My Kind of You
By Tracy Brogan
Publisher: Montlake
Release Date: April 18, 2017
Reviewed by Janga
Reviewed by Janga
Emily Chambers had enjoyed some success as a house flipper in San Antonio, Texas, but she and her business partner made one bad decision and ended up with a money pit that led to financial disaster. Divorced for eight years from her irresponsible ex who never makes his child support payments for their daughter, Chloe, Emily had few options when she ended up broke and in debt. Things were so bad that she was forced to borrow $10,000 from her grandmother, Gigi. To repay Gigi, Emily has committed herself to renovating one of her grandmother’s rental cottages. Said cottage is located in Trillium Bay, the tiny town on Wenniway Island in northern Michigan, the hometown Emily fled with Chloe’s father more than a dozen years earlier and to which she has rarely returned. Although Emily is close to her grandmother and her sisters, Brooke and Lilly, her relationship with her father is distant. That relationship is just one of the qualms Emily has about spending a summer in a place where everybody knows her as “Peach,” remembers her wild-child past, and has an incessant curiosity about her present. Chloe, in the throes of early adolescence, is not thrilled with the lengthy visit either.
Emily and Chloe are not the only reluctant
visitors to Wenniway Island. Ryan Taggert is not happy about leaving his
fast-paced life in California for the snail-pace of Trillium Bay, but he and
his brothers are concerned that their fifty-nine-year-old father is talking
about retiring as president and CEO of the family business, Taggert Property
Management, a big name in the hospitality industry. They are equally concerned
about the new woman in his life. The Taggert brothers are convinced the woman
is a money-hungry bimbo from whose clutches their father needs to be rescued
ASAP. The only good thing on the island in Ryan’s opinion is Emily Chambers,
but any relationship with her is complicated by the fact that his father’s
“bimbo” turns out to be Emily’s twenty-six-year-old sister, Lilly, and further
jeopardized by Ryan’s business dealings on the island.
This first novel in Brogan’s new Trillium Bay
series is filled with her trademark humor and engaging characters who prove
that comedy and complexity are not mutually exclusive. Emily, with a
middle-child’s need to assert herself, has made mistakes, but she cannot regret
the choice that led to her daughter. She hopes that the summer will give her a
chance to regroup and perhaps to heal some old wounds. Emily’s relationship
with her family and her hometown is as significant as the central romance. Ryan,
the youngest of three brothers, initially wonders how his father can tolerate
the narrowness of small-town life, but ironically discovers that his Trillium
Bay experience has enlarged his life.
Trillium Bay itself offers charm and a
presence so vivid that the smell of fudge and lilacs almost permeates the
pages. The secondary characters add color and interest to the story. Chloe is
fully dimensional in her mood swings and in her mix of sweetness and
self-absorption, and other family members, especially the much-married Gigi,
add to the wit and addictive appeal of the book. The quirky locals are also a
delight.
If you like small-town romances that make you
laugh, warm your heart, and satisfy your need for context, I suggest you add
this one to your TBR list. But be warned that My Kind of You is a most effective hook that will leave you eager
to sign on for the series.
Sounds good. Thanks for peek.
ReplyDeleteladbookfan
PJ loved this one too, ladbookfan, so it comes with a double recommendation.
DeleteSounds fun, Janga, and like a good beach read. I am craving small town series lately.
ReplyDeleteIrish, my fave small-town series are those in which the town comes across as real and distinctive enough to invite a visit. Trillium Bay qualifies.
DeleteAny book which makes me laugh and gives me romance is gonna be one of my favs.
ReplyDeleteThis one is a delight, Annette.
DeleteI love small town romances... I put this on on reserve but who knows when it will come to me...lol
ReplyDeletesounds like a wonderful book, and it's receiving a lot of accolades.
ReplyDeletedenise
Thanks for the introduction to a new to me author and what sounds like a good book. I enjoy small town stories. This will be a series I need to check out.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any of her books, so thanks for the recommendation.
ReplyDelete