This book is written by an author I'd heard of but I had never read any of her novels. I don't usually go for books that are in the Romance genre unless there's a bit of mystery to the story....and this one had both! It was actually recommended by a friend of mine.
STORY SUMMARY
The Harper family has always had strong-willed women who have a lot of drama going on in their lives.
Olivia Harper is a workaholic putting in 16 hour days on her job in Seattle. She also owns and runs a social media start up company. She's got a nice apartment and a cute little dog named Otis. Her ex-fiance, Grant, wants to get back together and Olivia has no plans to do that. She's just been traumatized from a diner robbery where she was a witness to the barista being beat, 5 days earlier, when she gets a phone call from her mother, Juliet, who is in the hospital for falling off a ladder.
Juliet is going to need Olivia to come home for a bit to help in the family lawn and garden business. Home is "Sea Glass Cottage" in the seaside town of Cape Sanctuary in northern California, where Juliet (a.k.a. as Mimi) lives with her grand-daughter Caitlyn who is the only child of Olivia's dead sister Natalie. Natalie gave birth at age 19 and was a single mother who then died of a drug overdose back when Caitlyn was very young. Caitlyn really has no memory of her mother and never has known who her father is. In fact, her Aunt Olivia and Mimi have no idea who fathered Natalie's child either. (note: the book jacket says Juliet was in a serious car accident but that's an editing mistake!)
Once Olivia is back in her hometown, she is haunted by memories of her dad and his sudden death from a fire. (she was turning 13 the next day when her dad, Steven, rushed into a building to save people he thought were in there). Her sister's best friend, Cooper Vance, was the one to pull her father out of the fire but he died anyways. Cooper is the big brother of Olivia's best friend Melody who is currently going through a divorce and has 3 little boys: Will, Ryan, and Charlie. Sometimes Caitlyn babysits for the boys. Olivia also has some hurts stemming from her emotional estrangement with her mom. Olivia always felt somewhat neglected by her mother due to Juliet always needing to rescue Natalie. Natalie, after their dad's death, turned to partying, boys, and drugs/drinking. Olivia escaped in her mind with her books and in trying to be the perfect daughter.
While Olivia tries to battle her own emotions and needs now that she's back in Cape Sanctuary, she discovers that there's some kind of secret her mother is carrying. In fact, Caitlyn is also harboring a secret of some kind. As the secrets come out of the darkness and into the light, Juliet, Olivia, and Caitlyn will learn that it is never too late...or too early...to heal old family wounds and extend and accept forgivenss.
MY THOUGHTS
Aside from the few editing errors, this book was a true gem.
The story moved quickly and was never bogged down even in the parts where the backstory was being told.
Each chapter is a different voice, rotating between Olivia, Juliet, and Caitlyn and sometimes Cooper. The development of the characters is very well done and I especially liked the way Henry and Jake were introduced into the story. I don't want to give too much away about those particular characters.
The book is a bit of romance, mystery and family drama.
I loved the setting of Sea Glass Cottage as well as the descriptions of the seaside town and the garden center.
I loved how the author inter-wove the characters and their back story without it being cumbersome or confusing.
The main themes in this book are: family dynamics particularly the mother-daughter relationship(s); sister relationship, single motherhood, drug and alcohol addictions; loss/death/grief; post-traumatic stress; divorce; working moms; multiple sclerosis; the bonds of friendship and love; forgiveness.
One of the best things about the book was all the talk about gardens and plants and how the author used these as a metaphor for the characters' lives.
One quote jumped out at me:
".....life couldn't always be like a formal garden, structured and neat. It was more like an English cottage garden, messy and busy and chaotic but still full of light and color, blossoms and beauty." (pg 195, The Sea Glass Cottage by Raeanne Thayne, c. 2020)
One of the things I loved about this book was that the author used the garden and plants imagery for how life was for the characters.
Yes, the ending was a tad bit predictable but it was well done and just a teeny bit sappy.
I really did enjoy this story although there isn't a lot of depth to it.....it's the kind of book you can read in a few days, enjoy a nice family drama, and have a happy (albeit predictable) ending.
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9.
2 comments:
Sounds good!! I'll put it on my TBR list!!
I was going to comment that it sounds like there is a lot going on in this book, but then you said it never gets bogged down. Sounds interesting though. Never heard of this author.
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