Helpful Score: 3
First of all, I'm not quite sure why the cover shows a house on the beach, but that is basically irrelevent...
This is the story of 2 grown women, although more often than not, 36 year old Anna is acting like a petulant child, when she returns home to work in her aunt's restaurant (after finding her lover in bed with her best friend). Anna harbors some deep resentment of her Aunt Rose, somewhat founded due to some infidelities in the past. The reader is clued in to Rose's side of the story long before Anna finds out the truth.
A good deal of the book is about working in the family restaurant, and all the people who are considered "family" because of their employment there. The other, connected subplot is the romance of Anna and Mason, Rose and Theo. I actually felt these relationships should have been more fully developed. It seemed a little unrealistic to me that Mason would continue to desire Anna, seemingly without much in common, after she continuously pulls away from him.
The story, always in 3rd person, is told clearly from both Rose and Anna's viewpoints in alternating chapters, and I thought Patricia Gaffney did an excellent job of articulating both sides, without making either woman the more sympathetic character. However, for me, the greatest flaw of this book was that I really couldn't empathize with either of the women, until near the end.
This is the story of 2 grown women, although more often than not, 36 year old Anna is acting like a petulant child, when she returns home to work in her aunt's restaurant (after finding her lover in bed with her best friend). Anna harbors some deep resentment of her Aunt Rose, somewhat founded due to some infidelities in the past. The reader is clued in to Rose's side of the story long before Anna finds out the truth.
A good deal of the book is about working in the family restaurant, and all the people who are considered "family" because of their employment there. The other, connected subplot is the romance of Anna and Mason, Rose and Theo. I actually felt these relationships should have been more fully developed. It seemed a little unrealistic to me that Mason would continue to desire Anna, seemingly without much in common, after she continuously pulls away from him.
The story, always in 3rd person, is told clearly from both Rose and Anna's viewpoints in alternating chapters, and I thought Patricia Gaffney did an excellent job of articulating both sides, without making either woman the more sympathetic character. However, for me, the greatest flaw of this book was that I really couldn't empathize with either of the women, until near the end.
Helpful Score: 1
Excellent book about a woman's return, after nearly 20 years, to her hometown to help with the family business. A hurt has festered the entire time and has eroded her relationship with her closest relative. Multi-faceted healing takes place as they work together to save the business. And, love comes her way, as well.
