Review: California dreamin'
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 29, 2012
California Sunset is a quiet, lovely book. Although billed as a romance, it's really more women's fiction with strong romantic elements. There is a sweet romance between Annie and John, a Montana cowboy and bookworm who has bought an independent bookstore near Santa Cruz as a change of pace after his wife dies. However, the real story is about how Annie comes to terms with her past, her present and her future. Annie is a single mom, tech industry project manager living on the CA central coast, near Santa Cruz and working in Silicon Valley. Her ex is an alcoholic who can barely support himself, so when she's faced with the choice of relocating to NJ to save her job, or accepting a layoff, she immediately concludes that she has to take the transfer in order to keep her medical benefits and provide financial stability for herself and her son. Since her son is 15 and a soccer player on his high school team, needless to say, he has no desire to move across the country. Right in the middle of all this, she meets John. He is immediately attracted to her and pursues her (very sweetly) even though she repeatedly warns him off due to her imminent job transfer. Her heart, as well as her family and friends, all want her to stay in CA, but her practical mind tells her that moving is the only choice.The book was well-written and edited. The dialog flowed nicely, and as a resident of CA myself, I thought that the descriptions of the central coast were perfect. It was refreshing to read a story about an ordinary worker in Silicon Valley. Her struggles with the high cost of living, commuting "over the hill" from Santa Cruz to San Jose, her use of a life coach and a body worker (massage therapist), and just the general tenor of life out on the west coast all rang true to me. I would recommend the book without hesitation.