Title: Cottage by the
Sea
Author: Robin Jones
Gunn
Pages: 248
Year: 2012
Publisher: Howard
Books
Note: I received a
complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review. Follow my other reviews at http://seekingwithallyurheart.blogspot.com/ and on twitter @lcjohnson1988
What a
great story! This is a contemporary work
of fiction, but it is easy to see very real emotions and actions in very lifelike
situations as shown by the characters. The
main character is Erin, who is a 50-something-year-old, married, mother of
three. She and her best friend,
Sharlene, have been planning for 2-1/2 years the opening of their bridal
planning business called “The Happiest Day”.
On their opening day, they get their first client and things appear to
be looking good for the future.
All of
Erin’s life she has sought the approval of her father. Just once she wants to hear him say he is
proud of her or that he loves her. Her
mother has died about five years previous, and her father has remarried and
moved from California to the coast of Oregon.
He has bought a rundown cottage that he and his wife slowly renovate to
make into a charming home. It is called
the Hidden Cottage and it is right on a cliff above the sea. He moved there saying that there was nothing
left for him in California, which is where Erin lives. Ouch! Also,
her father has been estranged from Erin’s brother Tony for 20 years. However, throughout her life her father and
mother have been believers in the Lord, teaching their children by living their
faith.
A
health crisis brings Erin to Oregon and into the company of her step-mother,
who Erin sees as abrupt, controlling, and sometimes downright mean. How could her father marry someone who is
completely the opposite of his first wife?
Erin’s anger grows and causes her to make assumptions about certain situations. Erin begins to spend time outdoors in Oregon,
appreciating God’s creation. The reader
can see Erin’s emotions reflected in the actions of the waves of the sea. As Erin spends more time with her father, she
begins to resolve her issues with her father and love him more. She also is about to drive her business
partner and best friend to exhaustion as Sharlene must handle the entire
flourishing business alone while Erin is in Oregon. Sharlene begins to make rumblings of
discontent. Will they be able to work
things out? Will Erin be able to keep
her share of the business? Erin has a
wonderfully supportive and loving husband.
Together they make decisions after praying first.
This
book has it all on the emotional spectrum:
love, forgiveness, mercy, anger, resentment, commitment, and much
more. The author has done a great job bringing
these characters to life and making their emotions easily identifiable with the
reader. The way all the happenings are
pulled together by the author to make a satisfying story that pulls at your
heart strings is wonderful.
My rating for this work of fiction
is 4.5 stars.
