What do you think?
Rate this book
Love, Lucas #4
The Summer of Lost Things
New town, new friends, new guy . . . and an old bucket list. The past haunts the present in the newest installation in the Love, Lucas universe.
After her dad is sentenced to prison time, seventeen-year-old Lucy Nelson and her mother move across the country to start over in the town—and farmhouse—where her mother grew up.
Once settled, Lucy is determined to keep her mind off anything “real” and decides to pass the time by reading a stack of her mother’s childhood books, which has sat in her grandmother’s home for decades. When Lucy finds her mom’s old summer bucket list shoved between the pages of a worn copy of Anne of Green Gables, she’s eager to write her own list to escape her inevitable summer boredom. Feeling brave, she fills it with challenges she’d never normally do and also adds the one thing that her mother had never crossed off the original list: Visit Susan’s grave.
When Lucy befriends Mira and her handsome cousin, Jack, she begins to feel almost normal as they help check off her list. When she asks her mother about Susan, she refuses to talk about her. As Lucy falls for Jack, she yearns to tell him the truth about her dad and her old life but lies about everything instead. When her friends see through the lies and her mom reaches her breaking point over questions about Susan, Lucy must learn to trust her friends, try to bring peace to her mother, and to somehow find the courage to forgive her dad.
After her dad is sentenced to prison time, seventeen-year-old Lucy Nelson and her mother move across the country to start over in the town—and farmhouse—where her mother grew up.
Once settled, Lucy is determined to keep her mind off anything “real” and decides to pass the time by reading a stack of her mother’s childhood books, which has sat in her grandmother’s home for decades. When Lucy finds her mom’s old summer bucket list shoved between the pages of a worn copy of Anne of Green Gables, she’s eager to write her own list to escape her inevitable summer boredom. Feeling brave, she fills it with challenges she’d never normally do and also adds the one thing that her mother had never crossed off the original list: Visit Susan’s grave.
When Lucy befriends Mira and her handsome cousin, Jack, she begins to feel almost normal as they help check off her list. When she asks her mother about Susan, she refuses to talk about her. As Lucy falls for Jack, she yearns to tell him the truth about her dad and her old life but lies about everything instead. When her friends see through the lies and her mom reaches her breaking point over questions about Susan, Lucy must learn to trust her friends, try to bring peace to her mother, and to somehow find the courage to forgive her dad.
336 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 4, 2019
19 people are currently reading
701 people want to read
About the author
Chantele Sedgwick
6 books374 followersChantele Sedgwick is a YA author, harpist, wife to one and stay-at-home mom to four. She loves happy endings, Kit Kats and judging by her book shelves, buys way too many books.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
February 25, 2025
I very much enjoyed this, a kind of a coming of age story. Lucy, our MC and her mum have moved to Salem Oregon to her grandmother's house that she left to them when she died, from Wyoming, where Lucy's father is in prison after killing two people on their honeymoon while under the influence of drugs. So Lucy is struggling, but meets her neighbours, cousins Mira and Jack. A nice HEA story, 4+ stars.
I drove through Salem on my way down Rte 1 after my first marriage was ending, but hardly remember it. My grandfather was born there in the 1880s, so I'm sure it's changed since then. There is also a children's museum there named after him, so it's always cool to have extra connections when reading a book.
“What loneliness is more lonely than distrust?” —George Eliot, Middlemarch 79%
“It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.” —Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland 91%
She rolls her eyes, then pulls me into a hug so fierce that I know I’ll never doubt how much she loves me ever again. 96%
I drove through Salem on my way down Rte 1 after my first marriage was ending, but hardly remember it. My grandfather was born there in the 1880s, so I'm sure it's changed since then. There is also a children's museum there named after him, so it's always cool to have extra connections when reading a book.
“What loneliness is more lonely than distrust?” —George Eliot, Middlemarch 79%
“It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.” —Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland 91%
She rolls her eyes, then pulls me into a hug so fierce that I know I’ll never doubt how much she loves me ever again. 96%
May 20, 2019
The books in this series get better and better. This book is full of forgiveness and love. I cried more than once before I turned the last page. The literary references are amazing for anyone who loves books half as much as Lucy does. I was inspired to make a list of the classics mentioned and read or reread them. This book makes you want to be brave and step outside of your comfort zone. Loved it!
June 23, 2025
Reread-
Still very cute, but just a * little * to YA for me. The concepts were very good, and thought throughly so I loved that. lots of themes, for sure
Such a fun, heartwarming book! I’m pretty sure I’d be best friends with Lucy because of her love of books and Harry Potter…and she’s a Ravenclaw like me?! A quick, summer book that just gets you lost in the beautiful book world. 📖
Still very cute, but just a * little * to YA for me. The concepts were very good, and thought throughly so I loved that. lots of themes, for sure
Such a fun, heartwarming book! I’m pretty sure I’d be best friends with Lucy because of her love of books and Harry Potter…and she’s a Ravenclaw like me?! A quick, summer book that just gets you lost in the beautiful book world. 📖
May 29, 2020
A pretty cute read. I had a few issues with the pacing and characterization--I thought Lucy seemed pretty young for a 17 year old--and I thought that the stack of her mother's childhood books would play a bigger role in the story. Still a pretty good, quick, summery read.
January 2, 2020
1 Sentence Summary: Lucy’s dad is in prison so she moves to Oregon with her super overprotective mom and does lots of outdoor activities with her new friends, one of which she has a huge crush on.
My Thoughts: Honestly the writing wasn’t very good and it was pretty boring. The dialogue felt so unnatural and all of the characters were super flat. The love story wasn’t even cute.
Recommend to: Nobody. Don’t waste your time.
My Thoughts: Honestly the writing wasn’t very good and it was pretty boring. The dialogue felt so unnatural and all of the characters were super flat. The love story wasn’t even cute.
Recommend to: Nobody. Don’t waste your time.
April 12, 2020
Lucy and her mom move back to her mom’s childhood home after Lucy’s dad is sent to prison for consequences of a meth addiction. Lucy finds a bucket list her mom made as a teenager. Questions arise as to what happened to her mom’s best high school friend, Susan. Her mom is quite overprotective, confusing Lucy. Soon she meets cousins Jack and Mira and begins a new adventure with new hobbies, new hair, and a new summer romance. Yet she tells a few lies to maintain her anonymity. Letters arrive from her dad that she refuses to read. This book explores themes that every teen feels. Four stars because the editing was quite poor. Many typos. It irritates me when children’s and young adult novels are sloppily edited, as if this population is not worth the attention to detail that an adult audience receives.
June 27, 2019
Beautiful. I tried too much.
August 19, 2022
Lmfao this girl is complaining about moving to Oregon because “who lives in Oregon,” when she legit moved there from Wyoming, I’m dead.
August 28, 2025
Very good book!
December 22, 2020
This was an okay read. It wasn't enough to tug on my emotions and the events in the book felt boring after awhile. I know Lucy is struggling to tell her friends about her secret, but it gets tiring to constantly see her prepare to confess, and then decide to back down afterwards.
I also didn't really understand why Mira had to have such a huge outburst with Lucy when she discovers that Lucy's Dad is actually still alive. I mean, surely there must be a reason why Lucy didn't want to tell you the truth. And the fact that Mira just dumped all her family info that Lucy did not know about to use as justification that she would understand how Lucy just felt weird, since there was no way Lucy would have known about that. Though I admit, the fault also lies with Lucy not wanting to tell them the truth in the beginning.
I also didn't really understand why Mira had to have such a huge outburst with Lucy when she discovers that Lucy's Dad is actually still alive. I mean, surely there must be a reason why Lucy didn't want to tell you the truth. And the fact that Mira just dumped all her family info that Lucy did not know about to use as justification that she would understand how Lucy just felt weird, since there was no way Lucy would have known about that. Though I admit, the fault also lies with Lucy not wanting to tell them the truth in the beginning.
June 19, 2021
I wasn't expecting this book to be as good as the first one, "Love, Lucas". But the way that it was wrote, and the way that all the characters were described, I was so very invested in this story. The secrets hidden in the middle of the book, keeping me reading not being able to put the book down. The perfect summer read for me and I think with all the twists and turns of the book, it'll be amazing for you as well.
February 17, 2020
I liked this book. I didn't realize it was a Young Adult until I got into it but I enjoyed it. The biggest problem I had with it was the amount of errors in the writing. I don't know if it was just the Kindle version or the actual book but I came across MANY spelling and grammatical errors. I just don't believe in this day and age of technology that those should happen!
January 24, 2021
If you want a clean quick romance I recommend these books. I love all the books in this series. This one did not let me down. I loved it. I liked how we got to see Oakley and Carson in it. Jake was soo sweet, he treated Lucy so well.
March 20, 2021
This book had a great plot line, but I wasn’t totally sold on the writing style.
July 26, 2022
Summer and cowboys and family secrets and horses?? Yes please!! My new favorite book!!
July 21, 2023
Loved the ending- how it’s tied from the first three books!
February 4, 2024
I read this before realizing it was a part of a series! It was a very cute read, pulling on some emotional strings. Made me want summer!!
March 2, 2022
What a beautiful ending to a beautiful series.
This may have been my favorite one.
Every book in this series was adorable, so well written and contained so many emotions. The themes of healing after loss, suicide, addiction, and more are so strong and so beautiful throughout this book. I felt for Lucy even though we were very different in some ways. These characters were written very relatable and lovable.
I would highly, highly recommend.
Read the full Review: https://www.musicalmartins.com/2022/0...
This may have been my favorite one.
Every book in this series was adorable, so well written and contained so many emotions. The themes of healing after loss, suicide, addiction, and more are so strong and so beautiful throughout this book. I felt for Lucy even though we were very different in some ways. These characters were written very relatable and lovable.
I would highly, highly recommend.
Read the full Review: https://www.musicalmartins.com/2022/0...
September 30, 2024
2.5 ⭐️
pleasant and nostalgic, but something about it rubbed me the wrong way. maybe it was that lucy was written younger than she was. maybe it was the underdeveloped side plots or the not-so-subtle romance hints.
pleasant and nostalgic, but something about it rubbed me the wrong way. maybe it was that lucy was written younger than she was. maybe it was the underdeveloped side plots or the not-so-subtle romance hints.
February 10, 2021
This book was so good. I learned many great lessons that will help me in life. Everyone has something going on even when we don’t know it. That is the main thing that the main character, Lucy learns. She thinks like she has the worst life ever when in fact those around her are struggling as well. I have never gone through something like this, but it really gives me a great outlook on life. No matter how hard life seems, I am not alone. This book is inspiring and I will take these lessons with me. I also like how Jack always has a positive outlook because that is the best way to see the world. I can become a better person by starting to do this in my own life. I would definitely recommend this book.
January 29, 2025
love the ending but don’t love the overall book as much as the others
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews