The Best Summer of Our Lives

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Twenty years ago, the summer of '77 was supposed to be the best summer of Summer Wilde's life. She and her best friends, Spring, Autumn, and Snow--the Four Seasons--had big plans.

But those plans never had a chance. After a teenage prank gone awry, the Seasons found themselves on a bus to Tumbleweed, "Nowhere," Oklahoma, to spend eight weeks as camp counselors. All four of them arrived with hidden secrets and buried fears, and the events that unfolded in those two months forever altered their friendships, their lives, and their futures.

Now, thirtysomething, Summer is at a crossroads. When her latest girl band leaves her in a motel outside Tulsa, she is forced to face the shadows of her past. Returning to the place where everything changed, she soon learns Tumbleweed is more than a town she never wanted to see again. It's a place for healing, for reconciling the past with the present, and for finally listening to love's voice.

Praise for The Best Summer of Our Lives

"Rachel Hauck sets the gold standard in inspirational fiction. The Best Summer of Our Lives is a nostalgic novel of friendship, romance, and the choices that define a life."--Brenda Novak, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author

"The Best Summer of Our Lives blends faith and hope into a story about the seasons of life, the seasons of friendship, and the seasons of love."--Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Lost Friends

"The Best Summer of our Lives brought me back to my teenage years, with all the angst, the hope, and the friendships, and reminded me that the best times of our lives don't have to be perfect to be loved."--Susan May Warren, USA Today bestselling, award-winning author

"Rachel Hauck fans will savor this sparkling story full of depth and heart!"--Lauren K. Denton, USA Today bestselling author of The Hideaway and A Place to Land

Endorsements

"In true Rachel Hauck fashion, The Best Summer of Our Lives blends faith and hope into a story about the seasons of life, the seasons of friendship, and the seasons of love. A journey that will warm your heart and make you yearn to reconnect with old friends."

Lisa Wingate, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Lost Friends

"Rachel Hauck sets the gold standard in inspirational fiction. The Best Summer of Our Lives is a nostalgic novel of friendship, romance, and the choices that define a life."

Brenda Novak, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author

"When four best friends pull a prank that gets them sentenced to eight weeks of summer camp in Tumbleweed, Oklahoma, they have no way of knowing that one summer will alter the course of their lives. Hauck traces each woman's journey from that fateful Tumbleweed summer through the next twenty years, showing how friendship, tragedy, love, and forgiveness can form and shape both lives and futures. Rachel Hauck fans will savor this sparkling story full of depth, heart, and country twang!"

Lauren K. Denton, USA Today bestselling author of The Hideaway and A Place to Land

"Absolutely magical. Beautiful prose, deeply moving. I laughed and cried and fell in love with Hauck's story of four best friends finding their way back to each other. Maybe Hauck's best book yet (and that's saying a lot!). The Best Summer of Our Lives brought me back to my teenage years, with all the angst, the hope, and the friendships, and it reminded me that true the best times of our lives don't have to be perfect to be loved."

Susan May Warren, USA Today bestselling author

The Author

  1. Rachel Hauck
    © Emilie Haney, EAH Creative

    Rachel Hauck

    Rachel Hauck (RachelHauck.com) is an award-winning, New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. She is a double RITA finalist, and a Christy and Carol Award winner. Her book Once Upon a Prince, first in...

    Continue reading about Rachel Hauck

Reviews

"Hauck's exploration of friendship, second chances, and faith is tender and often emotionally nuanced. It's an undeniable heartwarmer."

Publishers Weekly

"Bestselling, Christy-winning Hauck presents a powerful inspirational tale of friendship that touches on two horrific real crimes of the 1970s and charts a rocky path to redemption and love."

Booklist

"Themes about the endurance of friendship and the ability to come home give readers plenty to think about, and those nostalgic for childhood summers will enjoy this novel."

Library Journal

"Hauck has woven a beautifully nostalgic and redemptive story."

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