Family, wounded hearts, and a Texas bed-and-breakfast are
in need of repair in New York Times bestselling author Carolyn Brown's inviting
novel about down-home comfort and second chances.
Cousins Tabby and Ellie Mae are due for a change. Running
their aunt's beachfront bed-and-breakfast in Sandcastle, Texas, is just the
thing to shake things up…though their lives spin out of control in more ways
than one when a hurricane barrels into the coastline. It's a miracle it didn't
carry them off to Kansas. Not so lucky are the assisted-living center and a
small eclectic group of local folks who take shelter with the cousins.
Two estranged sisters, rowdy as a circus, need a referee
for a battle that goes back decades. And a pair of veterans, best friends for
years, hash out bittersweet old times. There's also handyman Alex LaSalle and
his business partner, Ricky, experts at repairing the hurricane's damage -- and
at making Tabby's and Ellie Mae's hearts beat a little faster.
As unpredictable, crowded, and stormy as it gets, the
Sandcastle B and B is still the perfect harbor for healing past wounds, finding
romance, and making up for lost time. Add in Tabby's homemade pecan pie, and
the Texas shore feels like a little slice of paradise.
A heartwarming story of family, friendship, and love that
brings together a diverse group of people, young and old. Tabby and Ellie Mae
are cousins who are more like sisters. As children, they spent summers with
their Aunt Charlotte in Sandcastle, Texas. Both women experience grief and loss
and are at crossroads in their lives because of it. In serendipitous timing,
Aunt Charlotte decides to retire from running her B & B and move to
Colorado, leaving Tabby and Ellie Mae to run the business.
They've only been there a few weeks when Hurricane
Delilah sets her sights on Sandcastle. The book opens as the women make
preparations for the storm. Aunt Charlotte calls to tell them she's sending
help in the form of handyman Alex LaSalle, who will stay at the house and take
care of the generator and repairs. She also tells them that he will bring four local
assisted living center residents with nowhere else to go. The hope is that they
will be able to return to the center after the storm, but the reality becomes
quite different.
The four oldsters are Chloe, Maude, Frank, and Homer.
Chloe is a woman who has lived life on her terms. She ran off and joined a
carnival as a teenager, met and married her husband there, and ended up owning
the whole shebang. She is fun and full of life and loves pushing the buttons of
a fellow resident, Maude. Maude is an uptight and bitter woman who can't seem
to find a nice thing to say about anyone, especially Chloe. It isn't until
halfway through the book that we learn of the connection between the two and
what has caused their enmity. Frank and Homer are childhood friends and
veterans who went to Vietnam together, then built a business together after
their return. They are kind-hearted, reasonable men who provide a sense of calm
around their more volatile friends.
Alex is a longtime friend of Aunt Charlotte's who has
helped her during previous storms. He also has a history with Tabby, with whom
he shared a first kiss when they were teenagers. Alex is an all-around nice guy
who fits in well with the rest of the crowd. He is also an excellent cook and
shares kitchen duties with Tabby. They are initially wary around each other,
but it doesn't take long for their old friendship to reassert itself. It is
quickly apparent that Alex has feelings for Tabby, but she's still struggling
with the death of her daughter.
Ellie Mae struggles with the recent loss of her best
friend, Sam. Despite their different sexes and races, they had been best
friends and roommates for many years. Having the B & B gave Ellie Mae a
purpose to keep her from wallowing in her grief. I liked watching her throw
herself into the repair work after the storm, keeping her mind and hands busy.
When Alex brings in his friend Ricky to help with the work, Ellie Mae finds a
gentle and sympathetic listener for her Sam stories. I liked watching her grief
ease as she got to know Ricky.
The story is full of laughs and tears as these eight people
(plus a stray dog, a mama cat, and her kittens) learn to coexist and cooperate
to meet a common goal. There are stories and secrets shared over pie and glasses
of sweet tea, advice given and taken along with milk and cookies, and a family
forged over shared meals and work. I loved the contrast between the forged
family and the blood family. Tabby and Ellie Mae come from families whose
members are more interested in appearances than genuine caring. When those
families descended on the B & B for the traditional Thanksgiving dinner,
they got more than they bargained for. I laughed out loud as I watched Tabby
and Ellie Mae turn the tables on their obnoxious families and send them running
for cover.
With the assisted living center destroyed, our four
seniors propose paying Tabby and Ellie Mae to live at the B & B permanently.
Several twists led to a change in plans, and I loved watching their vision come
to fruition. I loved seeing the changes in everyone by the end of the book. The
epilogue was excellent, and I enjoyed seeing the results of their hard work,
physically and emotionally.
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