Karen White
It has been two years since the death of Merritt Heyward’s husband, Cal, when she receives unexpected news—Cal’s family home in Beaufort, South Carolina, bequeathed by Cal’s reclusive grandmother, now belongs to Merritt.
Charting the course of an uncertain life—and feeling guilt from her husband’s tragic death—Merritt travels from her home in Maine to Beaufort, where the secrets of Cal’s unspoken-of past reside among the pluff mud and jasmine of the ancestral Heyward home on the Bluff. This unknown legacy, now Merritt’s, will change and define her as she navigates her new life—a new life complicated by the arrival of her too young stepmother and ten-year-old half-brother.
Soon, in this house of strangers, Merritt is forced into unraveling the Heyward family past as she faces her own fears and finds the healing she needs in the salt air of the Low Country.
Charting the course of an uncertain life—and feeling guilt from her husband’s tragic death—Merritt travels from her home in Maine to Beaufort, where the secrets of Cal’s unspoken-of past reside among the pluff mud and jasmine of the ancestral Heyward home on the Bluff. This unknown legacy, now Merritt’s, will change and define her as she navigates her new life—a new life complicated by the arrival of her too young stepmother and ten-year-old half-brother.
Soon, in this house of strangers, Merritt is forced into unraveling the Heyward family past as she faces her own fears and finds the healing she needs in the salt air of the Low Country.
My Thought’s
Merritt is a widow who lost her firefighter husband Cal in tragic accident. Loralee is the stepmom she barely knows. Owen is her half brother that Merritt initially wants nothing to do with. Gibbes is the brother-in-law that Merritt did not know existed. These four people come together in Beaufort, SC after Merritt inherits a house from Cal’s grandmother.
To say that Merritt is uptight would be paying her a compliment. But she does come by her standoffishness legitimately. A sad upbringing and an even sadder marriage has left her weary of close relationships. Loralee does not have one mean bone in her body. She is all Southern charm and graciousness. While I think this was her true personality, she has a hidden reason for wanting Merritt to like her and Owen. And then there is Owen. Being a kid is not easy, but being a nerdy kid is even worse. He just wants people to like him for who he is. Finally, Gibbes. A kind-hearted and honest individual who has his own wounds to heal.
How the author wove these four characters in and out of this story is magical. This is such a heartwarming story of sharing and trust building. I remember how I felt after reading an earlier book by Ms. White and this one was no different. She always leaves me with a smile on my face and a true belief in the power of love.
My thanks to Penguin Group Berkeley, NAL, via Netgalley, for allowing me to read this in exchange for an unbiased review.
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