Icewineanne's Reviews > One Night at the Lake

This book is about loss, deep friendships and love. While it does have a touch of mystery, that is not the main focus here. The plot: one night on Lake Seneca NY, Leah Tessaro dies by falling off a boat into the lake. Leah’s death shatters them all. Her boyfriend at the time Ollie, is now her best friend June Kang’s fiancé. June & Ollie are passionately in love but also haunted by guilt. June contantly wonders what would have happened if had Leah not fallen? Would Leah be married to Ollie now?
And she wonders how Leah actually fell off the boat......everyone knows but her......but no one talks about it.....

Enjoyed the characters + pace in this well-written novel (although I did think June’s treatment of her future MIL was rude at times). Oddly, my local library has this book filed under ‘mysteries’ ........for those looking for a mystery to read, this book is definitely not a traditional mystery/suspense.....and shouldn’t be filed as such......it’s a chicklit relationship drama.
I also picked it up thinking that it was a mystery, the storyline surprised me but I enjoy reading women’s fiction as well and I really enjoyed this book - even though it wasn’t what I initially expected. Haven’t read any books by Bethany Chase before, but now I’m going to seek out others by her.

And as a final note, I just loved the setting of this story, it really is another character in the story. I spent a week at Lake Seneca + Watkins Glen just recently (June of this year) & the author captures the region perfectly. Can’t wait to go back again next summer!
Cheers 🤗