TITLE: Barefoot Season
AUTHOR: Susan Mallery
PUBLICATION DATE: 03/27/12
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N | Powells
BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Michelle Sanderson may appear to be a strong, independent woman, but on the inside, she’s still the wounded girl who fled home years ago. A young army vet, Michelle returns to the quaint Blackberry Island Inn to claim her inheritance and recover from the perils of war. Instead, she finds the owner’s suite occupied by the last person she wants to see.
Carly Williams and Michelle were once inseparable, until a shocking betrayal destroyed their friendship. And now Carly is implicated in the financial disaster lurking behind the inn’s cheerful veneer.
Single mother Carly has weathered rumors, lies and secrets for a lifetime, and is finally starting to move forward with love and life. But if the Blackberry Island Inn goes under, Carly and her daughter will go with it.
To save their livelihoods, Carly and Michelle will undertake a turbulent truce. It’ll take more than a successful season to move beyond their devastating past, but with a little luck and a beautiful summer, they may just rediscover the friendship of a lifetime.
REVIEW PROVIDED BY: Kimberly Wise NUMBER OF STARS: 4 Stars
REVIEW:
For those of you that are fans of Susan Mallery’s and have become obsessed with her Fool’s Gold series (like myself) the first thing you realize is this is not the “Land of Happy Endings”. But Blackberry Island will have you wanting to visit all the same.
Michelle left her home 10 years ago after her life fell apart and she lost everyone she cared about including and probably most importantly her best friend Carly. Now Michelle returns from serving her country batter and bruised in more ways then one. She was shot in the hip and what she wants is a little bit of R&R (rest and recovery) at home on Blackberry Island. She needs a place to heal both physically and emotionally. However as the saying goes “you can never go home again”. When she returns to the Inn that was given to her by her father and was in trust until her mother died a few months ago she finds that everything has been changed and none of it for the good. And the worst part is that Carly has had a hand in all of it.
Carly has been running the inn under the assumption that she would grow into becoming a partner but when Michelle’s mother passes she learns the 10 years she has spent working her tail off was for nothing. Her biggest fear is losing her job and being homeless with her 9 year old daughter. She would do anything for her daughter. Even work beside Michelle, the woman who betrayed her so many years ago.
This book is not about romance but about relationships. The relationship between friends, parents and men and how having them and losing them define who we are. Usually when reading a romance you read both the man and woman point of view but this is about Michelle and Carly. This is their story and while romance is on the horizon it is not the focus of this novel. It is about lifelong friendships and how the decisions we make effect us for the rest of our lives. The book is also a look into the healing of a returning soldier but this time that soldier is a female which is different then so many novels out now. This is an incredible book told about women by a woman and meant to be read by every woman. We have all had that friendship we thought would last a lifetime. But for Carly and Michelle it didn’t.. or did it? Do not miss this book and while you are picking up this book pick up Mallery’s Fool’s Gold series… You will not be disappointed!
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