Review: The Nantucket Inn by Pamela M. Kelley

Genre:
Womens Fiction

Format:
E-Book

Publisher:
Piping Plover Press

Release Date:
April 19, 2019







Synopsis from Goodreads:

Lisa Hodges needs to make a decision fast. Thanks to her dead husband’s gambling addiction, their savings is almost gone. In her early fifties with a large, waterfront home on Nantucket to support, Lisa hasn’t worked in over thirty years, has no in-demand skills and is virtually unemployable.

Her only options are to sell the house and move off-island, or, she could use her cooking and entertaining skills and turn her home into a bed and breakfast. She desperately needs it to succeed because she has four grown children with problems of their own and wants to stay close to them.

Her oldest daughter, Kate, has a fabulous career in Boston--working as a writer for a popular fashion magazine and engaged to a dangerously handsome, photographer, who none of them have met.

Kate's twin, local artist, Kristen, has been reasonably content with her on-again off-again relationship with an older, separated businessman.

Her son, Chase, runs his own construction business and is carefree, happily dating here and there but nothing serious.

Youngest daughter, Abby, is happily married to her high school sweetheart, and they've been trying to have a baby. But it hasn't happened yet, and Abby wonders if it's a sign that maybe their marriage isn't as perfect as everyone thinks.

Come visit Nantucket and see how Lisa's new bed and breakfast has an impact on almost everyone in her family. It's the first book in a new series that will follow the Hodges family, friends, and visitors to Nantucket's Beach Plum Cove Inn.

My Review

Lisa Hodges has so much to deal with these days. She’s stunned when she learns her deceased husband had been a gambling addict and pretty much lost all their money.  She is in her fifties and hasn’t worked in over 30 years. With no job experience to speak of, she’s finding it impossible to get any work.

It’s not cheap to live in Nantucket. She’s slowly coming to the conclusion that she will need to leave the island, until her friends come up with a solution. Since her Nantucket home is huge, she could section part of it off and turn it into a Bed & Breakfast. Lisa isn’t sure she can do it, but with the encouragement of her grown children, she takes a chance.

Lisa’s children have a few problems of their own…

Her daughter, Kate, is a magazine writer having some employment problems of her own. Plus, her engagement isn’t exactly going in the direction she had hoped.

Kristen is an artist involved with a man who is separated. He spends most of his free time with his soon-to-be-ex wife and their son. Kristen wonders if this relationship will ever amount to anything.

Then there’s her daughter Abby. She and her husband are desperately trying to have a baby which is putting a strain on their marriage.

There’s her son Chase. He’s into construction and helps Lisa set up her new Bread & Breakfast.

I think of this story has a huge chunk of life. These are all realistic characters with real problems. They are genuine characters I really found myself caring about. I didn’t always agree with their decisions but they were all likeable.

I would have liked to learn more about Chase, but hopefully that will be in a future book. This is a series and the first book. This book mainly featured Lisa and Kate, but you did get info on the other characters including a couple of Lisa’s close friends and a love interest.

I had never read this author before, but I’m a fan now and will be on the lookout for more books by her, especially in this series.

For reading challenges:
Literary Escapes Reading Challenge 2020 (Massachusetts)
Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge 2020

Disclosure:  I borrowed this one from my library . All opinions expressed are my own.