Beyond Summer Book Review

I had this book on my shelf for me to read so I was excited to start it. Beyond Summer (Blue Sky Hill Series) by Lisa Wingate was the next book in my pile to read after I read all the books that I had from the library.  I hadn't read anything by this author but I thought that it sounded like something that I would be interested in based on the summary.

When eighteen-year-old Tam Lambert learns that her family’s upscale home is in foreclosure, the life she's known is forever changed. Tam and her family must move into a tiny house in a changing Dallas neighborhood called Blue Sky Hill...

New resident Shasta Reid-Williams knows nothing of real estate schemes when she and her husband purchase a home in Blue Sky Hill. To her it’s the perfect place to raise her children. Better yet is getting to know Tam, who lives right across the street. When neighbors realize that a corrupt deal could force them from their homes, friendships and loyalties are tested.

Over the span of one summer, two young women discover the strength and maturity to do the impossible. They find that even in Blue Sky Hill, life-altering relationships and amazing possibilities can begin to blossom...

I read this book a long time ago and didn't write a review because it didn't have to go back to the library so it sat on my side table until I took the time to get it done.  It was a little bit of a review because I wasn't even sure what the description summary of the book was about because there was so much more happening in the book.  Shasta and her husband buy a house in the neighborhood as their starter home when they should be living in an apartment because the real estate people make it seem like such a good deal.  She finds out after getting into the house that they are involved in a big scheme where the prices are quickly inflated and many people have been thrown out of their houses and lost everything because they can't afford the increase in the cost of the house.  The house ends up back with the developer so that they can do it again to another family.  Shasta becomes friends with her neighbor across the street, Tam.  Tam moves into the house because her father is part of the real estate scheme and other companies that are being raided and investigated by the FBI so they have all their assets frozen and have nothing left.  A friend of the family moves her into the house and leave them there to figure it out for themselves.  Tam's step mother can't deal with things and shuts down so Tam is left to raise and watch her half brothers and sisters.  The two grow closer and work with the local church to help teach English and feed the more poor people in the area.  It is interesting to see how the very different lives have ended up in the same place and how it makes them stronger.  I think that this was a great book and I am going to look into more by this author and in this series to see what it is all about.