#AmReading

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Our Place on the Island by Erika Montgomery
Published by St. Martin's Griffin on June 13, 2023
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Fiction

Goodreads

For decades, the Campbell women have reunited at the family’s rambling seaside cottage known as Beech House to celebrate life’s many occasions. But this year, they will be called back to Martha's Vineyard for a celebration of a different their beloved matriarch Cora is getting remarried. And all the town gossips are calling him the one who got away, years ago…

For renowned chef Mickey Campbell, this wedding isn’t just a welcome excuse to return to the place she first learned to cook at her grandmother’s side. It’s also a chance to regroup while she figures out a way to tell her smoldering head chef boyfriend that she’s mismanaged their restaurant into the red.

Mickey’s mother, Hedy, is still mourning the passing of her adored father three years earlier, and she isn’t sure she’s ready to welcome a new man into the fold―and she’s not certain her own thorny relationship with her mother will weather the storm of her upcoming marriage.

But everyone knows a woman’s heart holds more than meets the eye. For Cora, drawing her daughter and granddaughter back to Beech House isn’t just about a ceremony, but a chance to reveal a history she has kept close to her heart for decades. As the days leading up to the wedding unfold, secrets of Cora’s past come to light-- a secret that will cause three generations of Campbell women to question marriage, motherhood, and ultimately learn to savor the delicious joy of following your own heart.

Told in dual timelines on the sumptuous beaches of Martha's Vineyard, OUR PLACE ON THE ISLAND is the sparkling, romantic read of the season.

A wedding brings three generations of women back to the island, and it's there that they find clarity, peace, and direction.

This was an interesting and beautiful multigenerational story of three women trying to find their place. My romantic heart loved the idea of Cora marrying Max fifty years after her first summer on the island. That summer was presented to me via flashbacks and helped me understand Cora's relationship with Max and the island. He was her lifeline when she was struggling to fit in with the island's wealthy elites while keeping her husband happy. It was a difficult time for her that was made a bit easier with Max's companionship.

Though Cora's personal journey was mostly told via flashbacks, Hedy and Mickey's played out in the present day. I have to say, I was happy that Hedy was able to finally find some peace with those bits of her past she never fully understood. It was an important part of her healing process.

And Mickey's storyline brought me so much joy. She came to the island with the weight of a business and relationship troubles on her shoulders. The island was a happy place for her, so it wasn't surprising that she was able to work through those difficulties there.

The best was seeing these three women rally for each other. As with most families, their relationships were a bit complicated. However, there was love, and it showed in their actions. At the end of this book, I was so hopeful for this family and these women, and it was a pleasure to take this journey with them.

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A Love Catastrophe by Helena Hunting
Published by Forever on June 13, 2023
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Goodreads

The fur is about to fly between a cheerful cat sitter and a grumpy hockey nerd in this hilarious and charming rom-com by the New York Times bestselling author of Meet Cute .

Kitty Hart has become internet famous as the Kitty Whisperer for her expertise on all things feline, and as a result, her cat-sitting business is booming. But lately, she has a terrible feeling that maybe her life isn’t quite going where it’s supposed to—especially after falling face-first into her newest client. Not exactly the best first impression .

Fortunately, Miles Thorn is just as bad at first impressions. Strike he doesn’t like cats, especially Prince Francis, the haughty and mischievous Sphynx his mom left in his care. Strike tackling Kitty to the floor in a misguided attempt to save the pet he continually calls “the gremlin.”

As awkwardness slides into attraction and things start to turn purr-sonal, will these two complete opposites ever be able to find their furry-tail ending?

Miles needed assistance looking after his mother's surly cat, Prince Francis, and called on the Kitty Whisperer for help. What got off to a rocky start turned into something quite wonderful for everyone involved.

A Love Catastrophe did its job. It made me laugh, shed a few tears, and warmed my heart. This is a Hunting book, so I expected lots of laughs. Many of those came via fun and cute animal antics which is something I adore. But the book also had a bit of emotional heft.

Both Kitty and Miles were weighed down by guilt and grief, and Miles also had the extra stress of his mother's health issues. There were these parallels in both Kitty and Miles' situations that made their union seem almost fated by the universe. They were put in each other's orbits for a reason. To help and support each other, and that's sort of beautiful. Though the storyline with Miles' mother was rather heartbreaking, Hunting eased my woe in many ways while also injecting a lot of levity into the story for an overall lighter-side feel.

This book was for the pet lovers out there. There was quite a bit of time dedicated to spending time with a multitude of animals, and I was charmed by them all. Nothing like some love, pets, and toe beans to make my heart pitter-patter.

I adored watching Miles and Kitty fall for each other and appreciated the care and support they gave to each other. Animal hijinks and a super-sweet-aww-shucks ending were the icing on the cake for me. Overall, this was a warm and wonderful story that spoke to my inner cat lady and left me warm and fuzzy.

*ARCS PROVIDED BY THE PUBLISHER

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