I thought I was going to give this one two stars until the last quarter or so of the book.

Why? The characters felt shallow. Little substance. Not much even happened. I have two kids, slightly younger than Grant and Maisie, and frankly I am shocked that a single man who never spent time around kids didn't lose his $••• a million times over the summer because, dang, kids are trying. That was thoroughly unrealistic that he could be so cool and chill and always know what to do and to say. And there was so little of the kids that wasn't a direct reflection on Patrick that it didn't really seem to even be about them. I didn't connect to Patrick. I didn't connect to the kids. I didn't connect to any of the characters, so I didn't really care about them.

Why did I change my mind and add a star? Once we find out more about Patrick's backstory, I appreciated what the author was trying to do. And while I don't think it was done as well as it could have been, I could see what the author was reaching for and could appreciate the loose ends he was bringing together, even if it wasn't that believable to me.

I received a galley of this book from the publisher. I found this book very enjoyable and the characters likeable. The characters are all on their own journeys of grief and work through that grief in many ways, sometimes humorous and sometimes heartbreaking. This was an enjoyable read.