Hello everyone!
Back with another book review, and I have to admit that I've been reading voraciously in the last little while. It's something I'm quite happy about considering I can definitely get into reading slumps as everyone else does, and then of course I don't always have the time or energy to actually keep my eyes open long enough to read through a book properly.
That being said, however, I can then go through periods when I will devour anything and everything that I can get my hands on, at such a rate that I almost can't keep up with my own brain.
This probably comes from my in-bred love of reading, because I've been doing it ever since I can properly remember myself. My parents used to say that I would doggedly try to get through a book when I wasn't as skilled in the art until I mastered it, or learned it by heart.
Hey, whatever worked, right?
The book I picked to talk about today is the first in a series which I came to discover only after Hallmark Channel premiered yet another intriguing series (they're really beginning to make their mark in this show-hungry world) titled Chesapeake Shores. A little Google magic later and I had thirteen new books to read, the first of thes being The Inn at Eagle Point.
Now, I will be honest and admit I never would have thought twice about the books or even looked them up if not for a few reasons. One was obviously the TV show I started watching, but I didn't know it was based off books until a friend of mine told me so, mentioning that I should probably look them up after my frustration about an episode mounted. Which I did.
I should also probably admit that Jesse Metcalfe is among the biggest reasons I'm watching the show, while I'm at it.
Oops.
Anyway.
Picking up the first book by Sherryl Woods, we meet the protagonist, Abby O'Brien Winters, a divorced mother of twin daughters who is a successul Wall Street stockbroker and an overworked individual who tends to be a mother hen. Years ago when she was just seventeen, Abby's mother walked out on the family because her husband Mick, Abby's father, and a world-reknowned architect, was never at home, leaving her to fend for herself with five kids. This has left a huge gap in all the children and a chasm that Megan will eventually have to overcome as they all feel pretty abandoned.
Abby has managed to build a rapport with her mother since then, but a phone call from her youngest sister Jess tells her she may be needed back home: Jess is in a bit of trouble seeing as she impulsively (she has ADD, note this) bought a derelict inn and is now trying to get it back into shape.
But being as she is, the sister obviously needs all the help she can get, so Abby packs herself and her daughters on a trip to a home she left behind a long time ago ... and to the man who conveniently just happens to be back at the same time. Trace Riley always knew what the people in Chesapeake Shores said: that he and Abby were a match made in heaven. But with her walking out on the pair of them before it could get any further serious, he's now in a snit and trying to have his revenge.
Needless to say, sparks fly between the old lovers, especially as Trace is filling a position in his father's bank for the moment and holding a guillotine over Jess' loans for the inn.
All that aside, the O'Briens also converge back into the town Mick built back in the day with his brothers to try and help Jess out, or to at least be busybodies and in each other's business again. This includes Megan as well, though that one needs a little bit of work still seeing as the kids say hell to the no, loudly.
Mick, on the other hand, is beginning to realize there are more important things to do than flying all over the country for work, especially when an SOS call comes in from his eldest daughter: at that point in time, Abby is dealing with her ex-husband who is threatening to sue for full custody of their daughters.
Abby, however, has backup, and it's soon revealed that Wes has gotten himself into a bit of an issue and can't meet payments anymore, and also that he is afraid Abby won't let him near his daughters again once he realizes she's moving to Chesapeake Shores permanently.
He even tests out a restraining order against Trace to see if that'll work, not that it does. Also, personally, I think he was smart enough to talk it through with all parties involved before the whole O'Brien clan ganged up on him. He never would have survived THAT.
All this time, Trace is also trying to win Abby back, with more than a little help from matchmakers all around town, which include pretty much any senior member of the O'Brien family (gradmother Nell included), his own father, and everyone who's ever wished them well.
Talk about trying not to have a relationship when people've decided you're getting married!
Not that it matters much seeing as the spark is still there, and with Jess' inn finally safe and stable, her life on track with the employment move to Baltimore, personal move to Chesapeake Shores, Abby is finally ready to take the leap with Trace, who bought a house for the lot of them to live in. Being a graphic designer definitely works for him, too, as he can take his job anywhere he goes!
For the rest, Mick is definitely going to try and see if he can win his ex-wife back, Jess is sort of okay-ish with her mom now, Bree has problems of her own which cause her to move back, Connor is super busy becoming a lawyer, and Kevin is still overseas in Iraq.
The book itself was charming, it's one of those things I enjoy when you begin a new series, you get to meet all the characters, their dynamics, their surroundings; Woods has done a great job in bringing the dysfunctional O'Brien family to life, as well as placing them in the Chesapeake Bay area which only strengthens the imagination of the reader. Besides, coming from a large family myself (and definitely a loud one!) I can relate and understand a lot of what's going on between the lines.
That being said, however, I did want to slap Jess silly regardless of her ADD for being a brat pretty much all the time, and Trace was heading directly towards the chair I was holding up for a smack through most of the book with his covert bullying.
All that aside though, the matchmaking was funny and it just goes to show that while the main characters might carry the story, it's the supporting cast that brings it to life!
xx
*image not mine
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