Fifth in my vacation reads series is Wendy Wax’s new release, A Week at the Lake. A week at the beach was the perfect setting to read this women’s fiction piece, although I certainly didn’t need a whole week to read the book.

From the publisher’s summary:

Twenty years ago, Emma Michaels, Mackenzie Hayes, and Serena Stockton bonded over their New York City dreams. Then, each summer, they solidified their friendship by spending one week at the lake together, solving their problems over bottles of wine and gallons of ice cream. They kept the tradition for years, until jealousy, lies, and life’s disappointments made them drift apart.

It’s been five years since Emma has seen her friends, an absence designed to keep them from discovering a long-ago betrayal. Now she’s in desperate need of their support. The time has come to reveal her secrets—and hopefully rekindle their connection.

But when a terrible accident keeps Emma from saying her piece, Serena and Mackenzie begin to learn about the past on their own. Now, to heal their friendship and their broken lives, the three women will have to return to the lake that once united them, and discover which relationships are worth holding on to . . .

I reviewed Wax’s The Accidental Bestseller the year I started this blog, but I hadn’t taken the time to read another of her books until now.  And after reading A Week at the Lake, I bought another of Wax’s books on my recent trip to the bookstore, because I was reminded that I really like her writing style.

There are people you stop everything for- people you are just there for, no matter what else might be going on in your life. And that is what happens at the beginning of A Week at the Lake. Despite not being a part of each other’s lives for a while, Serena and Mackenzie step in to support Emma when she needs it most.  The old resentments  seem inconsequential at this point. And isn’t that often the case when tragedy strikes? We forget – or place on the back burner- the old hurts and focus instead on the things that are really important.

The issue here is that Emma’s betrayal is a big one. And while I saw it coming, that didn’t lessen the impact it had on the relationships between Serena, Mackenzie, and Emma. Each woman must do some deep soul searching to see if she can find forgiveness in her heart and rebuild a friendship.

There was one part of the book that I felt could have used some additional fleshing out regarding Emma, but I don’t want to say anything more about that now because I don’t want to spoil anything.  I can’t decide if I think it is really important that it doesn’t have a more prominent focus or if it truly should be secondary and really not matter to the rest of the story.

All in all, I really enjoyed reading this one, and was glad to be reminded of Wax’s storytelling ability.  It should be noted that I read an uncorrected proof of the book, in exchange for an honest review, and it is possible that there are changes to the published version.