Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Evening Stars by Susan Mallery

 
Title: Evening Stars
By Susan Mallery
The Gist:
Nina has always been in charge.  She gave up her childhood to raise her sister, Averil, gave up her dreams so that Averil could have a chance at her own, and continued living with, and taking care of her mom instead of taking a chance at her own life.  Then everything changes.  Two men from Nina’s past come back into her life, both interested in pursuing a relationship with her, Averil takes a break from her husband and winds up back in Washington living in the family house, and the girls’ mom makes a discovery that could turn out to mend the family’s money problems, and help to fulfill all of their dreams for the future.
Now Nina needs to figure out if she can let go of control in her family for a chance to find the person that she truly wants to be, as opposed to the person that she feels obligated to be.
What I thought:
This was my first visit to Blackberry Island, but it definitely won’t be my last.  I enjoyed meeting the Wentworth family, and the Washington island/ small town setting was perfect for this story.  The characters were very well written, and Miss Mallery did a wonderful job switching between the different storylines seamlessly.
I related very well to the character of Nina, and her journey from trying to take care of everything for everyone to figuring out that she can let go in order to find her own happiness.  It’s funny how it takes reading about a character similar to yourself to realize that you might want to make some of the same changes. 
The character of Averil was harder for me to relate to, but that did not make her any less likable.  I did have a few problems with her until I realized that perhaps Nina’s attempted help was coming across as controlling and putting unintentional pressure upon the younger sister.
My favorite part of this story however was the love story.  I enjoyed seeing how Nina’s confidence grew with these two men’s interest in her, and I really appreciated how there wasn’t a bad guy, forcing Nina to choose based solely on her heart.  The love that grows is a beautiful slow deep connection that I don’t see a lot in books.
This novel was wonderfully written, full of family, love, and even a few margaritas.  I have already purchased the other Blackberry Island books, and cannot wait to return and see what else Miss Mallery has in store!

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