Lily’s Secret Inheritance is the third book by Kristin Harper that I’ve read – the other two being, A Letter from Nana Rose and Aunty Ivy’s Cottage.
Book Description
Turning off the winding coastal road and seeing the old farmhouse surrounded by cranberry vines ahead, Lily’s breath catches in her throat. It’s just how she remembers it. But pushing open the wooden front door for the first time in decades, it’s clear everything has changed…
When her estranged aunt Dahlia dies, single mother Lily Lindgren is surprised to inherit the family home and cranberry farm. Returning to Dune Island for the first time since Dahlia admitted to a terrible betrayal that shattered Lily’s trust in her family, she’s ready to sell up and finally create a stable future for her little boy. But her high-school crush and farm manager Jake Benson is determined to stop Lily’s plan…
After helping Dahlia turn part of the house into a local produce store, Jake shared her dream of making the cranberry farm a community hub for the island. His stories about Dahlia, and how much she had missed Lily all these years, make Lily question if she was wrong to never forgive her aunt. And when Jake joins her long walks over the sand dunes, there’s an undeniable spark… could a move to Dune Island be the key to her and her son’s happiness?
But then, clearing out Dahlia’s bedroom, Lily finds an old picture of Dahlia that stops her in her tracks. Just when she was making peace with Dahlia’s memory and learning to trust again, Lily’s heart is shattered to find she was keeping another secret. Can Lily trust Jake to tell her the painful truth—or will she run from Dune Island again for good?
An utterly beautiful beach read about family secrets, finding yourself, and learning the true meaning of home. Perfect for fans of Carolyn Brown, Barbara O’Neal and Mary Alice Monroe.
Buy on Amazon: https://geni.us/B0B6XJHHQGsocial
My Review Of Lily’s Secret Inheritance
In an effort to deal with her grief and heartache, Lily has moved away from her family’s cranberry farm. Now, she returns, after decades, to sort out her inheritance, as she is the sole heir to the family estate. All her mixed emotions about coming back here come to the fore. The book moves back and forth between the present day and the past, when Lily was in high school.
Lily’s past a moving story of a young girl orphaned and living with her loving grandparents – Selma and Lars, and her unmarried uncle, Martin. When her grandmother, suffering from cancer, needs full time care, Dahlia is hired for the job. She bring with her troublesome son, Aiden.
Dahlia soon becomes a great support to the family, helping them deal with Selma’s passing and being a great encouragement to Lily in her pursuit of photography. When Martin and Dahlia marry, she becomes part of the family. Lily and she become quite close. It is a shock to Lily when she thinks that her aunt has betrayed her and the family. This causes her to leave Dune Island suddenly and for good.
Despite their estrangement, Dahlia and Lily, have kept in touch, but Lily does not realize the extent to which her aunt has made changes on the farm. When she returns, Dahlia’s assistant Jake, shows Lily the many changes made, to help her take a decision about the estate.
Given her history, and the kind of taunts and small town gossip that she has been subjected to in the past, Lily, now a widow, is very reluctant to return. She also does not want to expose her son to this place that she has never really told him about. Her financial situation makes it imperative for her to sell the estate.
Lily does not bargain for all the good memories that come flooding into her mind, along with the unpleasant ones. She also does not expect to feel such a draw towards Jake. As she sorts through her aunt’s belongings, she makes some surprising discoveries. Will they be enough to cause her to change her mind about selling the estate?
This is a heartfelt story about love, loss, family and community. It also shows how we can allow our sometimes wrong notions to guide our feelings and actions. But forgiveness and love always triumph. And we can change and grow and move forward with hope.
The Author
Ever since she was a young girl, there were few things Kristin liked more than creative writing and spending time on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with her family. Eventually (after a succession of jobs that bored her to tears), she found a way to combine those two passions by becoming a women’s fiction author whose stories occur in oceanside settings. While Kristin doesn’t live on the Cape year-round, she escapes to the beach whenever she can.
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