Dune Road is sort of predictable and also very familiar. Perhaps because my brother works in finance, lives in Easton, Conn. with four young children (two girls and two twin three-year-old boys) and is very successful. Or maybe because my family went through similar financial situations in the 90s. I also grew up in Westport, Conn (fictional Highfield) until my parents divorced. (My mom read the book after me and said: "I feel like I'm right back in Westport.") Instead of some of the simpler, romantic stories of past novels (Mr. Maybe, Swapping Lives), Dune Road has too many subplots at once.

Recently divorced Kit (who used to be a dissatisfied “Wall Street Widow”: I actually wish Green had explained this term a bit more because New York Magazine certainly does not) embarks on her new life in Highfield, a rather chic town on Connecticut’s Gold Coast, as a working mom who still harbors feelings for her ex-husband Adam. She starts a new job as a personal assistant to famous mystery writer Robert McClore, who lives in a secluded home on Dune Road. Of course, he has a secret (a 30-something-year-old one). Kit’s best friend Charlie and her husband Keith face the aftermath of Wall Street’s bust when Keith loses his high-level finance position. Something that really bothered me about this is that although Keith works in the finance industry, his own financial advisor told him that he didn’t need to have any savings. “So they have never quite managed to put anything away. They are only forty, after all, and his financial advisor said he has plenty of time to worry about that. They have small SEP IRAs, and of course he has had his stock over all these years.” Super financial advisor! Well done.

As all this is going on, several mysterious people are charming their way into Kit’s life. She’s gullible and doesn’t suspect that most want more than friendship. (“Kit has always secretly longed to be the type of woman men bought flowers for, and having never been that woman, not really, she is starting to discover jus how seductive it is.”) So much for that edginess she may have developed as the wife of a Wall Street financier.

Throughout the pages of Dune Road, way too much happens simultaneously. I felt that much of the book was a re-tread of stories in the news or things I’d heard before. Green is trying for a mystery and romance in one book and it just doesn’t work very well. I had one ‘mystery’ figured out at pg. 160 (I don’t know if that means I’m super smart or the writing is weak). Dune Road is not a page turner which is generally what you expect of a Green novel and what most people look for in a summer read. Green fails to create characters that you care about all that much in the end. Save your money on this one. Borrow it from the library or from a friend. ( )

Each of Green's novels seem worst than the last. How can this possibly be the same woman that wrote "Jemima J"? Too much rich-Connecticut-wives-and-all-their-"problems" to make this an enjoyable, light read. ( )

Early in the book, I found it quite difficult to follow the plot. The author flowed back and forth between the past and present, that I wasn’t sure if the next scene is taking place now or had already happened. It was quite unsettling for me as I thought the storyline was very choppy.

Around page 150 or so, I found my groove and plowed right through it. As I was reading, I thought the plot was very predictable (I knew how Kit’s story would end within the first pages of the book) and I didn’t find the “mysterious” characters to be all that mysterious.

As Kit struggles with building a new life post divorce, she’s also questioning the intentions of those who claim to have her best interests at heart. Ms. Green does an excellent job of reminding the reader that not everyone is as perfect as he/she may appear. Inviting someone new in your life may come with consequences. That being said, one must continue to move forward and not allow others to derail you from doing so.

I’ve been anticipating reading this book for awhile now, as I’ve read and heard great reviews about Ms. Green’s books. Although this was an okay read for me, I have added The Other Woman, Swapping Lives, The Beach House and Second Chance to my TBR List. ( )

excellent read. Jane has produced a believeable and interesting story about a writer who's wife died after going overboard,Kit, who is divorced and moves to his town. She works for him, has a sister show up after many years, has an ex husband who seems to get better with divorce. Then there's Tracy who teaches Yoga but carries a disturbing past with an abusive guy. ( )

Lame, predictable...the 'hints' of trouble are so overt as to make me mad -- no subtlety. I liked the characters AND the plot, but the writing seemed amateurish.