margreads's review against another edition
3.0
Didn't feel a lot of chemistry between Clay and Lucy and thought a lot of the event planning stuff got in the way of the story. Also, found the fact that the story would jump forward in time without any kind of notice a bit distracting
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Lucy Sinclair is a successful wedding planner based in Los Angeles. She comes back to her hometown of St Dennis infrequently, claiming to be too busy with her business to come more regularly, but when she gets offered the chance to do a second celebrity wedding in town, she knows that the time has come when she has to face her demons, for the summer at least.
Clay Madison never quite figured out what happened with his friendship with Lucy. She was his best friend until something happened, and he had no clue what, and then she left town as soon as she could cutting nearly all ties. Now Clay is an organic farmer, working on a partnership to develop organic beers with Wade. Life is good for Clay, but he still thinks of Lucy as his what-if woman. When she comes back to town, he takes his chances to be with her, but she is so busy that it is difficult to find time, and she is so reluctant to talk about what changed between them all those years ago.
Whereas most of the other romances developed over a relatively short period, this one took longer to develop, which I think was the right thing to do for these two people, but I did find it distracting that the story jumped forward weeks at a time without any real indication to the reader and I do think think that the fact that I didn't really feel the chemistry between the two of them wasn't helped by the slowness of their relationship.
Rating 3/5
See my thoughts on the first five books in the series here:
http://www.theintrepidreader.com/2013/02/the-chesapeake-diaries-series-by-mariah.html
*************************
Lucy Sinclair is a successful wedding planner based in Los Angeles. She comes back to her hometown of St Dennis infrequently, claiming to be too busy with her business to come more regularly, but when she gets offered the chance to do a second celebrity wedding in town, she knows that the time has come when she has to face her demons, for the summer at least.
Clay Madison never quite figured out what happened with his friendship with Lucy. She was his best friend until something happened, and he had no clue what, and then she left town as soon as she could cutting nearly all ties. Now Clay is an organic farmer, working on a partnership to develop organic beers with Wade. Life is good for Clay, but he still thinks of Lucy as his what-if woman. When she comes back to town, he takes his chances to be with her, but she is so busy that it is difficult to find time, and she is so reluctant to talk about what changed between them all those years ago.
Whereas most of the other romances developed over a relatively short period, this one took longer to develop, which I think was the right thing to do for these two people, but I did find it distracting that the story jumped forward weeks at a time without any real indication to the reader and I do think think that the fact that I didn't really feel the chemistry between the two of them wasn't helped by the slowness of their relationship.
Rating 3/5
See my thoughts on the first five books in the series here:
http://www.theintrepidreader.com/2013/02/the-chesapeake-diaries-series-by-mariah.html
allingoodtime's review
2.0
I hate that I'm having such a hard time with this series. It's so odd to me that I love the characters but have such a hard time getting through their stories.
I'm sure one of the reasons for the plodding pacing of these books is the extra words. So many unnecessary words! This book is almost 400 pages and could have easily been less than 300. "Brooke started the van and drove to the end of Cherry Street, then made a left onto Charles." In no way did the route Brooke was taking have any bearing whatsoever on this story. And since this is book 5, we pretty much know the lay of the land. Then there are the ones like this: "Lucy placed her bag on a side table while she put on her coat." It makes the reader think there will be some significance later about her putting her bag down. Is she going to forget it and have to go back? I somebody going to steal it? Will her wallet drop out of it? Nope! Apparently, Mariah Stewart does not trust her readers enough for her to think we KNOW Lucy is going to put her purse down before trying to shove her arm into her coat. I could go on and on (and on and on) with the examples of unnecessary words.
Then there was the fact that, about 3/4 of the way through the book, Lucy tells Clay about her family inn. Basically a verbal tour about the views and such. This really confused me since they've known each other since they were 5 and he used to hang out at the inn after school pretty much every day while they were growing up. If the author wants to give the reader a visual of the space (again, this is book 5 and should not really be needed) then shouldn't the history and tour of the inn been written with another character earlier in the book? Say, the bride-to-be who is hiring Lucy and the inn for her wedding. That would have at least made sense.
I feel like I'm being super negative about this book and I really don't mean to be. Believe it or not, I actually plan to read the next book. I think I'll take a bit of a break from St. Dennis first. But I will read it eventually. Like I said at the beginning. I really like the characters. And I love the town, too. That's why these books are driving me so bonkers!
I'm sure one of the reasons for the plodding pacing of these books is the extra words. So many unnecessary words! This book is almost 400 pages and could have easily been less than 300. "Brooke started the van and drove to the end of Cherry Street, then made a left onto Charles." In no way did the route Brooke was taking have any bearing whatsoever on this story. And since this is book 5, we pretty much know the lay of the land. Then there are the ones like this: "Lucy placed her bag on a side table while she put on her coat." It makes the reader think there will be some significance later about her putting her bag down. Is she going to forget it and have to go back? I somebody going to steal it? Will her wallet drop out of it? Nope! Apparently, Mariah Stewart does not trust her readers enough for her to think we KNOW Lucy is going to put her purse down before trying to shove her arm into her coat. I could go on and on (and on and on) with the examples of unnecessary words.
Then there was the fact that, about 3/4 of the way through the book, Lucy tells Clay about her family inn. Basically a verbal tour about the views and such. This really confused me since they've known each other since they were 5 and he used to hang out at the inn after school pretty much every day while they were growing up. If the author wants to give the reader a visual of the space (again, this is book 5 and should not really be needed) then shouldn't the history and tour of the inn been written with another character earlier in the book? Say, the bride-to-be who is hiring Lucy and the inn for her wedding. That would have at least made sense.
I feel like I'm being super negative about this book and I really don't mean to be. Believe it or not, I actually plan to read the next book. I think I'll take a bit of a break from St. Dennis first. But I will read it eventually. Like I said at the beginning. I really like the characters. And I love the town, too. That's why these books are driving me so bonkers!
krazyizkool's review against another edition
5.0
So good! I missed some characters so much! I'm a little sad that we didn't get to catch up with old characters as much, and I kinda feel upset that we didn't get to "be there" for a certain wedding... But knowing it was nice and intimate is encouraging. It had some more-than-usual painful things to deal with. But well worth the happy ending.
pattydsf's review
3.0
I am pretty sure that I got this book from a Giveaway from Good Reads and I am very grateful. I had never read Mariah Stewart and I was missing a good author. Also I was missing a fun series set on the Chesapeake Bay, a place I love.
This was a nice, light romance which had childhood friends reuniting and falling in love. The setting was well described, the community setting was nice and all in all it was a good read. I liked the fact that I did not have to read the series to understand this one book.
My only issue with the book was the fact that the problem that had kept Lucy Sinclair away from her hometown was very simply explained away. Given the serious nature of her issues, (spoiler alert) she had been raped, this seemed a bit disingenuous. I know that romances do not always deal with such dilemmas, but I still think that rape deserves more serious attention.
I am still, however, glad I had the chance to read Mariah Stewart. Thank you, Good Reads.
This was a nice, light romance which had childhood friends reuniting and falling in love. The setting was well described, the community setting was nice and all in all it was a good read. I liked the fact that I did not have to read the series to understand this one book.
My only issue with the book was the fact that the problem that had kept Lucy Sinclair away from her hometown was very simply explained away. Given the serious nature of her issues, (spoiler alert) she had been raped, this seemed a bit disingenuous. I know that romances do not always deal with such dilemmas, but I still think that rape deserves more serious attention.
I am still, however, glad I had the chance to read Mariah Stewart. Thank you, Good Reads.
margreads's review
3.0
Didn't feel a lot of chemistry between Clay and Lucy and thought a lot of the event planning stuff got in the way of the story. Also, found the fact that the story would jump forward in time without any kind of notice a bit distracting
*************************
Lucy Sinclair is a successful wedding planner based in Los Angeles. She comes back to her hometown of St Dennis infrequently, claiming to be too busy with her business to come more regularly, but when she gets offered the chance to do a second celebrity wedding in town, she knows that the time has come when she has to face her demons, for the summer at least.
Clay Madison never quite figured out what happened with his friendship with Lucy. She was his best friend until something happened, and he had no clue what, and then she left town as soon as she could cutting nearly all ties. Now Clay is an organic farmer, working on a partnership to develop organic beers with Wade. Life is good for Clay, but he still thinks of Lucy as his what-if woman. When she comes back to town, he takes his chances to be with her, but she is so busy that it is difficult to find time, and she is so reluctant to talk about what changed between them all those years ago.
Whereas most of the other romances developed over a relatively short period, this one took longer to develop, which I think was the right thing to do for these two people, but I did find it distracting that the story jumped forward weeks at a time without any real indication to the reader and I do think think that the fact that I didn't really feel the chemistry between the two of them wasn't helped by the slowness of their relationship.
Rating 3/5
See my thoughts on the first five books in the series here:
http://www.theintrepidreader.com/2013/02/the-chesapeake-diaries-series-by-mariah.html
*************************
Lucy Sinclair is a successful wedding planner based in Los Angeles. She comes back to her hometown of St Dennis infrequently, claiming to be too busy with her business to come more regularly, but when she gets offered the chance to do a second celebrity wedding in town, she knows that the time has come when she has to face her demons, for the summer at least.
Clay Madison never quite figured out what happened with his friendship with Lucy. She was his best friend until something happened, and he had no clue what, and then she left town as soon as she could cutting nearly all ties. Now Clay is an organic farmer, working on a partnership to develop organic beers with Wade. Life is good for Clay, but he still thinks of Lucy as his what-if woman. When she comes back to town, he takes his chances to be with her, but she is so busy that it is difficult to find time, and she is so reluctant to talk about what changed between them all those years ago.
Whereas most of the other romances developed over a relatively short period, this one took longer to develop, which I think was the right thing to do for these two people, but I did find it distracting that the story jumped forward weeks at a time without any real indication to the reader and I do think think that the fact that I didn't really feel the chemistry between the two of them wasn't helped by the slowness of their relationship.
Rating 3/5
See my thoughts on the first five books in the series here:
http://www.theintrepidreader.com/2013/02/the-chesapeake-diaries-series-by-mariah.html
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