The Happy Camper

The Happy Camper by Melody Carlson

4 stars.  Thanks to Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, for sending me this book to review.

This book was a needed read this weekend.  With the heaviness in the world sometime you need to escape to another person's life.  When this book first arrived in the mail my daughter, a 6th grader, was interested in the cover and opened the book and started reading the first chapter.  She asked if she could read it and I said "of course".  She loved it.  Her comments were, " a Hallmark Movie plus more realistic".  We plan to have a little book club discussion soon.  

Dillon Michaels is in her early 30's lives in Colorado and is in a job she doesn't like (over worked and under appreciated) and in a relationship with a boyfriend who doesn't appreciate or respect her. She receives a call from her mom, Margot, telling Dillon that her grandfather is struggling.  Her grandfather had fallen into depression after losing his wife, her beloved grandma, within the last year.  Dillon had always been close with her grandparents, and so she never thought twice about leaving her job and breaking up with the boyfriend and moving home. Her hometown is in Oregon and along with her grandfather's welcoming her home her town does too.  

This move home is where the story really begins.  Dillon finds herself with the ability to start over, start afresh, and find herself.  She meets challenges with this new start- figuring out where she will stay in her grandfather's home as Margot (she calls her mom Margot throughout the book a hint to their relationship) has moved home also after leaving a relationship with her long term boyfriend Don.  Dillon also needs to figure out how to make some money being unemployed.  She through her becoming familiar with her hometown meets some old friends and new.  

The combination of realism and romance was really quite delightful and really made this book an easy quick read. My only complaint was that I felt the book ended a little abruptly- would have liked a little more buildup to the end or an epilogue telling us where Dillon was "a year" from now, etc.  Sometimes that is a sign to me that I didn't want the book to end.  I previously read "Christmas in Winter Hill" by Melody Carlson and highly enjoyed it too.  She will be an author I look forward to reading more of.