Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Susan Mallery's final Blackberry Island novel "Evening Stars"

Small-town nurse Nina Wentworth has made a career out of being a caretaker. More "Mom" than their mother ever was, she sacrificed medical school—and her first love—so her sister could break free. Which is why she isn't exactly thrilled to see Averil back on Blackberry Island, especially when Nina's life has suddenly become…complicated. 

Nina unexpectedly finds herself juggling two men—her high school sweetheart and a younger maverick pilot who also wants to claim her heart. But as fun as all this romance is, Nina has real life to deal with. Averil doesn't seem to want the great guy she's married to, and doesn't seem to be making headway writing her first book; their mom is living life just as recklessly as she always has; and Nina's starting to realize that the control she once had is slipping out of her fingers. Her hopes of getting off the island seem to be stretching further away…until her mother makes a discovery that could change everything forever. 

But before Nina and Averil can reach for the stars, they have to decide what they want. Will Averil stay? Will Nina leave? And what about the men who claim to love them? Does love heal, or will finding their happy ending mean giving up all they've ever wanted? 


Blackberry Island has been a different type of genre for Ms Mallery. While I enjoyed the first ones, I much prefer her Fool's Gold series. This series has been more of a feel good type of book, with character twists and turns and personal growth. And the only tie in's to each book is the location. Any of them can be read separate from each other. 

I really enjoyed this book, but it took me awhile to get interested in it. And then the whole seeing two guys at the same time thing annoyed me. The sibling arguments between Nina and Averil were interesting, I see that in myself whenever I talk to my older sister. Bonnie, Nina's mother, annoyed me. I guess as a single parent, I truly do not understand how Bonnie could take absolutely no notice of her children and allow Nina, from the age of nine, to step up and take care of the family. I wanted to reach into the book and smack her. I kept hearing that Bertie kept her somewhat grounded and that Bertie wanted to take on more responsibility, it never really happened. 

Back to the two guys thing. There's Dylan, back home to start helping in his fathers medical practice. He is also Nina's first boyfriend. They were high school sweethearts and both were going to go to medical school and get married and live happily ever after. Until his parents pushed them apart.  
And there is Kyle. Handsome, dashing, charming... He was the older brother of a girl Nina babysat and he was obsessed with Nina from the age of twelve. Here he is, come to woo Nina after many years of unrequited love. Honestly, I kind of wish Ms Mallery had taken this a step farther and turned him into a stalker when Nina broke it off. 

The ending of the book didn't thrill me. I guess I needed to see more relationship building that I didn't feel I got.  Don't get me wrong, it was a good book. Just.. not as full fulling as I would have liked. I  hope Ms Mallery doesn't hurt me for being honest. I still love your books!! Nothing will change that!

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