The Summer Swap

Not my favourite from Sarah Morgan - something about some members of the family irritated me until they had their heartwarming/redeeming moment at the end. The main characters were a delight though, I wish I had a Cecelia grandma in my life.

The whole 'mystery' with the painting was perhaps the weakest part of this, it was clear from the second it was mentioned what the 'twist' was, and because of this it felt really dragged out and underwhelming when it was revealed.

Slow, Character Driven Coastal Tale Featuring Flawed Yet Understandable Characters. Yes, to an extent if you've read one Sarah Morgan non-Christmas tale, you've read every Sarah Morgan non-Christmas tale. (And her Christmas tales are simply a variant on the non-Christmas ones, featuring some extra Christmas emphasis of some form.) This noted, what Sarah Morgan does, she does solidly and has clearly built a fan base for a reason, and this is yet another example of why her formula works so well.

Here, yet again, we get three generations of female leads, with the guys mostly playing romantic foils of some form or another, and each of our female leads has her own dramas and insecurities and, yes, mistakes. Of course, in typical Sarah Morgan fashion... well, let's not give away her endings in this review, shall we? Let's instead say that the Hallmarkie type crowd will generally enjoy these books, even though the Sarah Morgan formula is at least *slightly* different than that one.

Overall a solid tale solidly written, and a perfectly fine, inoffensive, casual "summer" / "beach" read (that, to be clear, can truly be enjoyed any time). Very much recommended.