Very nice read about a woman dying of liver disease and an ex-military drifter whom she hires to help her around her farm. This was well written and moved right along. The heroine's diseased was obviously well researched. The hero had emotional issues and some interesting angsty stuff going on in his past.

( )

This may be my favorite of the Whiskey Creek series. I laughed. I cried. I cried hard, even though I had read other books in the series and I knew how it would end. I cried happy tears and I cried devastated tears. I appreciate all the work the author did in relation to Callie's illness.
This is an excellent book. I recommend it to everyone. ( )

"When Summer Comes" to the community of Whiskey Creek, hearts are touched and lives are forever changed. Author Brenda Novak takes readers back to her charming romance series set in the "Gold Country" of California with the story of a woman and man who are both in need of a last-minute miracle. Callie Vanetta is devastated to learn that she has a non-alcohol-related liver disease which will be fatal if she does not receive a liver transplant. Advised by her doctors that her chances of finding a suitable donor are not good, Callie retreats to the place where she had once known love and happiness--her late grandparents' farm. Leaving her photography studio in the hands of her assistant, Callie plans to live the last six months of her life where she wants and how she wants. Without telling her family that she is ill, she agrees to help get the farm in shape to be sold. Once she has been there for a while, she realizes that she may have taken on more than she can handle. Help arrives in a startling manner late one night when an injured stranger pounds on the door asking for assistance. Levi McCloud had been seriously attacked by dogs while pushing his broken-down motorcycle along the side of the road. He had fought the dogs off, but he had to leave his motorcycle behind. Afraid to open the door to him, Callie calls the police. When she tells him that the police are coming, he leaves the porch and limps off into the darkness. After the police have come and gone, and the stranger was nowhere to be found, Callie is shocked to find him in her own bathroom trying to clean his wounds. Levi is too weak and dizzy to get out of the bathtub where he had fallen, so Callie makes him comfortable and then calls her neighbor and good friend, Godfrey, who is a retired veterinarian. Stitching Levi up, and giving him a mild pain reliever is the best Godfrey can do, and Levi refuses to go to a hospital, so Callie allows him to stay the night. The next day, Kyle, a longtime friend, with whom Callie has an off-and-on involvement, makes it clear that he doesn't think Levi should stay at the farm. However, Callie decides she can use Levi's help, and she offers him room and board and money to cover the motorcycle repairs if he will make the necessary improvements around the farm. Callie has her secret, and Levi has many secrets of his own, and they form a tenuous friendship. The more time they spend together, though, the more the friendship deepens into an attraction, but will Fate be on their side? Callie's illness and the deep sadness Levi feels over losses from his past may keep them from finding a happy future, but if love has its way, can these two hearts truly become one? Brenda Novak has written a uniquely touching love story, enlivened by the recurring characters and the familiar setting of Whiskey Creek and its surroundings.

Book Copy Gratis Amazon Vine ( )

This one was annoying because the author gave the heroine a liver disease that Callie doesn't even try to fight, put's her in a coma, then miraculously - viola! - a liver transplant ( )

I actually started this book ages ago as my first look at Brenda Novak's writing. After reading over half the book and finding myself hating the heroine, confused by the large cast of secondary characters and their importance within the heroine's life and annoyed by the hero's undying love for a woman from his past I thought I'd give up on this book. A friend of mine suggested I go back and read the first books in the series because the cast of characters would make more sense. I did this and enjoyed them enough to give this book a second try.

What Worked: The beginning of the book was quite exciting with a late night visit from an injured stranger, getting the local veterinarian, who lived next door, to patch him up and the following incidents regarding some less then upstanding renters in the area. The initial chemistry between our hero and heroine had great potential also. Oh and I liked Callie's dog, Rifle too.

What didn't work: As Callie is dealing with her mortality and knowing that without a new liver her time is short she decides to not tell anyone so she can have one last summer without being coddled and surrounded by looks of pity. In addition she also justifies not telling as a way of saving her friends and family months of sadness. What could have been a story of a strong independent woman ended up being one about a martyr. It is evident during the course of the book she needs a support system in place for doctors visits and emergencies yet she chooses to leave 12 people in the dark to protect them.

In addition to the issues I had with Callie, Levi was not a whole lot better. His underlying 'fear' of the police and living under an assumed name felt a bit ridiculous as did his undying love for a dead girlfriend.

Now lets talk about diuretic spironolactone. There were a few medical jargon words thrown into the book to authenticate Callie's condition and her need for a lot of medications. If the book had been written in a way that coming across a phrase like diuretic spironolactone would have felt natural I wouldn't have been pulled out of the book long enough to say "What?" and highlight the phrase in my kindle. Yes I did highlight it, it's one of the things I love about my kindle. Anyway, "she could claim the diuretic spironolactone, or the lactulose, which she had to take four times a day to inhibit the buildup of ammonia in her blood, were for a harmless condition like premenstrual cramps." She not only decided not to tell anyone of her impending doom but she went out of her way to lie about it while telling everyone that nothing was wrong!!! She ended up hiding her box full of medicines under the porch. In the middle of summer. Outside. Just want to point out that storing medications in the summer heat outdoors is generally frowned upon. Oh and she gets her medications filled in another town much further away because "She couldn't use the one inside Nature's Way--a locally owned grocery store not far from Whiskey Creek--unless she wanted everyone to know about her condition...." Really? Even small town pharmacies have to comply with HIPAA laws and regulations.

Now lets talk about transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts. Just kidding. Since I really disliked Callie and didn't like Levi any better one could hope the secondary characters were worth reading about. Not so much. Once again I found her large close knit group of friends nothing more than busy body gossip whores who judge books by their covers. Their continual treatment of a woman in the group (yet not quite part of the group) is horrifying despite their constant justification of their rudeness being based on the woman's 'mean girl' attitude when they were in high school. Good Gravy people. It's been a decade. Grow the Hell up!

So where does that leave us? The ending. It was all wrapped up in a nice big unrealistic bow where the good guys or girls don't die (or go to jail) and the bad guys get run out of town by Deputy Dawg (aka Office Stacy). How lovely.

In a Nutshell: I still maintain that I like this series or rather, I like the idea of the series. I think fans of the series will find this an ok read and I'd never encourage anyone to not read this book. However, for new readers of Brenda Novak and/or this series I'd recommend you go back to the beginning and read the first book When Lightning Strikes first. Because there is such a large cast of secondary characters it is impossible to understand their impact on the Whiskey Creek storyline as a whole without their back stories and there isn't enough time or space to spell it all out as a recap. 2.5 stars ( )