Author Jennifer O’Brien presents her debut novel, “The Summer I Found You,” released on April 7 and set on the North Fork. O’Brien is an accomplished home design influencer and the founder of the popular design site City Farmhouse.
The book tells the story of a recently divorced single mom who returns to her family’s fixer-upper beach house and finds romance amidst the heartbreak — and truths buried under generations of lies — in this summertime romance.
When Dahlia Newberry escapes her terrible marriage and returns to Long Island’s North Fork to put her family’s beach house on the market, she discovers the property has fallen into disrepair, and she has no idea how she’ll get it from fixer to fabulous in a month’s time.
Things start to look up when she discovers her neighbor is Noah, a handsome reality TV star known for his Hamptons-set home renovation series. Noah turns out to be quite handy and pitches in to help Dahlia with the renovations and, as chemistry sparks between them, her self-discovery, too.
Meanwhile, Dahlia discovers a letter from her Aunt Lil, whose dying wish was for Dahlia to find a key that unlocks a mystery spanning three generations. Soon Dahlia is unearthing mysterious clues buried in the garden, which threaten to upend everything she believes about her world. The truth is supposed to set you free, but excavated secrets have a way of shattering an already fragile life — unless Dahlia can find a way to bloom into the woman she was always meant to be.
This debut novel is perfect for fans of HGTV shows and steamy summer romances. After the Author’s dream of buying a fixer-upper fell through, she wrote about one instead. She lives on Long Island with her husband, two boys, and fur baby.