Ah, talk about a written version of a feel good chick flick.

Our main girl is Allie, a widow with a 5 yr old son, who has left the home she used to share with her husband to move to a remote cabin she visited as a teen. We all have this illusion that death is so final, in the physical sense most definitely, but emotionally death can take years for us to get over. And here we get a story of a woman who not only wanted to escape the haunting memories of what she had lost but of those well meaning friends who's cliched advise just starts to get irritating.

Walker Ford has moved up to Butternut Lake and stayed there to get away from everything. A failed marriage and a tragic loss only convince him he is better off alone. His brother wants him to stop hiding out and go back to Minneapolis where he is needed.

But when fate has other plans. We find ourselves drawn into the attraction between them, the building of a relationship that is more than a quick roll in the way. The bond of friendship forming between Walker and Wyatt, Allie's son. I like the fact that though our main characters had sex we didn't get an overly descriptive scene. It was loving, sweet and left things up to our imagination.

Also we meet some very wonderful people and get their lives involved in ours too. Jax, Allie's friend from that last long ago summer. Pregnant with daughter #4 and harboring a GREAT secret of her own. Can she stop it from coming to light and taking away all that she holds dear.

Caroline, owner of Pearl's cafe, she knows everyone and everyone knows her....but do they know just how alone and frightened she is now that her daughter, Daisy, has gone away to college. What does Daisy mean she needs to get a life and learn how to take care of herself the way she takes care of everyone around her, the nerve of that girl.

Frankie---I LOVE FRANKIE! He's the fry cook at the cafe. 6'6" and weighing 300 lbs. he's the gentle giant every girl should have in her life. He's shy, hard working and oh so grateful for getting a second chance. See, Frankie is an ex-con who was having a rough time until the folks of Butternut (Caroline first off) decided to take a chance on him. Now he feels it's his duty to protect his friends from anything unpleasant. And Wyatt is fascinated by the big man from the word go....and Frankie seems to have a knack for being good with kids. We find out he story, thinking I might like to see this nice guy find his own true love.

All in all a good book. A quick read seeing as once I started it I couldn't put it down. Looking forward to reading the remaining stories.
( )

Seems like the start of a relaxing series. Small town where 3 women with compassion and brains are brought together. Allie is an example of a good single Mom learning to deal with the issues of losing a husband and trying to move on. Jax was an amazing friend for her to reacquaint with, liked the delivery part, and her blackmail problems seem to get solved. Caroline as a coffee shop owner could have more of a story about her. Walker as the love interest seems like a truly nice person. ( )

Allie is a young widow who buys her family's cabin and moves to Butternut lake with her son.

She reconnects with her old friend Jax.
She soon meets her new neighbor Walker and starts to think about dating again despite being aghast at the idea before her move.

This tells the stories of Allie, Jax, Caroline and Walker.
Each has a past they have to recover from before they can move forward.
( )

An author's ability to construct experiences, emotions, and personalities in characters that aren't even real, but are made real by something as simple and complicated as their imagination, is the reason I fall desperately in love with books like this one. It's always characters in a story that make a book worth reading. With Up at Butternut Lake, the lives of four people are explored across one summer in the small town of Butternut. Surprisingly, although the summary suggests otherwise, I found myself reading through four POV's. There was something incredibly convincing about these particular lives that made me truly believe in them and their stories. There is so much hope and fear that I could see these characters being actual people in real life, and it might also be because I've been reading too much science fiction but, nevertheless I loved the characters portrayed in this book.

Allie lost her husband two years ago in Afghanistan. After countless pitying glances and encouraging words to move on she's had enough of her old town. She decides to move her and her 5 year old son, Wyatt, to an old family cabin at Butternut Lake where she spent her summers as a young girl. Allie felt very straight forward for me until the last parts of the book. She was clearly conflicted with her growing feelings for a man who was not her husband. And even after two years had passed since her husband died I felt I understood her motivation for everything she did. She didn't want to get hurt and at the same time she couldn't let go of someone she will always love who passed too soon. Her motivation was clear but towards the end to me she acted foolish. However, I realize that she was doing what she was always doing - putting herself and her son before anything else. It was nice when she opened up to Walker and started to finally let go. Letting go felt like the obstacle she needed to face the most while Walker's was facing the exact same thing.

Walker ends up being someone much more interesting than I could have hoped for. He's supposed to be this dangerously handsome man who keeps to himself. He has a business with his brother selling boats which in the book is much fancier than you would think. It sounds like he's going to be a cliché but in fact he's got his own demons he's been living with - guilt being the main one. It was fascinating figuring out who he really is and the way he thought about Allie. He saw Allie as beautiful right away even if she didn't even seem to notice him. Their relationship was at times smooth sailing while at others times there was some tension. Overall their romance was sweet and patient. There was some moments where sex played a factor but it's a book geared towards adults so it's expected. I liked how Walker genuinely cared about Allie and her son. Wyatt was always very quiet, independent, and uncomplaining like his mother which Walker saw in him right away. He was quick to care about him and Allie as a whole which is nice since Allie is a single mother and all. She clearly wants her son to be happy so to have Walker care too really bumped him up in my mind.

The two other story lines are Caroline, a coffee shop owner and Jax, Allie's best friend when they were teenagers. Caroline is like the wise old woman that gives great advice although she isn't that old. Her daughter is leaving to college soon and she can't help feeling overwhelmed by it all. I loved their obvious bond for each other. The next book centers on them which should be fun especially since compared to the other story lines she was in the background. Jax's story is the one I was so surprised I ended up loving. Maybe because Jax has secrets she's keeping from everyone and they are about to come out. Also, Jax, her husband Jeremy, and her three daughters are all great people. They are all very kind that I couldn't help feel for her situation. And boy is she in trouble...

I really got invested in these characters and their lives. These great characters followed by such interesting plots and an awesome small town setting made me really enjoy reading Up at Butternut Lake. I plan to read the rest of the trilogy to see where McNear takes Caroline and her daughter's relationship. ( )

Nice summer read. Liked the characters and back stories./Little Wyatt was more of an adult than his own mother.Loved him.This was a predictable story from Chapter 1. BUT it was enjoyable.Butternut would be a wonderful place to live. I just wish more authors,especially female authors could write a story abt a woman that has survived her life struggles,is strong and independent and can have a man in her life, a companion without his sweeping her off her feet and rescuing her! ( )