Super Tuesday January 28 Releases: Review 4

At the River’s Edge

By Mariah Stewart

Publisher: Ballantine

Release Date: 

January 28, 2014

Sophie Enright thinks of St. Dennis, Maryland, as the small town where her grandfather and her brother and his soon-to-be bride live. It’s a nice place to visit, but it’s not where she expects to live. But when a case she has thrown her heart into as the ADA in charge falls apart, and she discovers her boyfriend in flagrante delicto with another ADA in his parked car, St. Dennis looks like a good bolt hole while Sophie finds the answers to some big questions about her life. Her brother Jesse is not only delighted to offer her his guest room again, but he also offers her a job. The family law firm really needs another lawyer, and there is nothing that Jesse and their grandfather would like better than to welcome another Enright. Sophie is willing to help Jesse out temporarily, but she lacks her brother and grandfather’s certainty that she belongs in the firm her grandfather founded. When she happens upon an abandoned restaurant, an old dream surfaces, and one hot guy is filling her head with new dreams. Suddenly St. Dennis looks like exactly the place Sophie Enright belongs.

Jason Bowers moved himself and his landscaping business to St. Dennis from Florida because with his parents years ago and brother killed in Iraq more recently, his brother’s son is his only family. If his nephew is in St. Dennis, that’s where Jason plans to be so that he can be a part of the boy’s life. St. Dennis is a nice town. Jason’s business is prospering, and he has plans to expand soon. He’s made friends, he likes Jesse Enright (the man his former sister-in-law is about to marry), and he enjoys the time he spends with his nephew. Although his brother’s death is still an open wound, Jason is pleased with his life and the decisions he made. But life gets a lot more interesting when he meets Sophie Enright.

A happily-ever-after seems just around a curve in the road, but the proverbial path to true love proves to have a couple of rocky spots. First, the rough diamond of a restaurant that Sophie plans to polish to perfection turns out to be the place Jason had his eye on and had already tried to buy to complete his business dreams. He’s disgruntled that Sophie bought the place he considers his. Sophie doesn’t like his reaction, and she is really unhappy that he has dumped a smelly load that is a necessary part of his business just where it will interfere with her customers’ outdoor dining experience. As if that were not enough to create problems, her faithless ex puts in an appearance, and he’s eager to turn back the clock. Can two people who clearly were meant for each other get around these barriers?

At the River’s Edge is the seventh book in Stewart’s Chesapeake Diaries series, and St. Dennis and its citizens are as warm and friendly as ever. Sophie and Jason are likeable characters, the kind of pleasant people readers might know, with just enough complications in their past and imperfections in their present to make them interesting and real. An attraction that is strong from their first meeting grows into more than lust as they discover that they also like one another and share core values.

Readers who are familiar with earlier books in the series will enjoy seeing many familiar characters. The glimpses of Jesse and Brooke (Book 4, Hometown Girl, 2011) and their wedding are a particular delight, and Sophie and Jason’s love for her grandfather, Curtis Enright, was also a favorite thread for me. If you are a longtime Mariah Stewart reader like me, you will smile to see some of the family guests at the wedding. Home for the Summer (Book 5, 2012) sent me back to reread Stewart’s Mercy Street books, and At the River’s Edge had me pulling the 1990s Enright books (Devlin’s Light, Wonderful You, and Moon Dance) off the keeper shelf for a reread. I do like intersecting worlds.

At the River’s Edge is not an extraordinary book. Instead it is a story about ordinary people and the heartbreaks and miracles that make up their lives. It is a sweet, satisfying read, and sometimes that is exactly what I want. Book 8, On Sunset Beach, the story of the last Sinclair sibling and Ellie’s friend, Carly Summit, will be released July 1, just in time for a summer trip to St. Dennis. I am so there.

Do you crave adventure in your reading, or do you have a fondness for books that showcase the extraordinariness of the ordinary?

Bonus Review: The Long Way Home

The Long Way Home

By Mariah Stewart

Publisher: 

Random House/Ballantine

Release Date: January 29, 2013

 Ellis Chapman has come to the small town of St. Dennis, Maryland, to try to put her life back together. Reared as the daughter of wealthy investment banker Clifford Chapman, accustomed to a privileged life of designer clothes, prestigious private schools, and first class accommodations on her world travels, she has nothing left—not even her name. When her father and fiancé were revealed for the thieves they were, Ellis lost her home, her car, her jewelry, and her bank accounts. Even though the FBI and SEC found her innocent of any involvement in her father’s illegal dealings, since even her salary as public relations director for CC Investments came from ill-gotten gains, she was allowed to keep nothing from her former life. For the past year, she has lived in the Boston townhouse of her best friend, Carly Summit, the only friend who stood by her when the scandal broke.

But the time has arrived to get on with her life, and the first step is to sell the house in St. Dennis that has been left to her by her mother. Because Lynley Sebastian bought the house and set up bank accounts to pay taxes, upkeep, and utilities out of money she earned as one of the first supermodels, it has not been confiscated with the Chapman assets. All Ellis has to do is meet the terms of her mother’s will by living in the house for six months, and then she’ll be free to take the money from the sale and construct a new life for herself. Only the family lawyer, Jesse Enright, knows that she is Ellis Chapman. To distance herself from the scandal and its devastating effects, she has chosen to be Ellie Ryder in St. Dennis, a New Yorker who bought the house from Lynley Sebastian’s estate for the express purpose of flipping it. Ellie expects her contact with the citizens of St. Dennis to be minimal, and so she feels no guilt about deceiving them.

Contractor Cameron O’Connor always thought he’d be the one to buy the historic house on Bay View Road when it was sold. He’s kept an eye on all these years, fist for Lilly and Ted Cavanaugh, then for their niece Lynley Sebastian, and lately just in memory of all the kindness the Cavanaughs showed him. His profession helps him appreciate the historical significance of the house, but it’s his personal history with it that is responsible for the emotional tie he feels. At first, he begins to help Ellie make repairs because he expects to buy the house from her, but the more time they spend together, the greater the attraction he feels for her. But the questions keep mounting too. Why is a woman too broke to pay someone to make the repairs she clearly is unqualified to do herself driving a Mercedes? Can it be mere coincidence that Ryder was also the maiden name of Lilly Cavanaugh? Why does Ellie look so familiar?

Ellie’s intentions to stay uninvolved during her stay in St. Dennis don’t last long when she’s confronted with the friendliness and good will of the townspeople. Visits to deliver cupcakes and freshly baked bread, invitations to beer and bakery tastings, and First Families Day, and the attention of a certain hot contractor all lead to St. Dennis feeling more and more like home. Add a dog that comes to say and the family secrets that link Ellie to the house in surprising ways, and she is soon establishing roots in what was supposed to be strictly a temporary refuge. But will the welcome and friendship extended to Ellie Ryder be there for Ellis Chapman. Can she create a home here for the young half-sister she has just discovered? Will Cameron be interested in Ellis Chapman? These are the questions Ellie longs—and fears—to have answered.

The Long Way Home is the sixth book in Mariah Stewart’s Chesapeake Diaries series. Ellie and Cameron appear to be ordinary, likeable people, but appearances are deceptive. Both have things in their pasts that brought them shame and pain. Both know what it means to be at the center of shocking events they had no part in creating, and they both have to learn to trust enough to share their secrets if they are to have the life they want. Like the other characters in this series, these protagonists reveal that life in this small town is anything but simple and uneventful. More sweet than sizzling, this novel is a welcome addition to a series that blends heartwarming romance with layers of mystery.

Readers who have been following the series will enjoy the new story and delight in catching up with characters from the earlier books. Lucy and Clay’s wedding is a particular treat. Readers who like the small-town series of Robyn Carr, Emily March, and JoAnn Ross will likely find in Stewart’s St. Dennis another place that makes them long for a return visit.

The small-town romance trend shows no signs of fading. It seems that almost every month brings a new entry for the subgenre. I’ve lost count of how many I read regularly. How do you feel about small-town settings? Are you happy to see more, or are you ready for more big city scenes?