I’ve only read a few books by Carla Neggers, but I’ve always enjoyed her work. In Secrets of the Lost Summer, she returns to her roots of contemporary romance (as opposed to romantic suspense), but, unfortunately, an otherwise enjoyable book is marred by a poorly executed mystery subplot, which is surprising given her experience with writing well-crafted stories.

Olivia Frost is a graphic designer in Boston whose career has plateaued. After a friend backstabs her and steals an important client, she decides to retreat to her hometown of Knights Bridge, Massachusetts, and finally start the project about which she has long dreamed, to create a getaway in the countryside. She already has the property, an old farmhouse that she just needs to fix up and bring back to life. However, the house down the road is abandoned and in utter shambles, something that pains her both for practical reasons – it is an eyesore – but also for the sake of its former owner, an elderly woman named Grace who lived there for decades. Olivia does some research and contacts the owner, a man named Dylan McCaffery.

Dylan doesn’t even know that he owns the house until Olivia writes to him. His father died suddenly, and left the house to him without telling him. His father was a treasure hunter, and there has to be a reason that he bought the house and left it to Dylan, so he goes to Knights Bridge to figure it out. There he finds much more than he expected: A pretty neighbor, a decades-old jewelry robbery, and the secrets of an old woman’s past.

All of Grace’s secrets are in a book that she is writing, only to be read when she dies. As the reader, we are privy to her confessions, but Olivia and Dylan are not, and this is where the biggest flaw of the book lies. It is a great story, and for the most part drawn very well, but the present day characters come to conclusions they have no way of drawing with the limited information they have. There’s a disconnect between the events of the present and Grace’s narrative of the past. It’s a shame, because with a few more bread crumbs tossed their way, Olivia and Dylan’s sleuthing would have been much more believable.

Other than that, though, I really enjoyed the book. Olivia and Dylan’s relationship moves at a good pace, and they complement each other well. Olivia is very self-reliant and creative, and thinks the best of people; Dylan’s job is to protect his brilliant businessman friend from schemers and bullshitters. They learn from each other and learn about themselves through their conversations. Their chemistry is a quiet one, as is appropriate for a book with warm sensuality, but it is there – less like a sprint and more like a marathon.

If you can let go of the leaps of logic and massive assumptions made by Dylan and Olivia, you will probably really, really like this book. It’s a sweet romance, with a few side stories that are strong in their own right.