True Blue

Rumer Larkin is a veternarian who loved to remain close to home which was always Hubbard's Point. The village always holds memories of Rumer's past. So many years now, after Zeb Mayhew broke Rumer's heart, and married her sister Elizabeth instead, he returns now after a divorce. And with his teenage son Michael in tow. Rumer doesn't know what to think, and doesn't know whether or not she can find forgiveness when Zeb tries to win her love again. It is a long road before Zeb and Rumer can find happiness together again, and recapture the love from their past. Elizabeth and Rumer have always had issues, and the two try to overcome them in this story.

"True Blue" is a wonderful reading experience with an escape to a beautiful seaside. Luanne Rice has captured the look and feel of a small New England town where everyone cares about everyone else. This is a heartwarming story of two sisters and the boy next door. Rumer was younger and more content than her older sister Elizabeth was. Elizabeth was determined to leave the town as soon as she was old enough. Zeb, the boy next door, and Rumer were the same age and inseparable best friends. At five, they decided that Rumer "ruled the earth" because of her love of animals and Zeb "ruled the sky" because he loved the stars. As Rumer and Zeb grew up their feelings grew to more than that of friends. It was awkward turning the friendship into something more but they were working on it. Rumer went away to college to become a vet and Zeb was at another college striving to become an astronaut. The distance was rough on them as they had never spent that much time apart and Elizabeth didn't help. Elizabeth had set her sites on Zeb and was pursuing her acting career as heartily as she was Zeb. Later Elizabeth and Zeb were married and had a son, Michael.Rumer's strength and determination are inspiring and her ability to forgive was hard to fathom. Her personality was lovable and her determination was admirable. Rumer never left Hubbard's Point and her love of family, animals, and the boy next door never waivered. I would love to move to Hubbard's Point, go lobstering with Quinn, another of Rice's enchanting characters and have my pets taken care of by Dr. Rumer. I would like to see a sequel to "True Blue". I'd love to read a sequel and continue Rumer and Zeb's story, along with finding out what happens with Quinn and Michael. Ms. Rice has created such loveable characters that I have grown attached to them. Go after your dreams but never lose sight of what is right in front of you. For a wonderful escape, pick up Luanne Rice's, "True Blue".Prequel: "Safe Harbor"

In her newest book, True Blue, Luanne Rice once again returns to the scene of two of her earlier books set at Hubbard's Point, Conn. As she did in Firefly Beach and Safe Harbor, this author fills the pages of True Blue with an emotional and ultimately rewarding journey. Rumer Larkin and Zeb Mayhew were always the typical boy and girl next door. They filled their days with school, paper routes and meetings at the town diner where they carved their initials into an oak table and left notes for one another in a desk drawer, a tradition at the diner. Their nights were spent on the roof of the Mayhew house where they star gazed and tested their knowledge about the heavens above. As the years went by they become closer and closer but during college their relationship changed forever and Zeb moved far away while Rumer returned to Hubbard's Point after her education was completed.Now, Zeb a well-known astronaut, is returning home in order to spend the summer at Hubbards point. A crucial event in Zeb's life finds him re-evaluating the past twenty years since he's seen Rumer and he;s beginning to realize that Rumer may be the only true blue woman in his life. Traveling along with Zeb is his rebellious 17 year-old son who has suddenly dropped out of high school. And as we realize from almost the first page, Zeb's former wife and his son's mother is none other than Rumer's older sister Elizabeth.Rumer, now a veterinarian, is content with her life. Caring for animals and a well-respected member of the town, she finally feels as though she has put to rest any feelings she may have once had for Zeb. But has she really put her feelings aside? And can Rumer ever forgive her sister who is now a famous actress and the mother of her only nephew? And what happens when Zeb's former home is to be torn down by the new owners forever changing the landscape of Hubbard's Point?.From the first page to the last, I was entranced by the life and people of Hubbard's Point. Besides Rumer, Zeb and Elizabeth, we meet the women of the Point who have lived there forever and are known as les Dames de la Roches and reminded me of the women from Colony by Anne Rivers Siddons. We also become familiar with Quinn, Rumer's orphaned young teen-age friend who becomes a good friend of Michaels as they both help each other to become happy. And we also become acquainted with Sixtus, Rumer's father, a man more prone to sailing the seas rather than staying at home who wishes true love for both of his daughters. I loved all of these characters, but most of all really enjoyed reading as the plot evolved and Rumer and Zeb consider taking a second chance at love. As a loyal reader of Luanne Rice's books for sometime, she never fails to offer me a wonderful and entertaining title. Not only does she describe family relationships beautifully, but strongly tugs at my heart and I suspect many other readers as well. True Blue is certainly no exception and I strongly recommend this boo

When Luanne Rice is on the familiar territory of the shore she so obviously adores or stories of the fierce love of family, no one can beat her. She continues to weave together characters from previous novels, including(but not limited to!)Firefly Beach and Safe Harbor. Zeb and Rumer, best of friends as children and in love/almost lovers as young adults; until Rumer's beautiful older sister came between them. Twenty years later, the now divorced Zeb returns home, and....... a great story commences!Luanne Rice has a gift when it comes to writing about the love between families, and no one writes a more grounded love story than she. Bittersweet and true; I can only hope that she returns again and again to these shores and the people who live there. I can't believe they let this one out as a paperback! ;)