Along the Rio Grande by Tracie Peterson

 

Tracie Peterson is back with new series, Love on the Santa Fe's, debut novel Along the Rio Grande. Fans of Peterson will find many familiar elements on these pages and a relatively easy read almost to the point of being forgettable.

Susanna Jenkins is a typical lead female for the genre. She's determined, levelheaded, kind, and had kept her faith through great loss. She's agreed to help her family learn how to survive after great losses financially and socially. All great elements but she really doesn't stand out among other female leads for good reasons, I was confused how she was lauded for her common sense but pours out her family's problems to the first handsome stranger. Much of the time she felt more a passenger in her life than a primary lead.

Gary's storyline has interesting potential in the young man trying to find his place in life but, like many of the plots in this novel, it felt spread too thin and not enough substance. While their parents did show more of their own motivations and struggles they were very unlikeable until the book's climax, so I personally didn't find that engaging either.

I guess I'm a little at a loss. I can see where Peterson has touched upon solid themes of starting over, redemption, and love in ways that have so much potential. But I also felt uncomfortable with her one secondary characters only memorable line being a  self directed racial insult and disconnected from storylines that felt like they could have mixed and matched any Peterson characters and still come out with a similar story.

I think Peterson fans will still enjoy Susanna's tale as the writing and themes are what you expect from Peterson. I just think, for me, I felt frustrated at the glimpses of depth I saw that never delivered.

3 out of 5 stars

Book was provided courtesy of Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. and Baker Publishing Group.

Sea Glass Cottage by Irene Hannon

 

Hannon is once again inviting readers to stop and rest in Hope Harbour. 

Sea Glass Cottage is the eighth outing by Hannon to this charming little town and returning readers will be thrilled to see that many of the characters who make up the heart and soul of HH are back for another tale.

Now, I will say as someone who has read most of the series (I believe 2 books slipped by me during busier seasons), this was the first book in the series that I really felt having read prior novels would add significant enjoyment to the story. So many of the little nods like Eleanor's cake, the town experts at the festival, the coffee shop, and Charley with the birds really build off prior novels and their stories. I'm not saying a new reader wouldn't enjoy Sea Glass Cottage but this would not be my top recommendation for introducing the series.

So, onto the story. First, Charley has been a favourite of mine since his first appearance in book one and I was thrilled to see him play a larger role in this story. His talks with Beth and Steve showed so much more of his character as did his scenes with Noah and I loved seeing Charley shine. I appreciated seeing Hannon dig a little more into Charley's quiet faith and his steadfast service to the town, Also, how can I get so happy over seeing that two fictional seagulls have not changed? Those birds always make me smile.

The primary storyline centering on Christi and Jack feels very familiar to Hope Harbour with it's centering themes of new beginnings, redemption, forgiveness, and of course romance. Honestly, I am always intrigued by Hannon's willingness to incorporate characters that don't fit the norm of her genre and her openness to tackling grief through the experiences of Steve, Hannah, Beth, and Jack were probably the most memorable scenes of the book for me. That said, there wasn't anything stand out about Christi and Jack for me this time and I can already see them fading into the quiet background of Hope Harbour in my memory.

While the story itself was a sweet and well wrapped up read, I felt that Hannon relied more on the familiar in this book. The faith topics felt a little more preachy than I remembered, the time jumps felt a little more jarring with weeks rushing by, the pacing just didn't match what I expected from Hannon or the series. 

For readers going through harder times I think it's worth mentioning that this novel does touch upon the sudden loss of an adult child, loss of a parent, foster care, and child abuse/bullying themes.

3.5 out of 5 stars.  

Book was provided courtesy of Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. and Baker Publishing Group.