Showing posts with label inn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inn. Show all posts

Friday, July 7, 2023

Book Review - The Getaway by Emily March

 

The Getaway by Emily March is about a family trying to move forward after an incident has torn them apart. Genevieve Prentice was unexpectedly widowed at a young age. She has dedicated her life to raising and nurturing her four children. They were always the center of her world. Her kids are now all grown up and have other other obligations than spending the holidays with their  overbearing mother.

Genevieve is ready for a change and decides to put her beloved home on the market. She decides to head to Lake in the Clouds, Colorado with her sister. Together they plan to turn a rustic waterfront lodge into a B&B.  Genevieve and her sister plan to rehabilitate the old lodge to make it ready for guests. As they begin to work on the lodge, Genevieve is shocked when her older son, Jake, makes an unexpected visit to the lodge. 

 

Jake Prentice is known to be the dependable one in the family. He has stepped up as the father figure to take care of the other siblings after his father’s passing. He is good at his job as a consultant but he finds himself stressed out and constantly overworked. He decides to follow his mother’s path and quit his job, and use this new-found time to figure out what makes him happy.

 

This is the first time in a long time that Jake doesn’t have any demands or obligations he needs to work on. He decides to make the most of it. He likes being surrounded by the open sky and enjoying the fresh air while working with his hands. Jake feels that he can stay in limbo forever without having to make a decision on what he wants to do next. That is, until his former colleague Tess Crenshaw appears with an opportunity for a new job. It forces Jake to reassess who he is and what he wants to do.

 

I didn’t really care for this book. I thought it was very boring and it took a while to get to the main story. The author spent several pages describing Genevieve’s serving ware and other mundane things that didn’t really add any value to the story. I didn’t understand why the author felt it was important that the readers knew every single dish Genevieve owned. I didn’t like how the author hinted about a situation that tore the siblings apart but failed to go into detail. By the time we found out  what happened, it was mostly bits and pieces and by then, I had lost interest in the story.

 

I found it hard to relate to any of the characters. Other than Jake and his mother, most of the characters barely had any involvement in the story until the very end of the book. I felt like the author spent a lot of time with details that didn’t really mean much but barely any time with the meat of the story. This was the first book in the series and it didn’t really grab my attention enough that I would continue reading.

Sunday, July 18, 2021

Book Review - The Summer Sisters (Juniper Springs, #2) by Sara Richardson

 

The Buchanan sisters share everything including their inherited Juniper Inn. The sisters plan to remodel and do a grand re-opening of the inn. However, their mother, Lillian, refuses to attend the party because of her decades long feud with her sister, Sassy.

Rose is determined to make the celebration an extravagant one to celebrate both the inn and Sassy. Even if it means requesting the help from a certain surly hardware store owner to help with the renovations. Dahlia is heartbroken that her marriage has failed. She decides to move closer to her family. She and her kids are starting to rebuild their lives when Dahlia questions if she is ready to fall in love again. She is worried about the stability she has worked hard to give her children.

Sassy has missed her sister and tried to reconnect. However, they are both two stubborn to reconcile. When Sassy discovers something that might change her life forever, will it be too late for them to reconnect?

I thought the book was a cute and cozy romantic read. This was the second book in the series but, can be read as a standalone. This was my first book in the series and I felt like I missed some nuances between the characters. The story was told from alternating point of views and a few times I got confused between the sisters. I thought the book was a cute read and look forward to reading more books in the series. If you like Hallmark movies, you will enjoy this novel.

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion**