74 Seaside Avenue

Teri Polgar thinks her husband, Chess Champion Bobby, is being overly protective of her. But he has good reason to - someone wants him to throw a match and has threatened to harm Teri if he doesn't. Despite the threat, Teri tries to go about her life normally - working at the hair salon and trying to play matchmaker between her sister Christie and Bobby's driver/bodyguard James. In the meantime, other residents of Cedar Cover are going through changes in their lives - Linette McAfee has left town and is trying to rebuild her life after Cal dumped her; Sheriff Troy Davis is starting to date after the death of his wife, much to the dismay of his daughter Megan, who desperately wants to have a baby; Rachel Pendergast can't understand why show more her relationship with Bruce Payton is changing when she knows she is in love with Nate Olsen; and Olivia Lockhart Griffin is facing a major health crisis.

"74 Seaside Avenue" is another nice entry in Debbie Macomber's ongoing Cedar Cove series. This is the seventh book in the series and you don't have to have read all of them to read this one, although it does help. The series is like an ongoing soap opera and it's always nice to catch up with favorite characters from past books. "74 Seaside Avenue" focuses on Teri and Bobby Polgar, an endearing if odd couple. While Bobby is one of my favorite characters in the series, I think Macomber could have done a better job with his dialogue. It's stilted, which I think is meant to show that he's not comfortable when he's out in public, but surely he's able to speak complete sentences around his wife at this point in their relationship. My favorite developing romance in this book is the one between Christie and James. Macomber's left readers hanging at the end of this book as to what happens between them and I can't wait to see what happens to them next. Macomber brings readers up to date on several characters and it's nice to have the Grace-Cliff-Will "triangle" come to an end. It's also nice to see that having played the Rachel-Nate-Bruce triangle over several books, Macomber brings it to a satisfying end (at least for me). It was also nice to see Linette grow and mature by the end of this book, although her actions still seem a little too hasty. Megan's worrying over her father's dating so soon after the death of her mother is well done. Megan is a bit selfish in wanting her father for herself, but it's understandable as she is still dealing with the loss of her mother. The Olivia health scar is a very real one for many women and kudos to Macomber for bringing it into the book.

"74 Seaside Avenue" is a nice, cozy read. My biggest complaint is that the Cedar Cove series already has a lot of characters and Macomber keeps adding more. It's hard to keep track of all the characters at this point. And it's a bit disappointing to have some characters that have figured prominently in other books in the series barely mentioned at all in this one. Allison and Anson show up in one brief chapter and that's it. Still, Macomber is a good writer who keeps you interested in all the characters old and new.

Debbie Macomber fans will love "74 Seaside Avenue". show less

Do you remember Teri Miller? She works at Get Nailed, the beauty salon here in town. Well, Teri got married a little while ago—to Bobby Polgar, the famous chess champion. They've moved into a beautiful house, 74 Seaside Avenue, which has a spectacular view of Puget Sound.
Teri's my hairdresser, and she confided that something seems to be worrying Bobby. When she asked him about it, he told her he was "protecting his queen," and she got the oddest feeling that he wasn't talking about chess, but about her.
Rachel Pendergast also works at Get Nailed, and I've heard that she has two men seriously interested in her. I also wanted to tell you that Linnette McAfee, who's Roy and Corrie's daughter, recently left town because her love life show more fell apart. We all know about that kind of trouble.
Oh, by the way, Teri says we should come in soon for a manicure and a chat…. show less

Okay, so I ended up liking Terry and Bobby more than I thought that I would, even with the plot getting right down silly at times. I am looking forward to seeing where things go for Olivia from here and am beyond excited for what promises to be an interesting plot in the next installment with Pastor Fleming.
I love the way that Debbie Macomber keeps the story flowing from one book to the next.

This book is another installment to the Cedar Cove series. The bulk of the book is based around Bobby and Teri Polgar. Bobby, an internationally known chess player is being blackmailed by a Russian player. We also get to follow some more of the stories of past characters such as Grace and Olivia, as well as learning more about some of the newer characters like Troy Davis, Linette McAffee, and Rachel.

Overall another successful story about the everyday lives of the residents of Cedar Cove.

Another dip into familiar Cedar Cove, where as usually we have a number of story lines about the individuals who have inhabited this town - and our imaginations - for many years now. I found the key storyline in this one difficult to believe and didn't care much about following it, but the other stories kept my interest and made it an interesting, quick read.

Bookcrossing: http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/6685921/

Definitely helps reading in order but now too many past stories that author feels the need to update. Uses too much of book before next episode takes place. This one centered on people not willing to tell the total truth right away. Grace should have told Cliff about Bill coming back. Understood Teri not wanting to tell about pregnancy to Bobby who still seems too childlike but possessive for her. Thugs trying to kidnap Teri seemed excessive. Truly liking Lynette finding a new life and love. Over dramatic about Olivia getting cancer.

I loved this 7th book in the series. Cleared up some story lines and started some new ones. I usually get tired of series books before I reach book 8, but I'm reaching for book 8 of the Cedar Cove series :)