Summer Book Review #7: Heat Wave

Finished this novel last night.

This was a good read and a quick one!!

I call this type of novel a "good beach book".....meaning you can read it quickly, the author tends to write similar themes in her novels, and it doesn't take a lot of brain power.  It's just a nice, easy story. I have read 2 other novels by  this author. She tends to set her stories in the Cape Cod area.

Story Summary

Carley Winsted has a good life. She was married at a young age, has 2 daughters (Cisco and Margaret) and a lawyer husband(Gus).  They live on the island of Nantucket in a family heirloom house, near her husband's parents. Carley has always been a stay-at-home-mom and involved in her daughters' school events, community events, and has a good group of friends. 2 women are her closest friends: Vanessa and Maud. 

One evening, Carley's life starts to unravel.  Gus is found dead of a heart attack in his office and Carley finds out that she is basically poor, due to some bad investments that Gus had been making.  Her in-laws want Carley and the girls to move in with them but Carley insists on helping her self and her financial situation.  

She decides to turn their historic home into a bed-and-breakfast. Her mother-in-law (Annette) does not approve of this but Carley is determined to make it work.

Meanwhile, one of her friends forces her to keep a secret.....once it's revealed it will undo families and friendships.

Gus's law partner and best friend Wyatt keeps showing up at various times in Carley's life and now she needs to cope with some new feelings.

The bed and breakfast plan is becoming a success, her daughters are doing well in the grieving process and she is realizing that she LOVES being a bed and breakfast owner.

All of a sudden, during a late-summer heat wave, the lives of Carley and her friends and family will be changed forever....in very unexpected ways.

My Thoughts

This was a powerful book about love, forgiveness, betrayal and finding the strength to live and love again.

The story was rather "predictable" up until the end.....I was totally surprised with the way the author played out the story.  It was sad yet it had an ending that was happy.  I guess you could call it "bittersweet".

The character development in this book was excellent, I thought. I felt like I wanted to be a part of Carley's circle of friends....and I found myself liking all of the characters, including the mother-in-law.  I won't reveal what happens to make me end up liking Annette, whom I did NOT like at the beginning of the story.

I found this book to be an easy, fun read and appropriate for ages 14 and older.

On a scale of 1 -10 with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 10.