Rebecca Harding can hardly wait to get away from her city nursing job in Portland, Maine, for a few restful days at her lakeside cottage. The only problem is, the cottage is half owned by her former fiancé, architect Rob Wallace, whom she hasn’t seen for three years. They alternate months for usage and payments. When Rebecca arrives in mid-May, the cottage is neat and tidy, but her feelings are anything but. When Rob’s sister, Debbie, arrives unannounced at the family’s home with a black eye, Rob and his parents try to help her come to terms with her feelings for her abusive boyfriend. Meanwhile, Rebecca is accused of perpetrating fraud at the hospital where she works. Things come to a head at the cottage, where he gets June and she gets July. This is a sweet, clean romance with a faith thread.
FROM AUTHOR'S WEBSITE: I'm a native of central Maine, and grew up on a small farm with a wonderful mom and dad, three sisters and a brother. Most of my books take place in small towns, many of them in Maine.
My husband, Jim, and I moved to his birth state, Oregon, for a while after we were married, but decided to move back to Maine and be near my family. It allowed our six children to grow up feeling close to their cousins and grandparents, and some of Jim's family have even moved to Maine!
Our children are all home-schooled. When Jim retired from his vocation as an editor at a daily newspaper, we moved from Maine to Kentucky.
I've always loved reading, history, and horses. These things come together in several of my historical books. Another longtime hobby of mine is genealogy, which has led me down many fascinating paths. I'm proud to be a DAR member! Some of Jim's and my quirkier ancestors have inspired fictional characters.
For many years I worked for the Central Maine Morning Sentinel as a freelancer. This experience was a great help in developing fictional characters and writing realistic scenes. I also published nonfiction articles in several magazines and had several short stories appear in Woman's World, Grit, and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.
I have been wanting to read this book for awhile and I enjoyed it. Rebecca and Rob share a Beach Cottage in Maine and they share the warmer months. Each has a month at a time. Early one we see why this is and the history of these two. We also see the secondary story of Debbie, Rob's sister who is dealing with an abusive boyfriend. I found this tread to be well done as it shows how abusers instill doubt and gaslight victims to believing it was their fault. Also this story doesn't gloss over how hard it is to leave and how abusers work. I won't go into detail but am happy with the out come. If you are worried this is the main thread of the story it isn't but if you are a survivor it may be triggering. The violence isn't on page but it is a very relevant storyline.
We have a few secondary characters who make the story better like Faye a co-worker of Rebecca's. Watching the story play out and not having a quick fix for issues was good to see. I would love to say a lot more but I don't want to give anything away. I found this a very easy read and will be reading book two in the series ASAP. So far I haven't found a Susan Page Davis book I haven't enjoyed.
She Gets July by Susan Page Davis is book 1 of Mainely Romance. Rebecca Harding is a nurse in the E.R. in Portland, Maine. It is hectic but she enjoys her job but some mystery billing issues keep arising. Her retreat is a lakeside cottage half owned by Rob Wallace, an architect. Although she loved him dearly and still does, she calls off the engagement. They alternate months at the cottage to avoid each other. Debbie, Rob's sister, has been physically abused and returns home to heal. Debbie needs the cottage to hide and recover from her abuser. Rob has the cottage in June and Rebecca gets it in July. This is good story and outcome of course. There is reliance on prayer as this is a Christian romance.
LOVE, absolutely love this book! The setting of a lakeside cottage in Maine is beautiful and peaceful! The story is unique and full of surprises! The characters are so genuine and relatable- like old friends. I'm definitely adding Susan Page Davis to my favorite authors list! This is a definite must read!!