Summer's End: A Novel - Softcover

Seidel, Kathleen Gilles

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062004670 ISBN 13: 9780062004673

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks, 2011

Synopsis

To their respective families, Jack Wells and Amy Legend are outsiders. A free-spirited man-of-all-trades, Jack takes life as it comes—not at all like his supremely organized mother, the admiral’s widow, and his methodical lawyer sister. Amy, a professional athlete with exquisite taste and golden beauty, has a glamorous career a world apart from her bookish older siblings and college professor father.

When Jack’s mother marries Amy’s widowed father, they invite all the children to spend the summer at the Legends’ retreat in northern Minnesota. They never imagine just how well Jack and Amy are going to get along—as affection unexpectedly flares into a burning attraction that threatens to damage already fragile familial bonds. Agreeing to deny their desire until the vacation is over—caught between long-simmering conflicts and clashing personalities—Jack and Amy find, nonetheless, that they are falling deeply in love. And passion this strong couldn’t possibly wait until summer’s end . . . no matter what the consequences.

About this title

About the Author:

Summer's End is Kathleen Gilles Seidel's eleventh novel. She is from Kansas, has a Ph.D. in English literature from Johns Hopkins, and lives in Virginia with her husband and two daughters.

From Publishers Weekly:

Gwen and HalAeach middle-aged, each alone after the death of a longtime spouseAmarry after a whirlwind courtship. They have enough experience to know what they want, but their adult children are another story. When the newly merged clan comes together for an extended vacation at a remote lakeside cottageAa place without the helpful distractions of telephone and televisionAthe stage is set for grieving, bonding and, of course, a fair bit of squabbling. Hal's daughter Phoebe struggles to come to terms with mourning her exceptional mother, and accept the family's transformation; rootless but resourceful Jack, Gwen's son, battles his attraction for new stepsister Amy, a famous ice-skater with a sound but untried heart. These are mild dramas, but Seidel's (Again) solid insight into family dynamics weaves the different threads into an entertaining story. Her affectionately drawn characters are admirable and irritating at onceAjust like real peopleAand both their petty and loving moments feel authentic. Despite a rather cumbersome start, this is a genuinely appealing and absorbing read.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0062004670
• ISBN 13: 9780062004673
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 432