Book Review: The Summer Season by Julia Williams

Heartsease House is in desperate need of renovation. It's owner, widower Joel is struggling with life as a single dad. His plans to refurbish the house and garden suddenly seem like one burden too many. 

Mum to twin girls, Lauren's life is a constant juggling act. When her ex, Try turns up, wanting to see his daughters, she's determined to keep her distance. But it's a lot harder than she imagined...

Then guerrilla gardener Kezzie bursts into their lives, with her infectious enthusiasm to restore the gardens. But who is Kezzie? And what is she running away from?

As the warm days of summer drawn on, Heartsease House and its love-knot garden are transformed. But will Joel, Kezzie and Lauren be able to restore their own hearts?

It has taken me ages to read this book because of one reason or another but I have enjoyed it so much. Julia Williams has written such a good story and I was completely taken with the characters of Heartsease both past and present.
Heartsease House is a owned by Joel who is a widower with a young son, Sam. The house used to belong to his great-grandfather Edward who was married to Lily. Edward was a famous gardener in his time and lovingly created a knot garden in the grounds to celebrate his wife and their three children, Connie, Tilly and Harry.
Joel and Kezzie are working to restore the garden back to its former glory and this leads them to delve into the family history. What tragedies befell Edward and Lily and why was the garden abandoned when so much love and attention had been put into it?
Joel is pleased to have Kezzie's help and they get on very well but he knows so little about her other than the fact that she is hiding away in Heartsease. When is she going to face up to reality rather than running away from it?
Then we have Lauren, a friend of Joel's and Sam's unofficial child-minder. Lauren is a single mum to two girls and life isn't always easy. When the girls father returns, she is torn between wanting the perfect family life or shutting the door in his face. Also why does she feel jealous every time she sees Joel and Kezzie together if Joel is just a friend?
The Summer Season is only 363 pages long but I felt as though Julia Williams packed so much into it. I loved how it jumped between the past and the present to gradually give the reader a full picture of the story and characters. This is the first book by Julia Williams that I have read but she is an author that I will look out for in the future as she certainly knows how to tell a good story.

Many thanks to Avon for sending me a copy of the book to review, it is out now!