Mariah Stewart

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

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

Home for the Summer was the first book that I have read by Stewart, but it definitely won't be the last. I absolutely loved the world she created in St. Dennis making it a perfect destination for the reader's imagination to visit. I could practically picture the wonderful shops as well as the inn and practically taste the delicious sounding cupcakes and ice cream. Stewart did an amazing job at developing both of her main characters as well as making the secondary characters also feel like show more family. The overall story was good, and it kept the reader's interest building up the romance as Lucy tried to put together a huge wedding for her clients. The one thing that threw me was the title. Despite being called Home for the Summer, the majority of the book takes place before summer. I did like the buildup and progression to the big summer wedding though. Overall this was a great read that I would definitely recommend. show less

This small-town setting of three estranged sisters put to task to receive their sizable inheritance from their dad, feels so real with the emotions each sister brings to the project. Normally, I read a happy ever after and romance being at the forefront. This story with all its woven parts, complex emotions and feeling we all could have in our own settings, is a most worthy read. It's well written and entertaining. I’m certainly eager to read how the sisters change, how they are challenged show more to be someone who they thought they couldn’t be, and find they can have real sisterly love.

I like the contemporary setting, yet provides history of the early 1900’s. It is a shock for sisters to learn their father lived two lives, two women who bore him children he loved equally, one on the west coast, one of the east. How would you deal with that? Each sister handles it differently.

Barney, an older woman, aunt to these sisters lives in the house they are supposed to live in for as long as it takes to renovate an old theater their grandfather built. Although each of the sisters want to get in and get out, no emotion tied to any of it, soon find out life isn’t that way. They just can't pick up their lives as they were before.

The heart attaches itself tentatively for all three. Cara, the daughter of the second wife seems more grounded. Cara needs to start over. Her husband divorced her, then marries her best friend. Allie, has recently been divorced, her ex is remarrying and she’s insecure since her daughter needs to live with her dad, leaving Allie, the odd man out. Jealousy, as happens with many sisters, wedges itself between Allie and Des. Nikki, Allie’s daughter, is your typical teenager who loves constantly being busy. She is a wonderful part of the story, a beacon of hope. Des wants to return to her work with the animal shelter, taking care of animals who need her. I don’t think Des feels needed by people, which makes her gravitate to animals.

Cara snags the interest of one Joe Domanski. Joe is a man who’s very level headed, a man who lives in this small town to be close to family. I enjoy the relationship which grows between these two. But can Cara trust a man again? So there is some romance to the story, but it doesn't overtake it.

I'm ready for book two!

I received this book for review from the publisher. All opinions and comments are totally my own. show less