This book was between 2 and 3 stars for me. Overall it was a very sweet and heartwarming story but just felt like it never got finished. The storyline began by setting up all these possibilities for a really entertaining story but just didn't deliver. This book had the potential to be much better but just fell a little flat towards the end. Noah works for the government by defusing terrorist bombs and is still trying to get over his brother dying due to a bomb explosion which he feels partly responsible for since he was the expert on bombs. He has a very close knit family and after these characters are introduced nothing really happens with them. Noah's dead brother left a wife and child who disrupted his family by saying they were going to move across the country and while this conflict was established, nothing was resolved by the end. Noah's job could have been a place for interest and conflict but nothing ever happened in regards to this either. Noah meets Grace who is a food historian who just landed her lucky break with a great job that would take her overseas. Grace's grandfather ends up falling ill and she has to go back home to take care of him. The book then completely switches into Grace and her best friends fixing up an old house to turn into a yarn shop/cafe. The first half and the second half of the book should be separate novels in my mind. The beginning had potential with Noah's family to be a full story but was left with too many loose ends. The second half with Grace and her friends could be a different story but also just ended without anything happening. It was almost like the author got bored with each section of the story and changed paths just to finally say "I"m done with this, lets make them say the "I love yous" and end the novel". The book ends too suddenly for my taste and I missed all the romantic tension that usually builds between a couple. Overall it was a light read but just wasn't the best book. I’ve been reading a number of books by Christina Skye recently, and this one, read out of order, was next in my queue. This book follows a short story in the Knitting Diaries. We meet Grace Lindstrom, a historical food researcher and restaurant consultant, as she’s about to launch an amazing new chapter in her career. For the past year she has been getting over her fiance’s death and the many secrets it has since uncovered. Following a party, Grace ends up rescuing a few cats and a dog in a dumpster, and is found by Noah McLeod, who ends up helping her out due to the weather. These two end up spending much more time together. I won’t spoil the whole plot, but stuff happens to take Grace out of DC and away from Noah.One of the things that has drawn me to Skye’s books is that they typically don’t have nasty alpha males. It’s so nice to read a story where the crux of the plot is not a bone-headed male trying to escape a relationship, but a level-headed, genuinely nice human being, who just happens to have a lot of other things going on in their life that restricts their ability to have the relationship they might actually want. I haven’t found too many authors that can pull this off and not look formulaic, but somehow Skye manages. Highly recommend this author and this book if you are looking for a nice series to relax while reading.
What do You think about A Home By The Sea (2011)?
Love Christina Skye and her series books ... this one is good.
—swiftglitter13
