When Felicity Jeffries’ husband of twenty-eight years dies of a heart attack, she is finally released from a loveless marriage. But when her adult children begin to question their past, family secrets Felicity has kept for years come to light. Seeking time alone, Felicity seeks refuge at her family cottage on Ril Lake, hoping the tranquility will bring her peace of mind.
Ben Pierce is a man racked with guilt over spending a decade away from his daughter. For the past ten years, his work has taken him to war-torn communities and the sites of natural disasters where he and his company work to rebuild homes villages. Now he wants to rekindle the relationship with his daughter, but will she want to see the father she thinks abandoned her all those years ago?
When Felicity meets Ben, her new neighbour at the cottage on Ril Lake, the two form something more than friendship bound by their mutual need to come to terms with their pasts. Together they unpack the baggage of their lives, and as their friendship grows, so does their desire to be something more to one another. Soon, Felicity's conflicting emotions about how her children will react to her new relationship take a back seat to the old family secrets that refuse to be ignored. Can Felicity reveal just enough to answer her children’s questions without tarnishing their image of their father? What will they say when they learn the identity of the fourth beneficiary in his will? And can Felicity and Ben’s new relationship survive the last and most crucial of those secrets?

Set in the beautiful Muskoka region of Ontario, One Summer on Ril Lake, is the first in Margery Reynold’s “cottage reads” series. This series was inspired by years of visiting the same cottage on Ril Lake and her adventures and discoveries in the nearby towns and villages.