Review: That Chesapeake Summer

That Chesapeake Summer (Chesapeake Diaries Book 9)

About the Book:

Jamie Valentine is the wildly successful author of self-help books advocating transparency in every relationship. But when her widowed mother passes away unexpectedly, Jamie discovers her own life has been based on a lie. Angry and deeply betrayed, she sets out to find the truth—which may be in a small town on the Chesapeake Bay. Cutting her most recent book tour short, Jamie books a room at the Inn at Sinclair’s Point, just outside St. Dennis.

The death of Daniel Sinclair’s father forced him to take over the family inn, and his wife’s death left him a single parent of two children, so there’s little room for anything else in his life. His lovely new guest is intriguing, though, and he’s curious about the secret she’s clearly hiding. But in the end, Jamie and Dan could discover the greatest truth of all: that the search for one thing just might lead to the find of a lifetime—if you keep your heart open.

My Comments:

I don't think it is much of a spoiler to say that the "lie" on which Jamie's life has been based is that she was adopted, and her parents never told her so.  While cleaning out her parents' house following the death of her mother, Jamie learns her parents secret and decides to try to find her birth mother and her search takes her to St. Dennis, the setting of this story.  

I enjoyed watching the relationship between Jamie and Daniel develop and it happened a good pace.  While they eventually ended up in bed it didn't happen right away and it wasn't graphic.  I also liked the relationship Jamie developed with Daniel's mom and enjoyed looking at back issues of a small town newspaper with them.  I also liked the fact that Jamie respected the wishes of her birth mother and did not contact her until she knew the birth mother approved.  The only thing I did not like about the book is that in a few places there were pages from the diary of Daniel's mom and she mentions that it is time to get out the Ouija board.  That did not advance the story and just pushed something I believe is wrong.  Nevertheless, both the plot and the setting make it an ideal beach read.  

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via Edelweiss.  Grade: B. 

The Long Way Home

The Long Way Home: The Chesapeake Diaries

About the Book:

As the only child of a wealthy investment manager, Ellie Chapman has never known anything besides a life of perfect privilege. But her years of good fortune come to an abrupt end when her father is exposed for swindling billions of dollars from innocent investors in a massive Ponzi scheme. And just like that, Ellie loses everything: money, job, home—even her fiancé, who’s jailed as her father’s partner in crime. With no job prospects on the horizon, no cash, and her family name in tatters, Ellie has only one place to go.

Sleepy St. Dennis, Maryland, is hardly where Ellie intends to stay, however. Keeping her identity a secret, she plans to sell the house her late mother left her in the small town and use the proceeds to move on with her life. Unfortunately, her ticket to a new beginning is in dire need of a laundry list of pricey improvements, many of which she’ll have to do herself. And until the house on Bay View Road is fit to be sold, the sole place Ellie will be traveling is the hardware store. But as the many charms of St. Dennis—not to mention Cameron O’Connor, the handsome local contractor who has secrets of his own—begin to work their magic, what begins as a lesson in do-it-yourself renovations might just end up as Ellie’s very own rejuvenation.

My Comments:

I enjoyed this story of love and healing, even if it was a bit on the unrealistic side.  Ellie comes to St. Dennis because she has no where else to go (though she is smart, well-educated and has a close friend who has a lot of connections).  When she gets there she meets Cameron who has been putting a lot of effort into keeping up a house that isn't his.  I liked the fact that the two of them took some time to get to know each other; I didn't like the fact that they ended up in bed before marriage, or even before they were really serious.  I liked  the fact that they realized that overnight visits were not a good idea with a teenager in the house.  While readers were told they were intimate, the act was not described in detail.  

The book is part of a series though I did not realize it until I went to Amazon to get the photo and blurb for this review.  The characters from the other books make brief appearances but I didn't feel overwhelmed by useless characters.  However, Ellie's friend (who is single) discovers that Ellie's ancestor was a renowned  painter who had many paintings in the house Ellie inherited. I'll bet we'll see her in a future book and I'm curious about what will happen to the paintings.  Her gallery-owning friend is eager to show and sell them. Ellie was eager for the money they'd bring, but now that she's decided to stay in St. Dennis, and has learned about her family, will she still want to sell?  How will those paintings affect her relationship with her best friend?  I feel left hanging about those questions, and I'm sure that was the author's intent.  

Another thing I didn't like was that one of the characters mentions speaking to one of Ellie's ancestors via a Ouija board.  Another character saw this ancestor (or a ghost of her) in the house.  I don't think those elements advanced the story and to me they were just creepy.

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via Edelweiss Galleys.  Grade:  B.