Review - - More Than Neighbors

More Than Neighbors
by Shannon Stacey
Blackberry Bay - Book 1
Publisher: Harlequin Special Edition
Release Date: June 16, 2020
Reviewed by PJ
  

The only thing they have in common is a property line!

He’s trying to uncover his past.

She’s hoping for a brighter future.

Cam Maguire is in Blackberry Bay to unravel a family secret. Meredith Price has moved next door with her daughter. He’s unattached. She’s a widowed single mom. He’s owned by a cat. She’s definitely team canine. All these neighbors have in common is a property line. One they cross…over and over. And Cam thought he knew what he wanted—until his family’s secret changes everything.



PJ's Thoughts:

Shannon Stacey launches her new Blackberry Bay, small-town series with the charming More than Neighbors. This is such an enjoyable story, set in a lakeside town that Stacey brings to vibrant life. Cam and Meredith are relatable, well-developed characters who captured my interest and pulled me into their lives. Both are dealing with life-altering events that Stacey explores with care while keeping the overall tone of the story upbeat. I enjoyed watching Meredith find a new place for herself in her hometown, reconnect with childhood friends, and form new, adult relationships. She's evolving out of the initial grief following her husband's death and testing the waters of opening her heart again to the possibilities of love. I appreciate the time Stacey gives her to accept the desire she feels for Cam without taking away from her love for her late husband. I'm a pushover for relationships that evolve from prickly neighbors to backyard cookouts to unlikely, enduring love. So sigh-worthy. 

Raised by cold, distant parents, Cam's life revolves around business and not much else. His journey to discover his secret connection to Blackberry Bay, both poignant and heartfelt, introduces him to a different way of life, one to which he is, quite surprisingly, adapting. Some might even say, appreciating. I love how he keeps insisting Elinor, the cat he inherits from the grandmother he never knew, isn't his pet (she so is). Watching Cam open his heart to love, laughter, and new possibilities was pure pleasure.  

Six-year-old Sophie is adorable, authentic, and important to the story. I delighted in the simple pleasures she introduces to Cam's life, like getting his first library card and learning how to lick an ice cream cone to keep it from dripping. She's a charmer and Cam (who has never been around children) falls as hard for Sophie as he does for her mom. Round out the story with a yappy dog, an imperious cat, a collection of interesting townsfolk (more books!), and a surprising twist near the end, and you have the makings of just the kind of summer read that makes my heart happy.

If you're looking for a heartwarming, feel-good romance, with snappy banter, sweet emotion, and a happy, hopeful vibe, add Shannon Stacey's More than Neighbors to your summer reading list. 

Review - - What it Takes: A Kowalski Family Reunion

What It Takes: A Kowalski Family Reunion

By Shannon Stacey

Publisher: Carina Press

Release Date: February 28, 2017

Reviewed by: Janga

    

 

Laney Caswell is newly divorced after ten years of a marriage in which she gradually lost more and more of the person she was and turned into an eager-to-please wifey. She left her Rhode Island home to take a job for the summer at the Northern Star Lodge & Campground in Whitford, Maine, as an assistant to Rosie Miller, the matriarch who manages the place and the Maine Kowalskis. Laney’s plan is to enjoy her new job and spend her private time watching movies her ex disliked, reading books she never had time to read, and rediscovering the spirited, independent woman she used to be. Laney hasn’t given up on the idea of a forever love and marriage and children, but she needs time to become her own person again before she thinks about inviting a man into her life.

Ben Rivers grew up in Whitford, best friends with Sean Kowalski (Yours to Keep, Book 3, 2011). Approaching burnout after years as an urban paramedic, he eagerly accepts when Josh Kowalski (All He Ever Dreamed, Book 6, 2013) and Josh’s brother-in-law and Whitford chief of police Drew Miller (Love a Little Sideways, Book 7, 2013) offer him the newly created position of the small town’s paramedic. At thirty-eight, Ben is not only ready to return home; he is also ready to settle down with a wife and start a family so that he can find the kind of happiness he sees in the lives of all his Kowalski buds.

The attraction between Laney and Ben is immediate and it is deeper that just physical attraction. Laney is certainly not immune to Ben’s obvious appeal, but she is even more impressed with his willingness to accept her need for independence. Still, Laney is wary. When the extended Kowalski family decides to hold the annual Kowalski family camping trip at the Northern Star during two weeks in July, Lacey and Ben are thrown even more into one another’s company as the gregarious Kowalskis insist they both join in all their activities. But what kind of relationship is possible between a man looking for serious commitment and a woman afraid that loving a man means losing herself?

What It Takes is the tenth entry in Stacey’s popular Kowalski series. It has the strengths of the earlier books in the series in its likeable characters, credible contemporary situations, and appealing family dynamics. Laney is a sympathetic character and many readers will be able to relate to her determination not to fall into the trap of making her life all about pleasing other people a second time. Ben is an appealing, sexy hero with a tender beta heart. He not only falls for Laney; he also likes her and understands her.

For fans of the Kowalskis, a big part of the appeal of this book is the promise of a Kowalski reunion. I’m sure that I won’t be the only reader whose wish to see more of favorite couples (in my case, Keri and Joe from Exclusively Yours, Book 1; Kevin and Beth from Undeniably Yours, Book 2; and Max and Tori from Fighting for Max) will be frustrated. Nevertheless, Stacey skillfully pulls the reunion off. All the couples from the previous nine novels—even those who are not Kowalskis--make appearances, along with assorted children and secondary characters. Moreover, their cameos generally seem natural and unforced. It is logical that the characters whose daily lives are part of Northern Star—Josh and Katie and Rosie and Andy—have a larger presence. It also makes sense that Sean as Ben’s best friend would have a more prominent role. Ben and Sean have a reunion within the reunion, and a little bump in Sean and Emma’s HEA serves as a secondary thread.

If you are a fan of the Kowalskis, you will not want to miss this book. It is a delightful read for those who know and love these characters. If you have never read Shannon Stacey but like small-town contemporary romance with rich contexts and lots of family interaction, I think you too will enjoy this book. But be warned, reading it may just leave you adding the other nine books to your TBR list. I’m planning a reread of the full series.