Review Tour: Dune Drive by Mariah Stewart

Dune Drive
Chesapeake Diaries #12
Mariah Stewart
Pocket Book
July 31st 2018
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 400
Format Read: ARC
Source: Publihser



Always believing she was an ugly duckling, Chrissy Jenkins thought she had finally turned into a swan when her real-life Prince Charming swept her off her feet. But as his true character began to crack his perfect facade, Chrissy realized that not only was she better off without him, but that she was the only one who had the power to transform her life.

Returning to her ancestral home on Cannonball Island for a family wedding, Chrissy is reintroduced to a legacy she’d all but forgotten. In choosing to stay on the island, she reboots her life, successfully reinventing herself as a chef at Blossoms, an up-and-coming restaurant in St. Dennis. But despite her newfound self-confidence, she still doesn’t trust her taste in men. So when she meets Jared Chandler, a handsome ship salvager staying at the inn while he conducts a nearby recovery operation, Chrissy’s certain she can keep him as a friend—even though he’s everything any woman would want in a man. As fellow newcomers, together they discover the charm of the historic bayside town and explore the idyllic island.

But when Chrissy agrees to be Jared’s date for his father’s wedding, they embark on a weekend that will find them each seeing the other in a completely different light, one that will change their lives forever.



For those who haven't yet read this series by Mariah Stewart you don't know what you are missing. The stories are all wonderfully written with characters that leap off the pages. Dune Drive is #12 in the series and I have to say I hope there are way more to come. 

I have a little secret for you. The book prior to this one is the Chesapeake Bride. Yes it's good but it wasn't as good as the past books so I worried a little that the author might have gone to far with the series. It happens. So when I decided to read this one I told myself to go in with a open mind. 

I didn't want to taint the book before even giving it a try. Thankfully it was just let the others in the series. Right away I was into the story and loving it. My heart just broke for Chrissy and all that she was going through. She has stuck in a crap relationship and needed out. She also had some family situations that needed work too. 

All this help start off Dune Drive and push it into a wonderful fast paced story that it was. I totally love have both Chrissy and Jared started their relationship as just friends. It was a very slow build but one that I think worked best for both of them. they needed to learn what the other was about in their own time without sex and emotions taking over. 

I think all of that made them stronger when they did start having feelings for each other. 

I'm so glad I gave Dune Drive a chance it was well worth it and it made me excited for the next book to come. Maybe someones brother? You'll have to read it to know what I'm talking about. If you haven't yet read this series then it's time. 

If you've read Dune Drive or any other book by Mariah Stewart I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for visiting and happy reading! ♡


Chrissie stretched one leg as close to the water as she could and with her big toe traced her name onto the surface, the way she had when she was a child. The water was cold, true spring being just around the corner, and the chill ran up her leg, but it made her feel alive. Her brother, Luke, once told her that writing your name on the Chesapeake meant you were part of it, would always be part of it. She wondered where Luke was now, and if writing his name on the bay had brought him back from time to time.

When their parents, Stephen and Dorothy, divorced, Luke went with their father, and one-year-old Chrissie stayed with their mother. As far as Chrissie knew, neither father nor brother had ever looked back. It was as if the earth had opened up and swallowed Stephen and Luke Jenkins body and soul, as far as she was concerned. Chrissie wouldn’t recognize either of them if they stood in front of her. Her father had been from the mainland and had no ties to the island except her mother. Once that bond had been broken and her mother remarried and moved to Pennsylvania, Chrissie figured her father had no reason to return. If her mother had heard from either of them, she’d never told Chrissie, and the few times Chrissie’d asked, her questions were ignored.

The last time Chrissie had asked, her mother had snapped, “That’s the agreement we made, no contact, and I’m sticking by it. So far, he has, too. What difference could it make now? He’s never been part of your life. He never wanted to be. Leave it alone, Chrissie. Don’t ask me again.”

To Chrissie, it was unforgivable on the part of both her parents—her mother for not telling her why her father left, and her father for never coming back. Once she’d started examining her life in earnest a year ago, it hadn’t been difficult for her to figure out that being abandoned by her father had contributed to the fact that her self-esteem had been so low she’d permitted herself to be abused. That her mother would never tell her why had only added to her poor self-image: as a child, she’d assumed he’d left because she was a bad girl. What other reason could there have been? Now, as an adult, she realized there’d had to be something other than that, that while children see everything that happens through their eyes as it relates to them, the constant arguing between her parents had probably been about something else. Try as she might, though, her mother would never tell her what that something had been.

She still thought of her father with a mixture of anger and longing. Had he ever remarried? Was he still alive? And Luke . . . ? She had no idea if he was dead or alive, either.



Mariah Stewart is the award-winning New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of numerous novels and several novellas and short stories. A native of Hightstown, New Jersey, she lives with her husband and two rambunctious rescue dogs amid the rolling hills of Chester County, Pennsylvania, where she savors country life and tends her gardens while she works on her next novel.


MariahStewart.com, like her on Facebook at Facebook.com/AuthorMariahStewart, and follow her on Instagram @Mariah_Stewart_Books.


Comments

  1. I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's hard when there is one in a series that bums you out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, it was good just not great like the other ones. Loved this one!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts