Veena’s review of That Chesapeake Summer (Chesapeake Diaries, Book 9) by Mariah Stewart
Contemporary Romance published by Pocket Books 23 Jun 15
While I enjoy these sweet romantic stories from the Chesapeake Diaries, I do miss the thrills and chills of the romantic suspense thrillers that were my introduction to Ms. Stewart’s writing. As I wander through the town of St. Denis having coffee, visiting the new art gallery or the historical society, or getting a scoop of ice-cream and gawk at the rich and famous visitors from the author’s imagination, I keep waiting for a murder or kidnapping to spice it up a bit. Having said that, there are definitely otherworldly elements at play from the psychic old lady who gives Jamie a cryptic message about her future to…
Jamie is in St. Denis to unravel the secrets of her past that have been kept hidden from her all her life. Her first acquaintance is with widower and local inn owner Daniel Sinclair, who has been betrayed by the secrets in the past and abhors secrets. As their relationship moves from antagonistic to friendly, clearly we know there’s going to be trouble when all is revealed, which is sure to happen at the most inconvenient time.
Jamie snoops around the town looking for her birth mother, her adoption being a secret that her parents had kept until their deaths. Suddenly her loving relationships are suspect, which is a huge problem for someone who makes their living from transparency and truthfulness. She struggles to come to terms with her past, seeking answers through the historical society and in old copies of the town newspaper. Along the way she makes friends, Dan’s children, especially his daughter who’s struggling to get her Dad to accept that she’s sixteen and not six, and his mother who’s her biggest fan and knows all her secrets.
I thoroughly enjoyed the unraveling and the unveiling as Jamie works through the clues that Grace puts before her and starts to fall in love with Dan. I will admit to being disappointed that Captain Tom’s ghost doesn’t visit Jamie or have any revelations for her, but, other than that, I think Ms. Stewart does a great job of getting cryptic messages across to her anyway.
This is a well-told story with excellent pacing and smooth development on the romantic front. I think this might actually be one of my favorites in the series.
Grade: A
Summary:
Jamie Valentine is the wildly successful author of self-help books advocating transparency in every relationship. But when her widowed mother passes away unexpectedly, Jamie discovers her own life has been based on a lie. Angry and deeply betrayed, she sets out to find the truth—which may be in a small town on the Chesapeake Bay. Cutting her most recent book tour short, Jamie books a room at the Inn at Sinclair’s Point, just outside St. Dennis.
The death of Daniel Sinclair’s father forced him to take over the family inn, and his wife’s death left him a single parent of two children, so there’s little room for anything else in his life. His lovely new guest is intriguing, though, and he’s curious about the secret she’s clearly hiding. But in the end, Jamie and Dan could discover the greatest truth of all: that the search for one thing just might lead to the find of a lifetime—if you keep your heart open.
No excerpt available.
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