Sarah's Library

This is one of my favourites from the Shelter Bay series - on par with the first book from the series that I read, One Summer.  The connection between Mac and Annie is much stronger and feels like it goes deeper than it does for most of the other couples featured in the previous Shelter Bay novels.  The romance was much more evident than I've come to expect from this series, starting with a laugh out loud scene in Annie's scrapbooking store with Annie's sales assistant and a pair of tourist-bus little old ladies whispering in the background.  I loved the feeling of keeping the family together with the three generations of the Culhane family living under the one roof and the fourth not far away.  I liked the way Emma was such a strong little girl, able to stand up for her family and understand right and wrong at such a young age.  I got frustrated on behalf of Charlie having to deal with Alzheimer's and it gave me concerns for how I would deal with a similar situation with my own parents - I would hate to see my highly intelligent chemical engineer father unable to remember his children's names or what he did yesterday.

As usual I enjoyed the continuing theme of following up on previous characters and where they are with their relationships - married, children, etc - and the small town where everyone knows your name feeling that Ross's books always revolve around.  Even when I haven't enjoyed the romance between the main characters the small town feeling is still there, making even my least enjoyed book still worth reading just for the atmosphere.