Review - - The Friendship Club

The Friendship Club: A Novel

by Robyn Carr

Publisher: MIRA

Release Date: January 23, 2024

Reviewed by PJ

Four women come together at a tumultuous time in their lives, forging an unbreakable bond that will leave them all forever changed.

Celebrity cooking show host Marni McGuire has seen it all. She’s been married—twice—and widowed and divorced. Now in her midfifties, she’s single. Happily so. She just needs to convince her pregnant daughter, Bella, of this fact. And maybe convince herself, too. Especially after Marni’s efforts to humor her determined daughter result in a series of disastrous dates that somehow prompt Marni to wonder if maybe the right man for her is still out there after all.   

Similarly single, Marni’s best friend and colleague is confident she’s content without a man, but both older women soon find themselves leading by example as the young intern on their show appears caught in a toxic relationship—and Bella reveals her own marriage maybe isn’t built to withstand the stresses of the baby on the way.

Suddenly, all four women find themselves at a crossroads, each navigating the challenges of dating, marriage, loneliness and love. Thankfully, they have each other to lean on. The realities of modern love are far from easy, but there’s no better group to have in your corner than friends who will lift you up, no matter what, and hold fast in the face of any storm.

PJ's Thoughts:

Robyn Carr explores the intersecting lives of four women of multiple generations in her newest women's fiction novel The Friendship Club. I enjoy reading about characters at different stages of life and Sophia, Bella, Ellen, and Marni provide plenty of food for thought as they each approach a crossroads with the possibility of taking them in new, and in some cases unexpected, directions. Carr does a good job of making all of these women - and their circumstances - relatable. While they range in age from twenty-two to sixty, they're developed in such a way that I was able to identify and empathize with all of them even if I had not shared their individual experiences.

The female bonding and support is strong in this book, something I enjoy in real life and on the page. I appreciated the banter among the women, the fun they have, the secrets they share, the way they challenge one another but also have each other's backs, the empowerment that results from that. I also like the fact that Ellen and Marni, at ages when many are contemplating retirement, step forward into new opportunities. Reinventing oneself never goes out of style. 

While the primary focus of this book is on the evolution of the women, there are also romantic elements. Some of the women find themselves entering into promising relationships as well as finding peace with past partners. A marriage faces emotional challenges during an IVF pregnancy, and, as in real life, one toxic relationship goes off the rails. There may be readers who are triggered by this. 

Finally, as one who uses baking to deal with stress, I love Marni's multi-tier cake. Okay, let's be honest, I love everything Marni cooks and bakes in this book. It had me drooling and ready to hit the kitchen myself. Also, as someone who was primary caregiver to my late husband for many years, I closely identify with Ellen and the emotional challenges she needs to overcome in order to move forward into a new relationship. I felt like I was right there with her, facing those emotional hurdles, and feeling an immense sense of relief when she conquered them.

If you enjoy women's fiction, strong female friendships, overcoming adversity, and starting over wiser and stronger, give Robyn Carr's The Friendship Club a try. 

Content Warnings: stalking, abusive relationship, cheating

Tour Review & Giveaway - - A Family Affair

A Family Affair

by Robyn Carr

Publisher: MIRA

Release Date: April 5, 2022

Reviewed by PJ

Life’s biggest dilemmas can provide its sweetest rewards

Anna McNichol knows how to take charge. Raised by a single mother, she’s worked to ensure her three children have every advantage she didn’t. And while her marriage has its problems, she values commitment and believes in "till death do us part." Now an empty nester, she’s at the peak of her career and ready to seize the opportunity to focus on her future.

But life can change in an instant, and when her husband dies suddenly, Anna’s carefully constructed world falls apart. The mysterious young woman at the memorial service confirms her husband had been keeping secrets, and Anna is determined to get to the truth.

For once, she doesn’t have the answers. Her kids are struggling with their grief, her mother’s health is in decline and Anna needs closure. Faced with one challenge after another, she finds support from an unexpected source. And as she puts her life back together, Anna realizes the McNichols may not be perfect but they’ll always be family, and family is forever.

PJ's Thoughts:

Robyn Carr has a way of drawing me into her stories, immersing me into her characters' lives and developing connections between them and me, the reader, that convinces me I have an actual stake in what happens to them. I share their emotions, empathize with them when they find themselves in difficult situations, celebrate their progress, and root for them to find a better way, even when they're at their worst. I was surprised that the character who is definitely at her worst in the first half of the book turned out to be one of my favorites by the end. That's another of Carr's skills. She's skilled at peeling away layers, facing a character's flaws and fears head on, then working through those flaws to find that better path. 

In A Family Affair, Carr explores the impact an unexpected death can have on multiple people. It's a fascinating study of a close family who each feels the loss in a different way. And when details of the secrets held by the deceased come to light, how they handle that as well. The characters are beautifully developed, with all the strengths, weaknesses, and flaws we humans hold. That's one of the things I most enjoy about Robyn Carr's characters. They are so real. I always feel as if they could be someone I meet in the course of a regular day in my life. I enjoy how each member of the family is explored in depth, both as an individual as well as a critical spoke in the family wheel. 

While this book deals with some heavy topics, the story itself never felt heavy or burdensome to me. There's a strong thread of hope that prevails throughout. Anna, in particular, knows the freedom to be found in uncovering the truth, the healing power of forgiveness, and the joy of opening one's heart to the possibilities of new, and unexpected, love. The admiration and respect I feel for her are tremendous, especially in light of how she handles the life-altering challenges encountered during her journey. Those of you who enjoy mature characters (she's 57) with the perspective of a full life lived but also the courage to embrace a new chapter are likely to appreciate her character as much as I did. 

This book is women's fiction, with the primary emphasis on the journeys of the four members of Anna's family, all different, all important. Romance is not at the forefront. However, Anna and her three children all have romantic threads that affect their lives to different degrees and the book ends with happy, hopeful prospects for each. 

Do you read women's fiction novels? What do you like about them? 

Have you read Robyn Carr?

Do you respond differently to mature characters in romance than younger ones?

One randomly chosen person who posts a comment before 11:00 PM, April 7 will receive print copies of Virgin River, Shelter Mountain, and Whispering Rock. (all signed by the author or with signed nameplates included). 

*U.S. only

*Must be 18

*Void where prohibited

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Tour Review - - Sunrise on Half Moon Bay

Sunrise on Half Moon Bay
by Robyn Carr
Publisher: MIRA
Release Date: April 14, 2020
Reviewed by PJ
 

Adele and Justine have never been close. Born twenty years apart, Justine was already an adult when Addie was born. The sisters love each other but they don’t really know each other.

When Addie dropped out of university to care for their ailing parents, Justine, a successful lawyer, covered the expenses. It was the best arrangement at the time but now that their parents are gone, the future has changed dramatically for both women.

Addie had great plans for her life but has been worn down by the pressures of being a caregiver and doesn’t know how to live for herself. And Justine’s success has come at a price. Her marriage is falling apart despite her best efforts.

Neither woman knows how to start life over but both realize they can and must support each other the way only sisters can. Together they find the strength to accept their failures and overcome their challenges. Happiness is within reach, if only they have the courage to fight for it.

PJ's Thoughts:

Once again, Robyn Carr has brought a story to life that engaged my interest, and my emotions, from start to finish. Using flawed characters, and realistic situations, she takes readers on one family's journey of heartbreak, self-discovery, reconciliation, unexpected change, and new beginnings. I couldn't put it down.

Of the two sisters, I had a greater affinity for Justine, the older sister whose marriage is falling apart. That may be due to my age, or the fact that I'm the (take-charge) oldest in my family and have a sibling twenty years younger. But in Addie, Carr has also created a younger character who put her life on hold to spend the past eight years as a caregiver. I'm sure many readers, myself included, who have walked that path will also be able to relate to the difficulties Addie has moving forward once those duties come to an end. (I'm glad Carr shows the importance of therapy in dealing with Addie's issues as well as for Justine's daughters). I suspect most readers will identify with one sister or the other, while still more will feel a greater empathy for Justine's teenage daughters as they navigate the changes brought about by the divorce of their parents and the fall-out from their father's ongoing actions. That's part of Carr's skill as a writer: creating a community of unique characters who appeal to a broad range of readers and then bringing them together to create a heart-tugging whole that can be appreciated by all. In this book, she utilizes those skills to allow readers into the thoughts and emotions of each of the women, allowing us to experience their strengths, weaknesses, joys, and fears as they work to overcome the challenges life - and a self-absorbed louse of a husband - have put in their way, strengthen their familial bonds, and redefine what they want their futures to be. I spent a lot of time cheering them on.

In addition to the primary characters, Carr has also assembled a cast of secondary characters who add depth, conflict, and hope to the story. I especially enjoyed the social workers at the workplace reentry center where Addie works. There are also love interests for both Justine and Addie (great guys I was pulling for all the way) who play significant roles in their lives and their personal evolution, though this is not a book that I would classify as romance. It's more women's fiction with romantic elements. The most important journey here is that of the women. Sunrise on Half Moon Bay is an emotion-packed, empowering story that I enthusiastically recommend. 


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Robyn Carr is an award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than sixty novels, including highly praised women's fiction such as Four Friends and The View From Alameda Island and the critically acclaimed Virgin River, Thunder Point and Sullivan's Crossing series. Virgin River is now a Netflix Original series. Robyn lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. Visit her website at www.RobynCarr.com

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Review - - The Family Gathering

The Family Gathering

By Robyn Carr

Publisher: Harlequin Mira

Release Date: April 17, 2018
Reviewed by Janga

Dakota Jones parted ways with the United States Army three years before he was due to retire and spent some time with a Ranger buddy in Australia, but now he is ready for an overdue visit with two of his siblings who have settled near Timberlake, Colorado, his older brother Cal (What We Find) and sister Sierra, the youngest of the four Jones siblings (Any Day Now). All of the siblings reacted differently to their schizophrenic father and their unusual upbringing. Dakota’s response was to escape as soon as possible. He left home as soon as he graduated from high school, enlisted in the Army, and has visited his parents only four times in the years since. Although he has remained independent of his brother and sisters, the bond they share has endured long separations and distance, physical and emotional. He is ready to spend some time with them, although he expects his stay to be relatively brief.

But a few days turns into a few weeks. Dakota likes the place and its people, and his time with family is unexpectedly satisfying. Soon he has a job, a rented cabin, and no departure date. There’s no shortage of women interested in Dakota, but bartender Sidney is the only woman in whom he is interested. The more he knows about her, the more interested he becomes. But Sid is hardly the simple bartender that she seems to be, and the baggage she carries makes her wary of men and distrustful of her own judgment. The chemistry between her and Dakota is undeniable, but neither is sure they have a future together.

This third novel in Carr’s Sullivan’s Crossing series may focus on the third of the four Jones siblings, but Dakota’s story is only part of the book. Cal and Maggie with baby Elizabeth and Maggie’s father, Sully, are much in evidence. The whole family gathers for Sierra and Connie’s wedding, and the couple’s life provides a plot thread, as does that of the number two sibling, Sedona. Fans of the series will also be pleased to see further development in the romance of handyman Tom Canaday and Lola Anderson.

In addition to the theme of family indicated by the title and exemplified not only through the Jones family but also through Sid’s relationship with her brother and nephews and through Tom and Lola’s blended family, mental illness is a recurring issue. It is only as Dakota reaches thirty-five that he believes he has escaped inheriting his father’s illness, Sierra fears passing the illness on to children, and Sedona’s struggle is the most painful of all. Sid’s history includes a breakdown, and a minor character who is a sociopath. These multiple threads keep the reader invested in the story.

Nobody mixes family and community dynamics with romance better than Robyn Carr. She gives her readers layered characters whose voices ring true and places them in rich contexts with stories that are engaging and authentic.  There is so much going on in The Family Gathering that some readers may feel overwhelmed at times, but Carr’s devoted fans will feel at home with the family in Colorado and look forward to the next visit.

Review - - The Summer That Made Us

The Summer That Made Us

By Robyn Carr

Publisher: Harlequin / Mira
Release Date: September 5, 2017
Reviewed by Janga

 

Charley Berkey’s forty-fourth year is proving to be a tough one. After twelve years as the host of a successful talk show, her show is canceled, and her sense of identity takes a blow. Her partner of twenty-two years and the father of her eighteen-year-old son is pushing for them to marry, and Charley is reluctant. Her younger sister, Megan Crane, has Stage 4 breast cancer, and even with a bone marrow transplant, has only a fifty percent chance of survival. When Meg asks to return to the family lake house where they spent the golden summers of their childhood, Charley has reservations, but she cannot refuse her sister’s request.

The lake house in Lake Waseka, Minnesota, belonged to Charley and Meg’s maternal grandparents, Judge and Mrs. Berkey. The Berkey’s daughters, Lou and Jo, spent their summers there, and when the Berkey sisters married Chet and Ray, the Hempstead brothers, and began their own families, they in turn brought their children to the lake house. The sisters each had three daughters. With only a six-year-span separating the youngest from the oldest, Louise’s daughters—Charley, Meg, and Bunny—and Jo’s daughters—Hope, Krista, and Beverly—grew up loving the idyllic summers they shared with one another and with their mothers, who also delighted in their annual period of close sisterhood, with periodic visits from their spouses. Those golden summers ended twenty-seven years ago when twelve-year-old Bunny drowned in the lake. The years since then have been marred with estrangement between sisters and between mothers and daughters. Charley and Meg have remained close, but silence and distance characterize other family relationships.

By returning, Meg hopes to recapture the peace and joy of past summers and to heal their family. With the latter goal in mind, she sends invitations to her cousins, to her aunt, to her grandmother, and, somewhat reluctantly, to her mother. The summer will see them all return with their various brokenness and secrets to remember and to reconnect, to deal with regrets and guilt, to help one another in myriad ways, to say hello and to say goodbye.

Robyn Carr’s latest women’s fiction novel is an emotional story of a family whose dysfunction encompasses four generations. “Women’s fiction” may be generally a somewhat amorphous term, but in this case, it is literal. The Summer That Made Us is a story of women and their relationships to one another and how these relationships define, balance, support, wound, and heal these women. It is the story of how the events of one summer can change an extended family. There are men in this novel—some reprehensible and some admirable—but while their roles are not insignificant, they are clearly secondary. Be warned that reading this book requires a generous supply of hankies. There is irony in the fact that Meg, the cancer patient, is the means of restoring healthy relationships to the wounded.

Romance readers should be aware that the romance in this one is minimal, and some may find the unraveling of so many threads and the optimistic ending unrealistic. I found these concerns negligible. Robyn Carr does in this book what she does best: she gives her readers characters who touch the heart and illumine the human spirit. I give The Summer That Made Us my highest recommendation.

Review - - Any Day Now

Any Day Now

By Robyn Carr

Publisher: Harlequin Mira

Release Date: April 18, 2017

Reviewed by Janga

  

Sierra Jones (sister of Cal Jones hero of What We Find) grew up with a schizophrenic father and an inattentive mother and with little sense of security and stability. As the youngest of the Jones siblings and the last to leave home, she felt abandoned and alone from the time her older siblings left, particularly her protector, Cal. With this background, it is perhaps not surprising that she turned to alcohol and drugs as an adult, although she told herself that she was never addicted to these substances and that she remained in control of her own life. But one night an abusive boyfriend behaved in a manner that literally frightened her into rehab as a safe zone. After completing a rehabilitation program, she spent time in a group home. Sierra wants a different life from what she has known for the first three decades of her life, and the invitation from her brother Cal to visit him in Sullivan’s Crossing, Colorado, to meet her new sister-in-law Maggie seems like the perfect opportunity for a fresh start. Nine months sober and counting, Sierra may be searching for a lot of things, but love, at least in the romantic sense, is emphatically not on her list.

Conrad Boyle, who grew up in Timberlake, the town nearest Sullivan’s Crossing, has less baggage than Sierra, but his upbringing was not idyllic. Undersized as a child and saddled with a name that was inevitably shortened to “Connie,” he was the target for bullies at school and at home he had to cope with an angry, verbally abusive man, first his father and then his step-father. He was seventeen before he discovered the joy of being part of a loving family. When his mother divorced his step-father and moved to Denver, Conrad moved in with the family of his best friend, Rafe Vadas. Rafe’s parents treated him like one of their own, and Conrad’s dream of having his own happy, healthy family was born. He thought he had found his dream once, but that dream ended in betrayal and infidelity. Since then, Connie has dated a great many women, but he has no plans for a committed relationship. As a firefighter, a volunteer with a rescue squad, and a well-liked guy in his community, his life is full. Even the nickname “Connie” is a non-issue for a confident, brawny, good-looking guy.

Sierra and Connie are attracted to one another from their first meeting, but as soon as Connie realizes that Sierra is Cal’s sister, he knows she will not be one of his short-term flings. As for Sierra, she has no confidence in her judgment of men, and she is intent on directing her energies toward creating her new life. But as they spend more time together, Sierra and Connie find that they genuinely like each other, they have common interests, and that spark of attraction is igniting. But Connie knows Sierra has secrets she has yet to share. Just when it seems they have moved past all obstacles, Sierra’s past shows up in Colorado, and he is more dangerous than ever.

Any Day Now, the second book in the Sullivan’s Crossing series, is more proof that nobody creates community-centered romance better than Robyn Carr. Sierra and Conrad are interesting, likable characters who have overcome real difficulties. Readers will find it easy to be pulled into their story and to root for their HEA. Their story gains depth because it is told within the context of Sullivan’s Crossing and a full cast of dimensional characters who have their own stories. Fans of the first book in the series will especially enjoy seeing more of Cal and Maggie and Maggie’s dad, Sully, an irresistible and unique father figure. There is also a sweet secondary romance for builder Tom Canaday and an intriguing appearance by another Jones sibling, brother Dakota.

The down side to Carr’s gift for creating series that engage the readers fully with the community is that readers are reluctant to leave. For readers who responded to What We Find with complaints that Sullivan’s Crossing was not Thunder Point or Virgin River, this second book promises that Sullivan’s Crossing will earn its place alongside Carr’s other communities in your affections. I found the second book even better than the first. If you like Robyn Carr or small-town romance generally, I think you will like this book. I give it an enthusiastic thumbs-up. 

Review - - What We Find

What We Find

By Robyn Carr

Publisher: Harlequin Mira
Release Date: April 5, 2016

Dr. Maggie Sullivan is a heartbeat away from a breakdown. As a successful neurosurgeon, she is accustomed to high pressure situations. Within a twelve-month period, she has survived a practice-destroying scandal for which she bore no responsibility, a wrongful-death law suit, and a miscarriage that left her devastated. When the ER doctor with whom she has been in a relationship for two years dumps her because her emotional needs are more than he can handle, it is the proverbial last straw. Maggie desperately needs a break from all that her life in Denver has become. Sullivan’s Crossing was Maggie’s home for the first six years of her life and it is where her father, refusing to consider retirement, still runs the general store and campground that his father and his father’s father had run. It has been Maggie’s refuge in the past, and it is the place she instinctively heads for in her current crisis.

However, she doesn’t find life at the Crossings as peaceful as she expects. The day after her arrival, her father has a heart attack, and she spends the next weeks back in Denver, first in the hospital where Sully has heart surgery and then in her home where she cares for him during the rehabilitative stage. Both Maggie and Sully are relieved when they can return to Sullivan’s Crossing. Maggie shares her father’s gratitude for the friends who have filled in at the store and campgrounds during Sully’s absence, but her gratitude to the mysterious Cal Jones is mixed with suspicion. He may not be a serial killer, but he is not the typical hiker killing time until the weather clears for him to hit the Continental Divide Trail.

Cal insists on helping despite Maggie’s suspicions, and he soon wins her over. Friendship comes first, but it soon grows into a love that makes the feelings Maggie had for the man who was briefly her husband and the unlamented ER doctor anemic in comparison. But Cal is still haunted by his own tragedies, and not even his love for Maggie deters him from completing his soul-searching journey. Can Maggie trust him when he promises to return to her?

Robyn Carr does her usual superb job of creating a world that captures her reader’s interest and affection in this first book in the Sullivan’s Crossing series. Like Grace Valley, Virgin River, and Thunder Point, this new setting is warm and welcoming and peopled with engaging characters. Maggie and Caleb are complex characters, far enough past their youth to have fascinating layers, but the secondary characters are also deftly drawn. Sully is a wonderful character, but Frank and Enid, Tom Canady and his brood, even Andrew, the jerky ex, add to the story.

The location of Sullivan’s Crossing in the Rocky Mountains, at the convergence of the Colorado and Continental Divide Trails, is clearly symbolic as Maggie and Caleb are at a crossroads in their own lives. It will be interesting to see if the theme saturates this first book only or if it plays out through the series. The novel also felt as much women’s fiction as romance to me. Although the romantic element is strong—and I really liked Caleb--Maggie is the heart of the book.

Despite a diligent search, I have been unable to find what is next in this series. (I’m hoping for Tom’s story.) I am also unclear on whether the Thunder Point series is complete. I do know that the next books from Carr are Swept Away (July 26, 2016), a reissue of Runaway Mistress (2005), and The Life She Wants (September 27, 2016), a new novel which sounds like standalone women’s fiction. Sullivan’s Crossing is this author’s first hardcover release, and it is one fans of her Virgin River and Thunder Point books will not want to miss. Even if it didn’t give me that intuitive conviction that I had just read a career-defining book as my first reading of Virgin River did, it is a good read—an addictive one—and I definitely recommend it to readers who enjoy small-town romance or women’s fiction/romance hybrids. Hey, it’s a Robyn Carr! That speaks for itself.

~Janga

Review - - Wildest Dreams

Wildest Dreams
By Robyn Carr
Publisher: Mira
Release Date: August 25, 2015

Professional triathlete Blake Smiley has searched the country for the perfect place to put down roots - roots he's never before had - finally settling on a beautiful house overlooking the water in Thunder Point, Oregon. He's looking forward to the training opportunities the location affords as well as the serenity of the small town where he can focus without distractions. Thunder Point seems like the perfect place to wind down his competitive career as he begins the transition to running his foundation full-time. What he doesn't anticipate is a family of retired Olympic athletes next door, a young boy who steals his heart and an undeniable attraction to the boy's mother.

Fourteen-year-old Charlie Simmons aches to break free of his mom's restrictions. Once a sickly baby with life-threatening asthma, Charlie's illness is controlled by medication though he still has to be watchful. His mom insists he spend his days quietly, sitting on the steps with his computer, but Charlie longs to run, swim and bike like other teens. Lin Su Simmons is a home health nurse working for Winnie Banks. Winnie and Charlie have become thick as thieves and Charlie has spent his summer days at the Banks home overlooking the water in Thunder Point, at Winnie's insistence. When Blake Smiley moves into the house next door with his million-dollar bike, Charlie seizes the opportunity to meet the athlete, hoping that he might share some of his training knowledge. Charlie does not intend to spend his days watching life pass him by, no matter what his mom says.

Lin Su Simmons has a complicated history, one she refuses to discuss, even with her son. She's a proud woman who holds herself apart from others. She put herself through school, works hard, and is a dedicated single mother. Perhaps, too dedicated. Charlie is her whole life and, in her opinion, there's no need to add anyone else to the mix, especially the good-looking athlete next door who is filling Charlie's head with dangerous ideas about riding bikes and working out. It doesn't matter that Blake finds her attractive or that she feels the same or that others think they are perfect for one another. Lin Su's heart is surrounded by solid steel and breaking through that barrier is going to be the toughest challenge Blake has ever faced.

Speaking of tough challenges, reviewing Wildest Dreams was one for me. Let's start with the positives. I'm a fan of Carr's Thunder Point books. I enjoy the community aspect of the series and the opportunity to catch up with current residents while also meeting new ones in each book. That holds true for Wildest Dreams. I adored both Blake and Charlie. Blake is a self-made man who came from abject poverty. He's caring, compassionate and gives so much of himself to help disadvantaged young people. Charlie squeezed my heart on a regular basis with his desire to live life and not be relegated to the sidelines. I enjoyed their interactions and looked forward to each time they graced the pages. Winnie Banks, a prominent character in this book, continues to deal with the effects of her declining health due to ALS and Carr's handling of this storyline is both poignant and empowering. Winnie's scenes with Charlie as well as those with her daughter's former coach, Mikhail are among my favorites.

What I did not enjoy was Lin Su. I understand that she's had a difficult life and I appreciate her concern for her child but I found her to be controlling, judgmental, and inflexible, not just with Blake and Charlie but with everyone. I had a hard time buying into Blake and Lin Su's HEA and found myself feeling sorry for Blake that she was the person his heart had chosen. If not for Charlie, I would have told him to run as far and as fast as he could.

It's a testament to Carr's writing that I still enjoyed this book, even with my intense dislike of the heroine. Also, just because I didn't like Lin Su and didn't buy into her romantic chemistry with Blake doesn't mean others will feel the same. I'm sure there are many readers out there who do not share my opinion.

~PJ

Review - - A New Hope

A New Hope

By Robyn Carr

Publisher: Harlequin MIRA

Release Date: June 30, 2015

With the help of her cousin, Ray Anne Dysart, and her boss, Grace Dillon, Ginger Dysart has conquered the depression that almost destroyed her after the death of her infant son from SIDS. Ray Anne’s indefatigable optimism, Grace’s kindness, her job at Grace’s flower shop, and the supportive community that Thunder Point, Oregon, offers even to newcomers have helped Ginger restart her life. Although the loss of her child has left a hole in her heart that can never be filled and she still questions her sanity in falling for her former husband, a self-absorbed singer/songwriter unprepared for fatherhood, Ginger has found that it is still possible to find joy and purpose in life.

Joy is certainly the mood of the day at the Lacoumette farm where the wedding reception of Peyton Lacoumette and Dr. Scott Grant takes place. Ginger helped Grace with the flower arrangements, but she skipped the wedding. However, the wonders of Basque food, music, and dancing and the warm welcome of Peyton’s large extended family make Ginger glad that she attended the reception. With a new dress and more invitations to dance that she can count, she is even feeling pretty for the first time in a long while. But the magic of the evening ends when a good-looking Basque refuses to accept her refusal to dance or pursue other, more interesting options. When he gropes her, Ginger is forced to give him a shove that leaves him on the floor, drunk and unconscious.

Part-time professor and full-time farmer Matt Lacoumette knows that he was a jerk, but his sister’s wedding reception on the exact site of his own wedding two years earlier was just too much for him to handle sober. As a result, the asshat behavior that has become his modus operandi ruled the occasion. Less than a year after his wedding, Matt’s marriage was over, and he is still filled with bitterness over his ex-wife’s inability to adapt to life as the spouse of a farmer, still filled with mixed emotions about her, and still dealing with anger over the choices she made. His siblings may have christened him “Mad Matt” since his divorce, but Matt is sane enough to know that his drunken behavior was inexcusable. He owes apologies to his parents, his sister and brother-in-law, and to the woman he accosted.

His memories of the episode with Ginger are dim, and Matt is pleasantly surprised by how attractive he finds her when he visits the Thunder Point flower shop to make his apology. He never intended to make an invitation to dinner part of his grovel scene, but he wants to see more of Ginger. Dinner is a success: “He made her laugh and he was mesmerized by her sweetness and charm.”  An easy friendship develops between Ginger and Matt as they share bits of their lives and pieces of their hearts with one another through long, nightly phone calls and occasional dates. Ginger fits in beautifully with Matt’s family, comfortable with farm life and with the exuberant Lacoumettes. But when the relationship turns romantic, Matt’s doubts surface and he runs. Even when he realizes his error, complications from his marriage and divorce, heavier than even his family knows, shadow his relationship with Ginger. Matt must deal with his past and his residual anger before he can build a future with the woman who has totally claimed his heart.

As is typical with Carr’s books, the central romance unfolds against a backdrop of community life that includes secondary plots and appearances by a score of characters, most of them familiar from earlier books. Fans of the series will be pleased that A New Hope allows them to attend the beach wedding of Grace Dillon and Troy Headly (One Wish). The book also shows couples from earlier books as they prepare to become parents, and Grace’s mother, Winnie Dillon, an ALS patient, as she prepares to spend the final stage of her life as part of the Thunder Point community and in a less fraught relationship with her daughter.

A New Hope is the eighth Thunder Point book, a series which promises to be as long-lived and beloved as Carr’s trend-setting Virgin River series. This book  proves once again what a consistently good writer Carr is. She is particularly effective in creating communities peopled with characters whose lives realistically mirror ordinary life and who prevail over their problems with the support of family, friends, and community.  Ginger and Matt are engaging additions to Carr’s cast of characters. If you are a Carr fan, if you are a reader who can’t get enough of small-town romance, or if you search for stories in which the wounded are healed, the lonely find love, and lovers find a deserving and credible HEA, you should add A New Hope to your to-be-read shelf ASAP.

~Janga