Mariah Stewart

This book was such an enjoyable read for me! I was in the mood for a change of pace from the darker books that I had been reading and this fit my reading mood perfectly. One of the things that really made this book stand out for me is that it featured an older protagonist. As a women in her late thirties, please let me tell you how refreshing it is to find a book with a main character that is older and in a different stage of her life than you usually find in books. Like yes please! We need show more more books with characters that are in their fifties or sixties for instance, and starting a new phase of their life. It's just not done that often - I didn't know that I wanted it until this book - and now I want more! Because there is plenty of life after thirty despite what some people might think or act like. Why shouldn't we be reading about those stories as well? I'm going off on a bit of a tangent but I just loved that part of this book and want to see it in more books. I also loved that even though this book was Maggie's story - it was also the story of Maggie's daughters and Maggie's two closest friends. There is a lot to this book and some of it is a bit on the darker side which I didn't expect. Please make sure you check the content warnings that I'll share at the end to make sure that you are prepared going in. But I really loved these characters and this story. The characters just felt real and flawed in the best of ways. I found myself caring about each of the characters which has me really excited that this book is just the beginning to a series. I will definitely be continuing on as I want to see what happens with some of these other characters. I just want more if I'm being honest!

Read this book if you are a fan of women's fiction, contemporary fiction, or are looking for a great summer read. This is a book that looks at grief and also just life in general. It stood out for me because it isn't focused on your typical characters that are just starting their life. Instead it looks at friendship, motherhood, and just being a woman in general but all from an older more experienced viewpoint. It's a book that I breezed through (although that seems a bit wrong to say considering there is some darker subject matter included within) but I couldn't put it down. The author really brought these characters to life for me. And because she did I enjoyed this book immensely. I'm really looking forward to reading more in this series in the future. Highly recommended!

Bottom Line: A book with characters that I want to read more of! I definitely will be continuing on with this series!

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher as part of a TLC book tour. Honest thoughts are my own.

CW: Death of a loved one, divorce, suicide, drug use, cheating, loss, grief, adoption, secrets show less

This was my first book by Mariah Stewart, but it will not be the last. Even though this is the 11th book in the series, I never felt lost, only intrigued. I will definitely add the other books to my "want to read" list. I loved the setting of the islands of the Chesapeake Bay in the early autumn, with the descriptions of the warm days and cool nights. The homes and businesses were ones I'd love to visit, from having tea with Grace at the Inn or ice cream at One or Two Scoops in St. Dennis, show more to visiting with Ruby at the general store on Cannonball Island.

I was immediately drawn into the lives of the two main characters, Cassidy and Owen. Cassidy is an architect with her father's construction company. She has designed a series of houses to be built on the island, ones that retain the style and history of the originals, to the point of using materials saved from the old houses in the new ones. I loved her enthusiasm, as every day seemed to give her new ideas on ways to bring the past and the future together. Something not in her plans is getting involved with Owen Parker, local playboy and rolling stone.

Owen is one of the island's more notorious residents. He is handsome, fun-loving, and hasn't run very fast when the girls chased him, though he doesn't stay caught for long. He's spent years going where his whims take him, from Alaska to Australia, but lately, he's felt nostalgic for home. When a friend offers him a job as a diver helping to excavate a sunken ship, he jumps at the chance. It doesn't take long for him to be drawn to Cass, but she doesn't want anything to do with him.

I loved the development of the relationship between Owen and Cass. Both of them have failed marriages in their pasts, making them wary of getting involved. Cass was married to a man who was never home, having decided that his military career was more important than their marriage. She's determined not to get involved with another rolling stone. Owen married the girl who was always there when he came back from one of his trips, thinking it was time for him to settle down, but friendship and habit weren't enough to sustain the marriage and keep him from wandering. Owen was attracted to Cass from the moment he met her, but she wouldn't give him the time of day, no matter how hard he tried. Fortune smiled on him, though, when the ship excavation disrupted her construction plans, giving him the chance to offer his assistance. I loved seeing Owen approach his goal of getting to know her from a different angle, and being very smart about it. Instead of making it personal, he offered to help her find another solution, and at the same time show her around the island. Cass is, of course, skeptical at first, but relaxes when he behaves himself.

I loved the way that Cass's enthusiasm for the island and everything about it made Owen look at her as more than just another conquest. It didn't take long for him to realize that he had gone past wanting her to needing her in his life. I loved seeing him find multiple little ways to help her learn about the island, from showing her the little cemeteries to taking her crabbing. Even when his attempts went wrong (the trip on the schooner), his sensitivity to her needs was amazing. It was fun to watch Cass realize that she was fighting a losing battle when it came to resisting Owen. In spite of frequently reminding herself that he was a player, she discovered that there was much more to him than she expected. But just when things looked especially promising for them, an unexpected twist turns Owen's life upside down. I ached for Owen, who didn't know how to handle it and feared becoming a man like his father. I also ached for Cass, who believed that her dreams were crumbling in front of her. It took some blunt talk from family members for each of them to overcome their fears and realize that they could handle anything if they did it together.

I loved the importance of family and community in the book. Owen's great-grandmother, Ruby, was my favorite of the secondary characters. She's one hundred years old, with the Southern grace and steel to go along with those years. She also has the "sight" but doesn't use it to interfere in people's lives, though she will occasionally make a comment to get someone thinking. Thanks to her age, Ruby also has an encyclopedic knowledge of the area, and the stories she told gave extra depth to the magic of the island. I loved how various people in the community embraced Cass and her ideas for ways to preserve and showcase the island's history. There were some terrific scenes of that support, from Grace's teas to a possible collaboration with Owen's sister. I can't wait to go back and read the earlier books. show less

A South Philly single mom of two finds out she is heir to a small country. Annie travels to St. Gilbert and falls in love with the country, people and cultural. She moves with her teenagers there, and her sisters and best friend follow. She becomes the Grand Duchy and is given task of bringing this country up to date. The country has no hotel so no tourism. The Council is set up of older men who have not been accountable and have been left to their own agendas. Roads are deplorable, young show more people are leaving and castles are crumbling….what’s a Duchy to do?

Princess Diaries meets Hallmark movies. A cute, quick read, but I did find myself rolling my eyes quite a few times. I can’t imagine two teenage kids jumping at the chance to move halfway around the world with no push back of leaving their friends and everything they know. It was refreshing to see the close relationship they had with their Mom, but these kids were just too good to be true. The relationship between the sisters is strong, but again, they leave willingly to take on strong roles within the country. Very little growing pains for the family. The Council basically accepts this new Duchy with little drama. How is English the main language? Yes, there is a twist about 3/4 of the way in. I was expecting a twist, but not this one. Of course there is a hunky Captain who has captured Annie’s eye. Since I live 30 miles from Philly, I loved all the references to the city and the surrounding area, including the attitude and slang. Was this a fun little read, yes. Perfect light read for vacation or weekend home. I’ve read this author before and have enjoyed her previous books more, but this was a cute escape.

Thanks to Montlake Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. This is my honest opinion. show less

This is one of my favorite Contemporary Romance series. Though lighter on the steam, it is ginormous on the amount of heart poured into each story. Every time I get the chance to indulge in another installment, I am once again whisked away to the shores of Chesapeake Bay, welcomed back to a community all its own, and wrapped in the attentions and affections of those who call it home. As you read further into the series, they become like your own extended family. From the movie stars to the show more innkeepers, business owners to prodigal sons, and everyone in-between, each has a part to play on the island, each carries a part of it with them wherever they go, and each can't help but heed the call of island life when it beckons. Not even Owen Parker...

In the end, it was a wonderful, heart filled story about two people trying to make their way in life sans another, but fate having a bit more to say about it than they would like. There's ups and downs, and everything in-between, but after all is said and done, the heart wants what it wants, and if we only listen to what its saying, we'll find out path to true happiness...just like the characters here do. You can't go wrong when you dive in the Chesapeake Bay series....

**copy received for review show less