#39: The Inn at Rose Harbor by Debbie Macomber

Last year in August, I was devastated as I read Debbie Macomber's last ever Cedar Cove book.  I was not alone.  Readers world-wide sent letters and emails because they were so sad that the series was over.  In response, Macomber created a spin-off series, using some of her favorite characters from Cedar Cove but going in a different direction.  The Inn at Rose Harbor is the first book in this new series. 

I excitedly bought the book on release day and then it sat on my night table for weeks, as release day happened to coincide with my girls return home from their grandparents and my return to school.  I just finished the book this past Sunday.  It took me almost a month to read a book that should've taken me two days.  Work is interfering with my reading plans again!  At this rate, I'll never read 52 books this year!  Oh well. 

So, here are my thoughts about this new series.  First, I love the love story between Jo Marie and her husband.  But, love is never easy and simple so while I love the love story, I do not love the result.  Second, I love hearing bits and pieces from the Cedar Cove residents that I have learned to love over the years (but so far it's not enough to make me completely happy).  Third, and most importantly, I am not sure if I can read book after book about Jo Marie and the people who visit her Bed and Breakfast.  They all make me sad.

The premise of the book is that Jo Marie opens the Inn to help her heal (I won't tell you why she's healing) and that the people who come to her inn need to heal, too.  The first two characters, Abby and Josh, and their stories are just so sad that I found myself not anxious to read the book because I knew it was going to make me sad.  Obviously, the stories do not end in a sad way, but after reading the book it occurred to me that each book in the series was going to follow the same pattern (and Jo Marie alludes to this in the last chapter so I am not making this idea up) and that reading the same sort of book over and over again was going to bother and bore me.  I think I will give the series one more chance, but if the next book (to be released next August) follows the same pattern, I might have to call it quits.

My next book is the first in a new Nora Roberts trilogy.  It's been on my night table since Sunday and I havent' read the first page.  Looks like my reading days might be over...

Happy reading!
:) Dodie