chelsea.
JoAnn is a veteran author, and it shows. She has created a fun and vibrant cast of characters in this small harbor town. I want to live there and meet a hunky, yet reclusive billionaire like Chelsea does. If you’re worried this is all lighthearted, don’t worry. Ms. Ross balances the sunshine happiness with plenty of serious and compelling topics, which adds depth to the plot.
I had two significant sticking points with this story. The first was that Ms. Ross clearly did a lot of research on Viking faerings, which is terrific, but there was WAY too much information. I ended up skimming through much of it. At a certain point the “trivia fact” information, as I like to call it, just felt like filler.
I was still prepared to give this book a solid four stars until the ending. Chelsea and Gabe’s ending was so rushed; it was almost a blink-and-you-missed-it moment. Hurts were skimmed over, and future obstacles were seemingly non-existent. I’m all for a fairytale HEA, but a little bit of realism adds to a happily ever after, in my opinion.
Overall, I enjoyed SUMMER ON MIRROR LAKE. I do recommend skimming the useless Viking info so you can get to the beautiful character development.
**I received an ARC of this book in order to provide an honest review**
Romance Reader 