The Summer We Mended

by Kimberly Thomas

On the windswept shores of Martha's Vineyard, a grieving artist and a military family find strength, healing, and hope in the bonds of love.

On the serene shores of Martha’s Vineyard, Lily has spent a year adrift in grief after the sudden loss of her husband, Daniel. Her once-vibrant pottery studio is shuttered, her laughter silenced, and her days empty. But when her daughter Emma returns home with her lively twins, seeking refuge while her husband, Luke, is deployed overseas, the quiet house begins to stir with life once more.

At Emma’s urging, Lily dusts off a forgotten box of unfinished pottery, sparking a reluctant journey back into art and connection. As the summer unfolds, the family navigates joy, fear, and heartbreak — from pottery classes at the farmer’s market to the unthinkable news of Luke’s disappearance during a mission.

Together, they confront the fragility of life and the resilience of love. Lily finds herself stepping into a new role, not just as a mother but as a source of strength for Emma. And as the tide of grief begins to recede, Lily rediscovers her passion, her purpose, and the courage to embrace hope once again.

Filled with tender moments, quiet resilience, and the healing power of family, The Summer We Mended is a heartfelt contemporary womens fiction story of love, loss, and the bonds that hold us steady through life’s storms.

Genres: Womens Fiction

386 pages, Paperback

Published October 14, 2025

About the author

Kimberly Thomas has a passion for writing heartfelt stories that resonate with her readers. With two adult children and a loving husband, she understands the complexities of family dynamics and uses this knowledge to create relatable characters. When she's not writing, she loves to travel and explore new cultures. She finds inspiration in the people she meets and the places she visits, and often incorporates her experiences into her stories.

Kimberly specializes in feel-good women's fiction, clean and wholesome contemporary romance. Her stories focus on love, loss, and the everyday situations that families face. Her writing style is engaging and relatable, and she has a talent for drawing readers in and keeping them hooked until the very end.

Reviews

[Margie Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Summer We Mended is a really beautiful story! This was my first time reading a book by author Kimberly Thomas and I am so happy I was given the opportunity to because I really enjoyed it. Her writing style is easy to read, everything just flows so smoothly and she does it in a fashion where the reader feels as if they are right there in the storyline with the characters without her being overly descriptive. That is something that I really appreciate because I’ve read some authors that go in to descriptive details way too much. This story takes place on Martha’s Vineyard and is about a family who experiences a great loss and how that loss impacts everyone that’s left to carry on. There are actually several different topics or themes to the story that center around the different family members. It covers loss of a spouse and father, divorce, job loss and a soldiers wife who has to experience what it’s like when your soldier goes missing in action. It’s a really well rounded story and the author does a phenomenal job of bringing it all together. I enjoyed reading this very much, hence the 5 star rating and I’m so happy to have found a new author to read and enjoy!

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lily has the perfect life in The Vineyard with her husband David and her children Anna and Cody until David is filled in a car wreck and Lily goes into deep depression. Anna's husband Luke is a fighter pilot in the Air Force and is sent on a mission so Anna decides to head home with her twins to try to help her mom. While at The Vineyard, Anna gets word that her husband's plane has gone down, and he is missing. Lily is now there for her daughter along with Anna's brother, cousin, aunt, uncle, and long-time family friends. This book is so good and shows how family and friends are there for each other in their time of need. I had tears in my eyes quite a few times. So many emotions.

[Jennie Fortna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Summer We Mended by Kimberly Thomas , 4.5 stars, is a standalone that you don’t want to miss filled with so much emotion, sharing grief, heartbreak, tears, finding strength, finding purpose, finding passion for things, family and friends who are there for life’s ups and downs, healing as time moves forward, special moments and more…

I voluntarily read a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was about family and grief. It’s an emotional story certain to tug at your heartstrings.It’s another well written story by this author. You won’t be able to put it down!

[Pam Fleming · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overcoming tragic loss. Lily is struggling after the loss of her husband David. Her children Anna and Cody are worried about her. When Anna’s husband is deployed, Anna and the twins Blake and Noah come home to keep hope alive and try to help Lily heal

So much family support is behind Lily and later Anna when her husband Luke is missing in action. The book is written so the reader is aware of the love and support family and community can provide for each other.

Will Lily be able to move forward? Will the younger generation Anna and Jess find what they need?

Thank you to the author for this ARC. This review is my honest opinion.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

True story of family and how time heals.

Lily and David have an amazing life with two kids and grandchildren. Lily has her own pottery studio. Life is amazing until David dies in a car accident. Then Lily's daughter Anna's husband is sent away with the military. Anna comes home to Lily for help as her husband is deployed. The two women end up helping each other through grief over time.

Beautiful story of family and how coming together during hard times can help healing.

[Cassandra Wiggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first book I have read by Kimberly Thomas which I won through a Goodreads Giveaway. There was a lot of heartbreak, grief and emotion throughout this book. I enjoyed the author’s approach by not sugarcoating death and the grief process which was surrounded by support and hope. One of my favorite sentences was “Hope doesn’t mean you’re not afraid. It just means you’re still choosing to believe, even when it hurts”. I also loved that the author signed my book. 🥰

[Janice Sisemore · Rating 5 out of 5]

The summer we mended

I loved all the characters in this book. I loved how they helped each other through hard times. Lily loses her husband and is grieving. Her daughter Anna and the grandkids after Anna husband goes on a mission with the service. It is a great story, very inspiring. Loved all their adventures. I definitely recommend reading this book.

I received an advanced copy of the book from the author. This book review is my own opinion.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This emotional and well written book looks at a family in crisis. I have enjoyed all of the Kimberly Thomas books and this one about the strength of family bonds is my new favorite.

A year after her husband's death, Lily is still dealing with profound grief. Lily and Daniel were very much in love and she isn't dealing well with his loss. Most days she can barely get out of bed and she has given up her pottery art and her art classes doe children. She doesn't find any happiness in her world right now and doesn't want to work to make changes. Her son lives close to her but even though he visits frequently, he can't get through to her. Her daughter Emma is a military wife and decides to move home with her children when her husband is deployed. At first Lily doesn't want her daughter and grandkids to move into her home but she decides to give it a short trial. The grandkids work wonders on her depressed mood. Having them around with their questions and their curiosity begin to slowly bring happiness back into her life. When Emma's husband disappears on a mission, Lily realizes that she needs to step into a new role and be strong for her daughter and grandkids. Will she be able to find the strength to be strong enough to help her daughter?

The story is full of tender moments and the healing that can come through a family. This is the story of love and loss along with the bonds with family that can help us through the worst that life can bring.

The characters are all beautifully written and feel very real. Even though Lily is feeling deep grief over the loss of her husband at the beginning of the story, her growth during the book reflected the way that I was able to grow from my grief after the loss of my husband. Her two children deal with the death of their father in different ways and even though they want to help their mother, they are very understanding of how she is dealing with life. This book made me smile as the characters all began to heal and it also made me cry especially in the parts about Emma's husband and family. This book will make you feel strong emotions but at the end, the overall feeling is one of hope for the future for the entire family.

[Kelley D · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could give this book 10 stars, I absolutely would! I laughed, cried, and even healed while reading this story. Kimberly did a wonderful job weaving together each character’s personal struggles and showing how they helped one another grow. The characters are so well developed that they feel like real people you could actually know.

[Miriam Brito · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very moving and beautiful

This book touches family life stories very relatable to every day.
Kimberly has woven a net of love and friendship thru hard times and fun times with feelings that make us think and value what we have and what is important.
Could not put it down and can not wait to continue reading more of her books!

[Melisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hope

As a recent widow, this story has given me hope for the future, that I’ll be able to get through my grief and emerge whole without losing the love and memories of the life I once had.

[Peggy Zukowski]

Great Read!

This was a super story. Thoroughly enjoyed reading this story and it could be a true story! I loved reading this book.

[Shirley Schrunk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Healing saves!


What a great story on healing in many different ways. We sometimes forget how we can help others just by being there. Nothing needs to be said.

[Donna Kale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book!

[Stacie Marquart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Have Tissues ready.