Sheryl Woods, The Inn at Eagle Point

The Inn at Eagle Point

Sheryl Woods

Mira, Apr 2009, $7.99

ISBN: 9780778326267

In Chesapeake Bay, Jess O'Brien realizes she is in financial trouble and the inn she is renovating may have to go on the market. Jess asks her older sister Abby Winters, a financial genius, to come home to help save the inn from foreclosure.

Abby plans to assist Jess a bit, but will not stay long as she and the rest of the family are somewhat estrange though she took care of them when mom deserted them. To her chagrin, her former lover, Trace Riley holds the mortgage paper that Jess must pay off or lose everything. He demands she stay in town if she wants to buy time for her sibling. Abby never forgot Trace and still wants him, but a bad marriage and relocating her five years old twins (Caitlyn and Carrie) at a time the ex Wes wants full custody cause her to hesitate as she grasps she who hesitates may be lost, but she feels lost either way.

Leaving Serenity, South Carolina, Sheryl Woods introduces her fans to the Chesapeake Shores series with an engaging contemporary family drama. The cast is solid especially the lead female protagonist who finds herself feeling engulfed by a 360 degree blob as her sister, other family members, her kids, her ex and her former lover place conflicting demands on her. Although too many plot machinations occur to limit the heroine's choices detract from the tale (making Abby choose would have left her more vulnerable from those she failed to satiate), fans will enjoy the story of the over-achiever.

Harriet Klausner