Blue Bayou

Eileen Goudge has captured me with this trilogy. Carson Springs is a place that I would want to live. In this second installment, the story focuses on Gerry Fitzgerald and her family. It is a wonderful story of a mother meeting her daughter that was given up for adoption, the struggle to help her children understand, and of a woman wrestling with the idea of falling in love again. The characters from the first book are all present. The story picks up right where Stranger in Paradise left off. I can't wait for the third book.

Gerry Fitzgerald, a feisty, independent divorced mother raising two children in the beautiful valley of Carson Springs, California, has decided to find the daughter she gave up for adoption 28 years ago. She was impregnated while in the convent by the parish priest, and for many years has been consumed by guilt and emptiness. She finds her long lost daughter, Claire Brewster, who is now an attorney in northern California, engaged to be married to her childhood sweetheart, Byron, who is in his medical residency at Stanford Hospital. When they finally meet, Gerry finds that Claire is more beautiful and successful than she could have imagined, but Claire is bewildered and conflicted because of the smothering parents who adopted her and are fearful of losing her to her real mother. Gerry's younger teenage daughter is jealous of the attention that Claire is getting from her mother. Justin was also shocked at hearing the news that he had another older sister and angry at his mother for keeping her a secret for so long. After her brief introduction to her new family, Claire returns to her home and Gerry doesn't hear from her again for more than 6 weeks. She is afraid that Claire doesn't want to be part of their family. However, Claire was so impressed with Carson Springs and the people there that she decided to quit her job as an attorney, and go into partnership with her best friend by opening a tea shop in Carson Springs in a quaint Victorian home that she had spotted when she was in town. Taste of Honey is filled with interesting and realistic characters, including the nuns at the convent where Gerry works, her current lover, Aubrey who is a world-class symphony conductor, her best friend, Sam who is having a late-in-life baby, Claire's contractor, Matt, and many other colorful locals. Claire is torn between two lovers, Gerry is denying the fact that she is falling in love with Aubrey, and Gerry and Claire are trying to forge a new relationship after many years apart. I was thoroughly absorbed and engaged by this heart-warming story and look forward to more in this series set in Carson Springs.

Just what we need some pleasant and enjoyable summerreading. Relax whether it be at home, on the train, bus or plane and make sure you pack a Taste of Honey. Once you finish it you'll want to read the other books. If possible start with Stranger in Paradise and then read Taste of Honey.If you liked these books check out Garden of Lies (won't be able to put it down) and move on to Thorns of Truth. Excellent and exciting summer reading.

JoAnn never disappoints me with her story. This one was just great and I can't wait to read about Jack's brothers. If I have one negative comment it would be a few errors that should have been caught by a proof reader such as repeating a word twice and the time when Jack took an RC Cola out to Dani's dad and a few minutes later it was mentioned they finished their beer. Okay I know that is kind of picky, what can I say?

WOW! The sexual tension sizzles off page after page. Dani and Jack were long ago lovers. To each others surprise and dismay they are both back in Blue Bayou. Dani is an impoverished widow of a low down, no count, skirt chaser politician. The only good part of her marriage is her son, Matt. Jack is a burned out former DEA agent, who has become a big time writer. He has bought her childhood home. Jack has every carpenter in the area working for him on the renovations. Dani has come home to be the town's new librarian. Just as she arrives the apartment she was to share with her son and her soon to be released from jail, ex-judge father, was set on fire. Bureaucracy is the same for small towns as big cities. She finally gets all the forms and permits needed to do the repairs. Now, all she needs is a few workers. They are all employed by Jack.Their meeting was inevitable, the sparks had never dimmed, but there were secrets keeping them apart.Make sure when you start this book you have time to finish it. You won't want to put it down.The plot and the characters are worthy of the great southern writers Williams, Faulkner and O'Connor. Ms Ross may not have been born southern, but she has found her southern voice.Deborah Ledgerwood30 Mar 2002