A Mother Like Mine: Hartley-By-The-Sea No. 3 by Kate Hewitt

A Mother Like Mine: Hartley-By-The Sea No. 3. Kate Hewitt. Penguin Publishing Group/Berkley. August 2017. 384 pp. ISBN #: 9780399583797.  

Abby Rhodes, now a widow, and her 5-year-old son, Noah, have returned to Hartley-by-the-Sea and remained for two years now.  She’s just about taken over running the café on the beach as her grandmother Mary has recently had a heart attack and is not well at all.  Imagine their surprise when a knock on the door reveals that Abby’s mother, Laura, has now returned and plans on staying indefinitely.  Laura was, as far as Abby is concerned, an absentee mother for as long as Abby can remember!

This is the story of their reunion and attempt to resolve pain from the past, an opportunity to reshape the future as a family.  Sounds lovely as an idea, but it’s a difficult labyrinth to travel.  No one knows how it will all end!

Abby lives in a constant tension of feeling anger and hurt at her mother’s failure as a mother and a mature attitude and effort to put it behind her.  Giving her mother a second chance is a tall order, but Mary begs her repeatedly to try.  Noah, as a child and grandchild, is innocent about it all and he is the glue that keeps the whole quagmire from exploding and decimating the family again.

As the story progresses, Abby and Laura discover that each carries an unknown story with elements that were unpredictable, causing choices that may or may not have been best for all involved. 

Eventually a great loss and a surprising revelation will change their lives forever.  This is a story of love with all its messy and wonderful moments, a healing journey that forges a new relationship to last forever!

Fine, fine story that is a tense, poignant but lovely read!!!! Highly recommended!

Now and Then Friends: A Hartley-By-The-Sea Novel by Kate Hewitt

Now and Then Friends: A Hartley-By-The-Sea Novel.  Kate Hewitt.  Penguin Publishing Group.  July 2016. 368 pp.  ISBN#: 9780451475596.

Life hasn’t turn out the way Rachel Campbell or Claire West expected.  They were both best friends when they were in elementary school many years ago.  Now, they meet anew when Claire West returns to Hartley-By-The-Sea and the awkwardness between the two is obvious to everyone else in the small town where everyone knows everyone else’s business.  But no one knows what the problem between these two characters is and the two women really can’t put their finger on the problem either.  Suffice to say that both women are “empty and a tad angry” inside. 

Rachel’s Mom broke her back years ago and is an invalid; thus, Rachel must care for her family as her father has been gone for years as well.  She cleans houses to make a small living and it’s obvious hers is a hard life.  Claire West, on the other hands, grew up as a rich girl who could have anything she wanted.  But now she’s returned, she has to honestly admit her life has been one big “show” run by her family and then fiancé.  Now she’s seeking something new but excessively timid as she’s never learned to function alone.  While this sounds like a dour story, it isn’t that bad at all.  There are enough snarky comments to add some humor to Rachel and Claire’s situations. 

Obviously, from the title, these two women might have a chance as good friends again, but first they have to get over their bitterness, fear and animosity toward anyone who reaches out to them with compassion.  One can see how these chronic attitudes can wear on other characters, but the chemistry between the two women just might thaw enough to make a different future.  Ironically, even though there are brief, bleak scenes, there’s a magic in this story that keeps the reader hoping for something better than what these two women have at the beginning of this novel. 

Life is as hard as one makes it.  Those who know Rachel and Claire also know that still waters run deep and turbulent, and the reader gets to see the unwinding of some rather nasty background junk.  Stuff sometimes only friends can unfreeze.  Very nicely written and recommended contemporary fiction!

Rainy Day Sisters: A Hartley-By-The-Sea Novel by Kate Hewitt.

Rainy Day Sisters: A Hartley-By-The-Sea Novel.  Kate Hewitt. Penguin Group (USA). August 2015. 368 pp.  ISBN#: 9780451475589.

Lucy Bagshaw’s life has been shattered by her mother’s embarrassing public commentary on Lucy’s art, the public response and Lucy’s boyfriend who drops her like a hot potato to protect his own children from the bad press circulating both online and print media. So Lucy decides to take a temporary receptionist position in a school in Hartley-By-The-Sea and live with her half-sister, Julie, for the duration. But the welcome she receives is less than lukewarm, in fact downright cool. Add to that the fact that Lucy’s new boss, Alex, is sexy hot in looks but colder than stone in professional affect.  The weather is cold and bleak on most days, albeit the good days are glorious and gorgeous.  So much for a happy escape for Lucy!

This is the story of how Lucy and Juliet learn to become true sisters, but initially there’s nothing easy.  Juliet feels even more hated by their mother, artist Fiona, and is angry at and jealous of Lucy who supposedly got all the mothering Juliet never had.  Juliet runs a bed and breakfast business but that’s about all the socializing she’s done in the ten years she’s been a resident in Hartley.  However, that’s about to change as Lucy, despite constant disappointments, is a hopeless optimist and easily makes friends.  Lucy’s also got a soft spot for many of the troubled kids in the school where she works.

Lucy’s compassion also extends to her boss, Alex’s children who are really hurting since the death of their mother two years earlier.  Her efforts with one of them will open up a whole new world.  Lucy’s outgoing nature will change Juliet’s world as well, forcing her to open up to new friends and neighbors in small increments that will be the beginning of a far better life.

Rainy Day Sisters… is a lovely read that is full of secrets to be learned, healing to happen and a beautiful environment in which all good things will emerge for those willing to move past self-imposed boundaries.  Nicely crafted, indeed, Kate Hewitt! Recommended contemporary fiction and romance fiction reading for sure!