Lilac Lane by Sherryl Woods

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Lilac Lane by Sherryl Woods
Published by MiraBooks ISBN 9780778331339
Hardcover, $26.99, 352 pages

It's been awhile since I visited the O'Brien clan of Chesapeake Shores in Maryland. I was introduced to them in Sherryl Woods' delightful The Summer Garden, the 9th book in the series. (My review is here). The newest book, Lilac Lane, is the 12th in the series, and reading it is like visiting old friends.

Moira O'Brien's mother Kiera has just lost her fiance to a heart attack in Ireland. Moira convinces her mother to come to Chesapeake Shores and stay with her, her husband Luke and toddler Kate. Moira agrees to visit, and Luke asks her to act as a consultant in his Irish pub, to help give customers the authentic Irish experience.

This doesn't sit well with Bryan Laramie, the chef at the pub. Bryan is an experienced chef, having worked in New York and Baltimore, and the last thing he wants is another family member putting in her two cents on his established menu. (He had enough of that with the O'Brien matriarch Nell.)

Kiera is as stubborn and outspoken as her daughter Moira, and Bryan and Kiera get along like oil and water. But the matchmaking O'Brien clan (especially Nell and her son Mick, who would give Dolly Levi a run for her money) see sparks between the two and scheme to push the two together.

Bryan hasn't dated much since he moved to Chesapeake Shores, he mostly keeps to himself. When Kiera moves into a small cottage next to Bryan, their relationship turns to friendship, and maybe even more.

Meanwhile, Megan works hard to convince a reluctant Moira to take on more gallery showings of her photography across the country, Kiera enjoys the morning gatherings of the O'Brien women, Nell convinces Bryan and Kiera to compete against each other in an Irish stew cookoff at the Harvest Festival, and a young woman from Virginia comes to town to try and find her biological father.

I truly enjoyed coming back to Chesapeake Shores, and Bryan and Kiera's budding romance between two mature adults who aren't in their 20s is a refreshing change of pace. I'm from an Irish-American family, and I laughed at the raucous O'Briens and all of their teasing and scheming and getting involved in everyone's business.

Even though I haven't yet read #10 and #11 in the series, I didn't feel lost at all; I was able to pick right back up with the O'Briens. Sherryl Woods' lovely novels are the basis for the Hallmark Channel's Chesapeake Shores series, and now I will be catching up with that on-demand. (I've also started picking up the rest of the books in the series- that's how much I love these O'Briens!)

If you like family stories, adult love stories and books featuring food (I'll be making Irish stew just as soon as the cooler weather gets here), Lilac Lane is a great book to add to your TBR list.

Sherryl Woods website is here.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on Sherryl Woods tour. The rest of her stops are here:

Review tour for LILAC LANE:

Monday, October 16th: From the Library of Mrs. Gardner blog and Instagram

Monday, October 16th: The Sassy Bookster – spotlight

Tuesday, October 17th: The Sketchy Reader

Tuesday, October 17th: From the TBR Pile

Wednesday, October 18th: Stranded in Chaos

Thursday, October 19th: Readaholic Zone

Friday, October 20th: Black ‘n Gold Girl’s Book Spot

Monday, October 23rd: Katy’s Library blog and Instagram

Tuesday, October 24th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Tuesday, October 24th: What is That Book About – spotlight

Wednesday, October 25th: Books and Bindings

Thursday, October 26th: Bookchickdi

Thursday, October 26th: Reading Reality

Friday, October 27th: View from the Birdhouse

Friday, October 27th: Book Reviews and More by Kathy – spotlight

Monday, October 30th: A Holland Reads

Monday, October 30th: A Chick Who Reads

Wednesday, November 1st: Novel Gossip

Thursday, November 2nd: Suzy Approved

Saturday, November 4th: Girl Who Reads

Monday, November 6th: Palmer’s Page Turners

Tuesday, November 7th: Bewitched Bookworms

Wednesday, November 8th: Moonlight Rendezvous

Thursday, November 9th: LiteraryJo Reviews blog and Instagram

Friday, November 10th: Thoughts on This ‘n That

Monday, November 13th: Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

Tuesday, November 14th: The Romance Dish

Tuesday, November 14th: Blogging with A

The Summer Garden by Sherryl Woods

The Summer Garden- A Chesapeake Shores Novel by Sherryl Woods
Published by Harlequin ISBN 978-0 7783-1309-0
Mass Market Paperback, $7.99

Let me start by saying that the romance genre is not one that I usually read. But something spoke to me about Sherryl Woods' The Summer Garden.

Maybe it was the beautiful cover art of a garden gazebo surrounded by lovely wildflowers. Maybe it was that the heroine Moira O'Malley is from Ireland, and I am Irish. Whatever it was, it captured my attention.

This is the 9th book in the Chesapeake Shores series, but I was able to jump right in without feeling lost. The numerous members of the O'Brien family live in Chesapeake Shores in Maryland, a small town where they own several businesses- an art gallery, a hotel, real estate management, an architecture firm- and young Luke O'Brien wants to join the club by opening up an Irish pub in town.

While it took a while to get to know who is who and how they are related (maybe a family tree and town map should be included for newbies to the series in the next book), but once I did, I fell in love with the O'Brien clan.

Moira met Luke when the clan went to Ireland for a family wedding, and they had a fling. Now Moira comes to America with her grandfather, who is having a romance with his long-ago love Nell, Luke's grandmother and owner of the titled summer garden.

In true romance novel fashion, Moira is maddening, "with the sharp tongue and wry wit." She is quick to anger and a bit mercurial. Luke, being a typical guy, is happy to see Moira, but not willing to make a commitment right away. He wants to wait and see what develops, and besides all his time and energy is going into making his pub a success.

What I liked about this novel was it's willingness to take on a hot topic: the changing role of women. Most of Luke's young female relatives have careers- one owns an art gallery, one owns the hotel-but Moira is not sure she wants to have a career.

She want to have a family and raise her children. When she was a child, her single mother had to work, and Moira wants a different life for her children. She discovers a talent for photography, but her heart is not it, and she is happier helping Luke prepare to open his pub.

Moira's ambivalence reflects what many young women feel today. Many of them were raised by single moms and would like to be there physically for their children. TV's The Good Wife recently tackled this in  an arc where Caitlyn, a savvy young lawyer with a promising career, leaves the law firm after one year because she is pregnant and getting married.

Two of the older women in the law firm, Diane, an unmarried founding partner in the firm, and Alicia, a third year associate who returned to practicing law after a 15 year absence to raise her children, are astounded by Caitlyn's decision. Caitlyn's announcement causes Alicia to reflect on her own life's decisions.

The push-and-pull between Moira and Luke got a bit tedious at times, I thought that perhaps the author was beating a dead horse, but then I reflected upon my own experience many years ago and thought perhaps she really did capture that uncertain feeling of young love.

I enjoyed The Summer Garden, especially after not reading many romances. The romance between Luke's grandmother and Moira's grandfather was sweet. As the former owner of a restaurant, I related to Luke's efforts getting his pub up and running. But mostly, I liked getting to know the O'Brien family and will look for other books in this series.

rating 4 of 5 stars