“If you were a house, what house would you be? I’d be the Cranberry Inn, of course!” This was a game Laurel remembered playing with her mom and sisters as a child. Laurel’s mom and dad owned and operated the 12 room Cranberry Inn nestled in the Adirondack Mountains in scenic Lake Summers. Barbara Josselsohn takes readers on a soul-searching journey as Laurel, whose mom died ten years ago, gets a strange request from her dad to leave New York City and come home to run the Cranberry Inn for the month of December.
Barbara Josselsohn creates mystery and anticipation as she develops the relationships between Laurel and Joel, a former high school crush, and Laurel and Christopher, the outgoing, charismatic single, surprise guest at the Cranberry Inn. Emotions get as tangled as light strands as Christmas Eve and Laurel’s dad’s return fast approaches. Feelings of guilt, living up to expectations, handling confrontation, and complicated family misunderstandings are all explored through Laurel’s memories of the relationship with her dad, high school days with Joel, and Christopher’s feelings of inadequacies through interactions with Lake Summers’ beloved residents that readers have come to cherish. Read The Cranberry Inn as a mirror to reflect on family relationships and belonging through “fresh eyes.” Follow your heart. Check in at The Cranberry Inn, for a view of the sunset and snow on the evergreens and discover the perfect Christmas romance.
Grateful Reader’s vision of the views from The Cranberry Inn
Books by Barbara Josselsohn -The Lily Garden, Publishing July 2, 2021
Barbara Josselsohn grew up on Long Island and lived for several years in her beloved New York City before moving to the northern suburbs. She began her career as a business journalist and then turned her attention to her first love, fiction. Her novels include THE LILAC HOUSE, THE LAST DREAMER, and THE BLUEBELL GIRLS, and has two more novels slated for release in 2021.
The Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab
“Cross that bridge when you get to it.” Seems like good advice, but not in the case of Caroline. She’s waited thirty years to return to her hometown of Lake Summers and she might be too late to save the Lily Garden. Caroline, a Chicago businesswoman and her college bound daughter, Lee, had scheduled a college tour when Caroline got word that due to a library expansion the garden her mother had created behind the library was to be razed. Caroline’s parents had met, fallen in love, and lived in Lake Summers. The beautiful, wildflower garden behind the library was where Caroline spent many idyllic hours watching and helping her mom.
In The Lily Garden, Barbara Josselsohn weaves Caroline’s fondest and most fearful memories with her present-day turmoil. Caroline has lived with her Aunt Risa since she was twelve and has never really felt a part of the family or the business. Now Caroline is facing feelings of resentment and anger towards her aunt and herself for not returning to Lake Summers sooner. The detailed descriptions of the Lily Garden, the trails, the sunsets and twinkling star studded evenings in Lake Summers along with nostalgic Main Street and the local business readers know from The Lilac House and The Bluebell Girls are calming and reassuring. Aaron, a new resident and history professor at the nearby college, is escaping from his own heartache and searching for solace when he winds up in Lake Summers. He falls in love with the ‘rolling sheep meadows and lush green dairy farms,” on the western edge of the Adirondack Mountains. Aaron’s attempt to connect romance and water for his thesis adds the perfect link to the past that Caroline needs as she revisits the crumbling footbridge and the overgrown lily garden.
Barbara Josselsohn brings readers feelings from the depths of despair back to high hope as her foreshadowing of new opportunities and possibilities unfolds. Will Caroline uncover her true feelings and find her voice in time to save the lily garden and her relationships? Join Caroline and Lee as they cross the drawbridge into Lake Summers for that warm, fuzzy hometown feeling, and remember, “The garden is about history and tradition and family.”
Now head to your local “Smoothie Dudes” for your favorite drink and settle in for a “heartwarming, summer romance.”
Barbara Solomon Josselsohn is the author of The Lilac House and The Last Dreamer. She is also a journalist and magazine writer, whose work appears in the New York Times, Consumers Digest, Parents, American Baby, and Westchester Magazine, and on numerous websites. She lives in Westchester County, New York, and teaches writing at Sarah Lawrence College and privately. She is currently at work on her third novel.
Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab
“For her, coming back was all about comfort. And family. For him, coming back was about emptiness. And loss.”
Jenna is moving to Lake Summers, nestled in the Adirondack Mountains; back into the house where she’d spent her summer months when she was growing up, and where her mother now lives year-round. She’s moving forward after being in “freefall” from her divorce and ex-husband’s pending engagement, mounting expenses, and the impact of all this on Sophie, her eleven-year-old daughter. Jenna’s return to Lake Summers is filled with memories of adventures spent exploring the trails with friends and grilling and eating on the deck under the trees with her family. But teenage romance is always part of summer at the lake, right? That was certainly true for Jenna. Enter, Troy-Jenna’s first love and first kiss. Mostly sweet memories, except for that Fourth of July, that changed everything. Troy, now returned to take over the Vet Clinic in Lake Summers, is operating mostly out of guilt. Readers will tangle with mixed emotions regarding Troy as he attempts to “untangle” his past.
Jenna’s older sister, Chloe, is loud, assertive, and always sports her “bossy pants!” Chloe is angry at having so little control over Jenna and fearful of what may be happening to “Sweet,” Jenna & Chloe’s mom. Operating out of fear rarely leads to good relationships or decisions. Will Jenna’s decision to move back to Lake Summers destroy or improve the sisterly bond?
Sophie has arrived in Lake Summers ahead of her mom to spend some “quality time” with Sweet, and is completely enthralled with a fascinating, never before told story of her grandmother’s first love. Sophie’s questions and excitement lead Sweet to begin examining her own long, lost memories. The memory that emerges involves a “chip” -which leads Sweet down to the basement and a tumble that lands her in the hospital. Sweet is frustrated with the gaps in her memory and is struggling to recall two very important words to share with Sophie. Readers will appreciate and learn from these two words.
The ups and downs of family dynamics are familiar to readers. In Barbara Josselsohn’s TheBluebell Girls connections are easily made with Sweet, Jenna and Sophie as they each attempt to move their lives forward while in Lake Summers; each “writing a story.” The emotions and attachments to the residents of Lake Summers become a part of the reader’s daily thoughts as the descriptions and dialogue ring heartfelt and so true. Whether it’s the juicy burgers at The Grill, new creations at the Smoothie Dude’s or fresh muffins at Pearl’s Cafe; readers will be welcomed with open arms to take a slow drive down Main Street, gaze at the Victorian-style homes, then settle back in wonder at the twinkling star filled sky over Lake Summers. Thank you, Barbara Josselsohn, for helping readers to understand family members sometimes operate out of fear, guilt, and lack of control; but in the end, love prevails.
Book #2 in The Lake Summers Series, The Bluebell Girls, is a reminder to always treasure memories and family.
The Bluebell Girls earns “Five Bluebell bouquets filled with twinkling stars and lots of love.” GR.
The Grateful Reader 