Wednesday, October 2, 2013

CASTAWAY COVE by JoAnn Ross

A Shelter Bay Novel
Signet
August 6th, 2013
978-0-451-24000-2
Contemporary Romance
Paperback ARC
Reviewed by Dawn (love2read28@gmail.com)
Obtained by Publisher
4 Hearts

 
When Mac Culhane comes back from the war zone, he finds his marriage imploded by his tours and a wife who decides she has had enough. Without a backward glance, Mac finds he is now a single father to their daughter and he has no idea what to do. Moving to Shelter Bay sounded like a good thing. He has a late night dj-ing job, has family nearby to help him if the need rises and slowly Mac is finding his way again. But when he connects with a radio caller one night, he finds himself looking forward to her calls even as he has no idea who she is.

Annie Shephard is trying to start over after her painful divorce. Turning her love of scrap booking into a small shop in Shelter Bay, Annie finds her life has meaning, with new friends, volunteering and listening to Mac’s late night show on the radio. When Annie impulsively calls in one night, she finds a man who just might show this gun-shy woman that love is the richest prize over all. Can Mac and Annie find a way to listen to their hearts and let themselves fall in love?

I love the Shelter Bay series. JoAnn Ross delivers another perfect addition to the series when we are introduced to the two new residents’ there-Mac and Annie. Both have baggage and are trying to get back on their feet again. The connection between these two characters is a joy to read. Ms. Ross captures Mac and Annie’s anxiety about the new town, loneliness each feels and I loved the interactions each had with the residents of Shelter Bay. It was a pleasure to read about past characters and to meet some new ones that had me intrigued. Ms. Ross delivers a story where she lets the characters tell their story in their own way. What I loved the most was that the author didn’t do the whole “poor me” angle but let the characters talk over their concerns and work them out over the course of a few pages or so. It made the story feel more life-like and real to me. The writing is top-notch and the story flows at a nice even pace.

It is the characters of this series that draws in the readers. From macho, tough alpha heroes to the women who tame them, Ms. Ross delivers a wide diverse cast of characters to fall in love with. She captures the essence of small town life perfectly with each book in the series and I for one, can’t wait to see who else shows up in Shelter Bay though a few secondary characters just need their own happy ever after in my opinion. All the characters are well written, multi-dimensional characters that jump off the pages while I was reading CASTAWAY COVE. With each page, I got lost more and more into this story and Shelter Bay as a whole, flipping the pages quickly to see what would happen next to these wonderful characters. Ms. Ross delivers another heart warming story in her acclaimed Shelter Bay series that is very engrossing.

If you are looking for a series where small town life is captured beautifully, with characters that steal your heart and stories that are full of heart, then grab Ms. Ross’s Shelter Bay series. Even though CASTAWAY COVE can be read as a standalone title, I recommend reading from the beginning to get the full effect of this charming small town. I look forward to more from this author in the future. I just hope I won’t be waiting forever for the next book in the series.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement

 

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