Review: 3.5 stars for a fun, sweet romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 9, 2014
Fiona and Gavin may have shared the briefest of marriages, but it is clear that these two crazy kids belong together. If only there wasn’t the teensy matter of Gavin being about to get married to Fiona’s dreaded cousin Muireann.Fortunately, Fiona and Gavin are still married, a fact which may make Gavin at least temporarily Fiona’s, but which also makes the two of them the object of town gossip. Worse, it makes them the object of scorn and revenge from Fiona’s Uncle Bernard, Gavin’s would-be future father-in-law.The pull between Fiona and Gavin is stronger than either would like to acknowledge, and they struggle to fight it. Meanwhile, Uncle Bernard is determined to make their lives miserable. Fiona happens to uncover a mystery of sorts surrounding Uncle Bernard, which helps propel the story beyond that of a mere romance.One of the questions Fiona has to face is what she wants to do with her life. She’s about to take a year-long sabbatical to travel around Australia, but then she’s forced to stay in Ballybeg, a place she couldn’t wait to escape. What will she do when she’s finally able to head out on her trip? And what will she do about Gavin?There is some hot headboard rockin’ in here. What it lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality, though. Let’s just say that Gavin gives Fiona a reason or two (or more) to stick around.Zara Keane’s sense of location and characterization is spot on. She makes you feel like you’re in this small coastal town, and she makes you feel like you know the locals as well as Fiona and Gavin do. She also makes you care about her characters – even the crazy labradoodle. We know Fiona has some work to do. She needs to figure out what her future looks like and where it will take her, and we also know that she will find those answers in Ballybeg.If it occasionally feels like something you've read before, nevertheless this is a fun, charming romance, chock full of fun, charming characters.