Melody Carlson is a master at crafting the deliciously sweet love story, and she does it again with “The Happy Camper.”
When Dillon Michaels’ life seems to fall apart — she breaks up with her non-committal boyfriend and loses her less-than-stellar job — she decides to pack up and move back home to her Grandpa’s farm in Oregon.
When she discovers her mom — a woman who can never quite finish a project — also also moved back to start a lavender farm, Dillon must learn patience and understanding while also trying to reset her own life.
But when her Grandpa gives Dillon an old vintage trailer and truck, she finds herself creating her own little dream home as she renovates and decorates it, inside and out.
Of course, while undergoing the project, Dillon meets the town’s eternal bachelor, Jordan Atwood, the owner of the local hardware store. As she gets to know him more and more, as well as his sister and her water-fearing twin girls, she hopes the signals she keeps picking up on aren’t just all in her head. But things get complicated when her clueless ex-boyfriend keeps popping up in town.
“The Happy Camper” is a sweet romance tale filled with humor and moments of clarity and revelation, as Dillon learns to trust God and His timing.
Carlson is incredible at creating delightful characters, like the relatable and not-so-perfect Dillon and Jordan; her mom, Margot, searching for life’s answers; Emma and Chloe, Jordan’s adorable nieces; the clueless ex-boyfriend Brandon; and her Grandpa, the grandpa everyone wants to have.
This book also includes a number of great themes, like asking God to direct one’s path; making an investment in happiness; taking one’s weaknesses and troubles to God; and giving one’s heartache to God.
Five stars out of five.
Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, provided this complimentary copy for my honest, unbiased review.