Helpful Score: 2
Outstanding book! A story within a story set mainly in the Outer Banks area in North Carolina. Part of a series, but fine as a stand alone.
Focuses on Whitney Monroe, a restaurant entrepreneur who's in the middle of a business crisis, and gets a call to come help her estranged stepfather. While staying in an old hotel that she inherited from her grandmother, she finds some mysterious treasures and letters, which lead to a very interesting discovery about her family history.
Very well-written, intriguing story, and a small thread of romance made this an excellent read. 5+ stars.
(I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest, unsolicited review.)
Focuses on Whitney Monroe, a restaurant entrepreneur who's in the middle of a business crisis, and gets a call to come help her estranged stepfather. While staying in an old hotel that she inherited from her grandmother, she finds some mysterious treasures and letters, which lead to a very interesting discovery about her family history.
Very well-written, intriguing story, and a small thread of romance made this an excellent read. 5+ stars.
(I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest, unsolicited review.)
A great story, once again by a great author. This book tells a tale in modern day and is backed up by old letters and heirlooms found at the old family estate. Whitney returns to the Outer Banks to try to tie up loose ends of her mother's home which once was a hotel. She has to deal with her cantankerous step father, a charmer who would like to buy the property and the hunky surf shop owner who dropped out of being a lawyer and has a higher goal in mind. This is interspersed with old letters to her grandmother, where she finds a lot of family secrets that were long buried.
I liked this book and would call it a somewhat historical romance. It was interesting and the story was unique to me. I liked the setting because I could picture the area of the Outer Banks and the towns mentioned. I have seen that some readers felt the WPA folklore stories âbogged down' their reading, while I especially liked the conversational recounts of the âinterviews'. Those made me want to find out more about the interviews the WPA writers documented during the depression era.
Whitney is struggling with her restaurant business when she is called home to North Carolina to deal with family issues. Finding family heirlooms and meeting new people, she has to decide how to face the future. I thought this book was very good. I liked that the story takes place in modern times with letters from the Depression woven in. I recognized several characters from the author's previous books, but this can be read as a standalone.
5+ Stars. What a great book, one of the best I have ever read. Two interesting storylines going on - one modern day and the other told through a series of lost letters. So good and highly recommended.
