TBR Tarot Reads - That Summer

At the end of 2022 Wendy over at Literary Feline posted about these fantastic TBR Tarot Cards she had picked up on Etsy and that sounded too good to resist so I immediately ordered my own set.  So when I'm not feeling strongly about what to read next I pull out my cards and pick a book based on the prompt.  Here is a book the fates chose for me recently.

Prompt:  Choose a book which has a season in the title

Goodreads:  That Summer by Lauren Willig

Blurb:  2009: When Julia Conley hears that she has inherited a house outside London from an unknown great-aunt, she assumes it's a joke. She hasn't been back to England since the car crash that killed her mother when she was six, an event she remembers only in her nightmares. But when she arrives at Herne Hill to sort through the house--with the help of her cousin Natasha and sexy antiques dealer Nicholas--bits of memory start coming back. And then she discovers a pre-Raphaelite painting, hidden behind the false back of an old wardrobe, and a window onto the house's shrouded history begins to open...1849: Imogen Grantham has spent nearly a decade trapped in a loveless marriage to a much older man, Arthur. The one bright spot in her life is her step-daughter, Evie, a high-spirited sixteen year old who is the closest thing to a child Imogen hopes to have. But everything changes when three young painters come to see Arthur's collection of medieval artifacts, including Gavin Thorne, a quiet man with the unsettling ability to read Imogen better than anyone ever has. When Arthur hires Gavin to paint her portrait, none of them can guess what the hands of fate have set in motion.
From modern-day England to the early days of the Preraphaelite movement, Lauren Willig's That Summer takes readers on an un-put-downable journey through a mysterious old house, a hidden love affair, and one woman's search for the truth about her past--and herself.

My Thoughts:  It's been awhile since I've read anything by this author but this book made we want to search out more of her books.  At the beginning Julia is reserved and closed off.  She has very little memory of her mother or her mother's family and a fairly distant relationship with her father and his family.  As she explores the house and reconnects with her childhood memories.  As well as exploring her childhood memories and Julia is also trying to explore and clear out the house and stumbles onto a mystery. In 1849 Imogen Grantham is living her life which is quickly turning out to not be what she expected.  I liked Imogen right from the beginning.  She's so young and idealistic at the beginning of the story and becomes not necessarily cynical but resigned and determined to be content.  The end of the book is a bit open ended for both timelines but in a way that still satisfied me.  I really enjoyed all the characters and was engaged with both timelines.  My Rating: Really Liked It (4 Stars)