Search This Blog

2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (Hosted by Yours Truly)

My Progress:


33 / 30 bookish books. 110% done!

2024 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama (1)
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas (1)
- California (9)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut (2)
- Delaware (1)
- Florida (2)
- Georgia (2)
- Hawaii (1)
- Idaho (2)
- Illinois (4)
- Indiana (4)
- Iowa (1)
- Kansas (1)
- Kentucky (1)
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland (1)
- Massachusetts (3)
- Michigan (1)
- Minnesota (2)
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri (1)
- Montana (1)
- Nebraska (1)
- Nevada (2)
- New Hampshire (1)
- New Jersey (1)
- New Mexico (1)
- New York (9)
- North Carolina (4)
- North Dakota (1)
- Ohio (3)
- Oklahoma (2)
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania (2)
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota (1)
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (4)
- Utah (2)
- Vermont (2)
- Virginia (2)
- Washington (3)
- West Virginia (1)
- Wisconsin (1)
- Wyoming (2)
- Washington, D.C.* (2)

International:
- Argentina (1)
- Australia (3)
- Bolivia (1)
- Canada (3)
- China (2)
- England (22)
- France (1)
- Ghana (1)
- India (1)
- Indonesia (1)
- Ireland (4)
- Italy (1)
- Poland (1)
- Russia (1)
- Scotland (3)
- The Netherlands (1)

My Progress:


51 / 51 states. 100% done!

2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


50 / 50 books. 100% done!

2024 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge


36 / 50 books. 72% done!

Booklist Queen's 2024 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

2024 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


50 / 52 books. 96% done!

2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


36 / 40 books. 90% done!

2024 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge


18 / 40 books. 45% done!

2024 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


26 / 25 cozies. 104% done!

2024 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

2024 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge

My Progress


23 / 26.2 miles (3rd lap). 88% done!

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

My Progress


42 / 100 books. 42% done!

2024 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

My Progress:


97 / 109 books. 89% done!

Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge

My Progress


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

Disney Animated Movies Reading Challenge

My Progress


136 / 165 books. 82% done!

The 100 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. Reading Challenge

My Progress:


83 / 100 names. 83% done!

The Life Skills Reading Challenge

My Progress:


14 / 80 skills. 18% done!
Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Even If Her Newest Isn't My Fave, Carr Holds a Special Place in My Heart

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Twenty years separate sisters Adele Descaro and Justine Somersby.  Although they live near each other and have communicated over the years about their parents' declining health, the two have never been close.  Now that their mother has died, the women find they have more in common than they ever have before.  Both are at a crossroads in their lives, which has left each of them anxious, worried, and emotionally at sea.  Having been their mother's primary caregiver for the last eight years, 32-year-old Adele has to decide what to do about a job, the graduate education she abandoned in order to help at home, and the surprising demands of the man who's been her gentle, patient best friend throughout her life.  When Justine discovers her husband of 30 years has been cheating on her, she's devastated.  Divorcing the only man she's ever loved is heartbreaking, but it's also given her the freedom she never knew she wanted.  As she picks up the pieces of her shattered life, Justine finds herself relying more and more on her little sister.  While the sisters find their way back to each other and themselves, they experience healing along with new problems.  Will their new-found closeness bring them together or tear them even more apart?  

I've read a number of books by the prolific Robyn Carr, mostly her small-town romance novels set in Grace Valley and Virgin River.  What I love most about Carr is that her warm, genuine nature shines through in both the towns and the characters she creates.  Her settings are inviting, her story people authentic, and her writing upbeat, even when discussing tough subjects.  Although Carr's newest women's fiction effort, Sunrise on Half Moon Bay, is not my favorite of her many novels, it still showcases the trademarks I just mentioned.  While not as developed as Grace Valley and Virgin River, Half Moon Bay comes off as a charming little town full of cheerful, concerned folks.  Adele drove me crazy with her flakiness and fickleness, it's true.  Still, I enjoyed seeing the relationship between her and Justine (whom I found much easier to identify with) evolve in a realistic way.  Carr does tackle some difficult subjects in Sunrise on Half Moon Bay, but overall this is an easy, uplifting read with the kind of guaranteed HEA Carr does so well.  I didn't love her newest as I have some of her older novels, but Carr has a special place in my heart and I'll always be willing to read whatever she writes.  

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of other novels by Carr as well as those by Kristan Higgins)

Grade:


If this were a movie, it would be rated:


for language (no F-bombs), violence, disturbing subject matter, and sexual content (only one scene, but it's fairly detailed)

To the FTC, with love:  I received an e-ARC of Sunrise on Half Moon Bay from the generous folks at Harlequin in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!
Blog Widget by LinkWithin


Reading

<i>Reading</i>
Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie

Listening

<i>Listening</i>
The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth



Followin' with Bloglovin'

Follow

Followin' with Feedly

follow us in feedly



Grab my Button!


Blog Design by:


Blog Archive