Sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne, each in her forties, reunite in the small coastal Maine town where they grew up for their mother’s funeral. The women had had a tempestuous relationship their entire lives, but it’s escalated into all-out war over the past eighteen years. As a condition of their mother’s will, each has to move back to their family home for one year. They bring emotional as well as physical baggage as they return to the town, and to the men of Puffin Bay.
Sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronson, each in her forties, are in Puffin Bay, ME for their mother's funeral and to sink their claws into the fortune each expects to inherit. But their mother has other plans. Her substantial fortune won't be divided until the trio return to their childhood home and live together for a year.
It's a request that pits sister against sister but could unite them in a common goal to find the friendship they shared as children, to create a family jewelry business and to win over the men of Puffin Bay. They have a year to figure it all out.
Excerpt
Charlotte brought her binoculars up, searching the ocean for the only boat on the water that mattered to her. Nothing yet, but soon, The Brontë, and Gray would be on their way home, and coming to her. She didn’t need visual proof that he was coming into shore. She knew. Her skin got goosebumps, which had nothing to do with the breeze coming in from the water.
Charlotte’s heart constricted with a twinge of loneliness. The keen sense of loss was something Gray certainly would understand. For the first time in her life, her mother would not inhabit the house with her, tidying the comfortable rooms, taking care of everyone and making them feel at home. Her mother was gone forever. She needed Gray to help take away the feeling that she was all alone. She needed Gray, plain and simple.
For the next several days she would fulfill the role of hostess to her two sisters, who were returning home for the somber event of laying their mother to rest. As the eldest, Charlotte accepted the mantle that fell on her shoulders, although she was not looking forward to it. Their mother had been the one to keep the lines of communication open between the three of them, and Charlotte now wondered what would happen to them. Certainly, she had no plans to talk to her sisters, beyond what was necessary this week.
Professional Reviews
Truly Unique Contemporary Romance
My complete lack of real-life focus for the duration of reading this book can definitely be blamed on Blame it on the Brontes. What a wonderful escape! This book is three novellas in one--something a publisher may be tempted to divide. It was the absolute right decision to include Charlotte, Emily, and Anne's stories in one volume. While they were three separate stories, the thread woven through them all and tying them together is so beautiful. I cannot imagine the sorrow of not seeing these sisters together in one tome. With each sister's story, I found myself thinking - this one, she is my favorite. No SHE is my favorite - in the end, they are all my favorites in their unique ways. Becky Lower managed to create three distinct heroines with three distinct voices and personalities, and the fact that all three were seeking the same thing, though they did not realize it until the end, speaks volumes about the human experience and what we all can achieve if we're willing to bind together and forget the things that no longer matter--if, indeed, they mattered at all. Overcoming what is THOUGHT to be desirable in the favor of what is true is this book's ultimate theme, and home is truly where the heart is. In the beautiful words of Lower's closing line: "The path to true love begins at the front door."
Refreshing
It has been awhile since I have read a book that is steeped in reconciliation and second chances. This book was beautifully written and I love the interaction between the sisters.
It was like a breath of fresh air to realize that these women were older and had made mistakes and were looking for their chance at love, romance and discovering their sisters again. I know how devastating the loss of a relationship with a sibling can be and when you throw in a fortune, lets just say that I am surprised there wasn't a hitman on retainer! :) These women were strong and loving once they were back on track together.
Puffin Bay sounds like an amazing area and the author has a true talent for bringing the reader to the book. I wasn't sure how this story would flow with the perspective of all the sisters but I loved it.
A Fabulous Book About The Importance of Family
As a huge fan of Ms. Lower's American historical Cotillion Ball Series novels, I was eager to read her first contemporary story. Not surprisingly, I loved it, as I have loved all her books prior to this one. Ms. Lower has proven her talent for creating vivid settings and complex characters over and over - and this tale of sibling rivalry, as well as of both long-lost and new loves is exactly what I have come to expect from this gifted author. Set in the small Maine town of Puffin Bay, three drastically different sisters - Charlotte, Emily & Anne Bronson - are brought together by the terms of their mother's will after years apart and a falling out between two of the three girls. Written in three parts, from each of the sister's perspectives, the novel follows the Bronson girls as they find peace, forgiveness and love. Each section serves to bring the individual sisters' personalities alive. The reader obtains such a deep, intimate knowledge of each of them, that despite some very real nastiness between them early on, you cannot help but root for each to find happiness in the end. Not to mention, Ms. Lower has a way of placing the reader right in the middle of Puffin Bay with the long-time residents of this ocean side town - so much so that you can smell the fresh lobster and sea air. I literally felt like I took a trip to Maine reading this novel! A fabulous book about the importance of family and second chances - recommended without hesitation to anyone looking for a story with substance from an author who knows what her readers want!
When Sophie Bayles inadvertently ruins a young man’s chance for employment, she sets out to find him a new position. Even though he doesn’t want her to.
