Happy Literary Friday!
It has been a great short week. We stayed at the lake through Tuesday and went on a field trip to an art exposure class at Auburn University Tuesday afternoon.
Isn't the cover shown above pretty? I saw this book at the library last week, and the cover caught my attention (I admit that I'm a sucker for a pretty book cover).
The Guest Cottage by Nancy Thayer was the perfect read for Labor Day Weekend: the perfect ending to the unofficial close of summer.
Sophie Anderson is a thirty-six year old soon to be single mom. She has a fifteen year old son named Jonah and a ten year old daughter named Lacey. When her husband confronts her and asks for a divorce, she's blindsided although no one else seems surprised. Not one hundred percent happy in her marriage with her architect husband Zack, she has felt fulfilled if not content. With summer quickly approaching, Sophie decides to rent her friend Susie Swenson's Nantucket guest cottage for the months of July and August. She wants to spare her children from her husband's moving in with his partner and mistress.
Thirty year old Trevor Black, a software entrepreneur, widower, and father to preschooler Leo, is desperate. Leo is showing signs of obsessive compulsive disorder, and both he and Trevor are not coping very well with Trevor's wife Tallulah's tragic heroine overdose. A flighty actress, Tallulah never adjusted well to motherhood, yet both Trevor and Leo have mourned her death since the previous November. When Trevor's friend Ivan Swenson offers him a steal of a deal on his family's rambling guest cottage on Nantucket Island (Ivan needs fast funding for a trip to India), Trevor jumps at the chance for a change of scenery for himself and his grieving son.
Unfortunately, Susie and her cousin Ivan don't communicate very well. The cottage has been double-booked!
Sophie and Trevor decide to share the home (and chores) as it's large enough for both families. They become attracted to each other in spite of distractions from visiting friends, family, and Nantucket acquaintances. They reluctantly fall in love, and as the end of August approaches, Sophie and Trevor must decide if there's a next step once the families ferry back to Boston.
I loved this book! Each character is well drawn. I like Trevor's confidence and vulnerability, but I don't think he's as well-defined as Sophie. Sophie truly blossoms and starts enjoying music again after many years of not playing the piano. The reader is given insight to her past which explains her actions in certain situations. Plus the setting is dreamy: I would love to travel to Nantucket and visit the places mentioned in the book. I wonder if some or most are fictitious. I'd love the opportunity to visit the island and find out for myself!
Why I'm giving the book four out of five stars: It bothers me that there are a couple of editing mistakes. For example, Sophie arrived in Nantucket in an SUV, yet later everyone piles into her minivan. Another thing that bothered me is Sophie's making such a big deal about the six year age difference between herself and Trevor.
Have you read any of Nancy Thayer's books? This is the first one of her books I've read, and I'd like to know which ones I should read next.
Don't forget that this is a link party!
Until next time...
Happy reading!
Ricki Jill