Shore Lights

Maddie Bainbridge grew up in New Jersey with her mother, Aunts, and cousins. She however did not get on with her mother so she moved to Seatle to be with her father and his wife. It has been about 15 years, and she just got laid off, and the father of her 4 year old daughter Hannah ran off to get married to another woman so she decides to take her mother up on a offer to help run a B and B. Hannah has not had an easy time of moving and so Maddie wants to make their first Christmas in N.J. special. She finds a tea pot on line that Hannah would love, but another person is bidding against her. Aiden O'Malley is a single dad raising a 17 year old daughter named Kelly. She asked Aiden to bid on the tea pot because it looked like one her great-grandmother Irene had. Aiden and Maddie start flirting with each other while bidding and then when Maddie gets the tea pot. While he is trying to convince her to sell him the tea pot they start to have feelings for each other. Things come to a head when Hannah mysteriously gets sick while Aidens grandmother is in the hospital getting ready to die. Hannah survives, but the experience brings the two even closer together. What happens next is detailed in Chances Are. Another good book by Barbara Bretton

I have read several of this authors books and find this to be the best. Not only do the characters grab your attention, and their plights and dilemna's tug at your heart, but there is reality intertwined with drama. From the beginning you could tell the author was writing from experience. The facts, the descriptions, the feelings, you knew the author experienced some of the angst and/or feelings her characters were portraying. The characters were carefully crafted, the situations real and the emotions deep. This was not your typical romance, this book will grasp your interest, hold you mesmerized and you will find yourself relating to the characters on a any level. I found character traits and idiosyncrasies I could relate to in many of the characters in this book. I did not want the book to end and when it did, I cried. After reading the authors note in the back of the book, I cried some more. This book will tug at your heartstrings.This is not your run of the mill romance. Its much more, has more depth, more characterizations, more of real life. You will enjoy it!

Sometimes an author takes a risk and it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Ms. Bretton took a risk with SHORE LIGHTS and came up with her best book yet. Don't be fooled by the word ROMANCE on the spine. Yes, there's a sweetly emotional love story between Maddy and Aidan but this is really a story about family, especially about mothers and daughters. Ms. Bretton doesn't write about perfect people in a perfect world. Her characters are so real they almost jump out of the book and sit down at the kitchen table with you and tell you their story. This is a comlex story about real human emotions and I can't sum it all up in 1000 words. But I do know that if you're looking to laugh (lots of witty dialog) and to cry (bring your tissues) and to feel better when you finish than you did when you started, SHORE LIGHTS is the book for you.

This book is so much more than a love story. It is the story of an adult woman's relationship with her mother. It is the story of dealing with past mistakes and inaccurate perceptions, and of strength. It is a story about letting go of a beloved grandmother and seeing the joy within the sadness. It is a book about accepting that some of the greatest loves come with two people who do not meet society's definition of success or perfection,who have their faults and their scars and are loveable anyway. This book caused me to reexamine my relationship with my mother and to relive her death. It was very healing for me to read this book. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for fiction with substance, and a change from the "fluff" we sometimes read. It is the best of Barbara Bretton!

Women's fiction at its best with just enough romance to warm your heart. Barbara Bretton tells a compelling, deeply emotional story about an estranged mother and daughter who finally find the way to heal old wounds and discover that the bonds of family are strong and enduring. This is a novel about family, about secrets, about magic, and about love. And Aidan O'Malley is one of the best heroes I've come across in years -- a must read.