Welcome back to Hobby Island. Land where goodness flows, and the folk that visit are summoned by a golden ticket. This is the second of Lori Wildes series Hobby Island, so some may recognize the core group of inhabitants. It’s not really an island based on fantasy, but the feeling that there is some magic is inescapable.
OUR EXTRAORDINARY SUMMER focuses on two sisters who have been estranged for several years. Their bitter divorce broke up their family, and the overbearing father sealed the deal. He wound up with total custody of both daughters, much to the dismay of his wife. From the beginning, we face some really miserable conditions for this entire family. Both girls were being trained by their father. He was determined to hone the girls’ talents in golf.
OUR EXTRAORDINARY SUMMER is literary artwork at its best, thanks to the awesome creative mind of the author Lori Wilde.
Along with the immense pressure to succeed on two young girls they were actually pitted against one another, expected to perform to every whim of their father. In short, their father was an egotistical monster at best, a poor example of a parent at the least. The field was wide open once Benjamin got the final word – control over Athena and Calista. Their mother lost all custody and, in the ensuing years, went through a myriad of life-altering phases.
The daughters’ lives would never be their own. Until, at a crucial juncture, Calista makes a very unpopular decision and not only disrupted Benjamins goals but formed a seemingly unfixable fissure between the two young girls.
We now find ourselves in this magical place. As a hostess, no one can compare with Eloisa Hobby. Her island is filled with odd lives and dreams. And characters too rich to explain here. Suffice it to say, you are going to have quite an experience with the two sisters as they celebrate their mother’s life and get in touch with their own along the way.
Whimsy. That’s the complexion of Hobby Island, and it all starts with a golden ticket.
Calista and Athena Dempsey were once inseparable until their father’s ambition drove a wedge between them. When a very public betrayal shattered their bond, Calista walked away from her family, determined to rebuild her life on her own terms. Athena stayed behind, shouldering the weight of expectations and guilt in silence.
Now, with their mother gone, the sisters are summoned to Hobby Island, a secluded retreat where their mother spent her final days, with one final request: come together and make peace. But the past isn’t so easily buried.
Especially when Calista comes face-to-face with Reid Thornton, the man who once held her heart and then upended her life. He says he wants to make things right. But can she believe him? And can she forgive Athena when the scars between them still run deep?
As secrets surface and loyalties are tested, Calista and Athena must make a pivotal choice. Will they honor their mother’s last wish and find their way back to each other, or let their shared past destroy what little remains of their bond?
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