A Brambleberry Summer is the fifth book in RaeAnne Thayne's, The Women of Brambleberry House series, and it's the second book in the series I've read, the first being A Soldier's Return, which I liked but didn't love, even though I absolutely loved her Haven Point series. If you've not read any books by Ms. Thayne, have no fear, this novel, and most of her novels, work just fine as standalone reads. As with A Soldier's Return, I felt this novel was only marginally better than the last, and am giving it 3.5 stars.
Although billed as a light summer read, there are some darker aspects to this novel, and although Ms. Thayne really doesn't put them front and center, they might be triggers for some, so if human trafficking, domestic abuse, and stalking are triggers for you, you might want to skip reading this title and opt for something lighter.
The women of Brambleberry House are first, Rosa Galvez, who is managing Brambleberry House and who also owns and operates a small souvenir/gift shop in this tourist town on the Oregon coast, and the second, is her friend and former college roommate, Jen Ryan, who is raising her 6-year-old daughter, Addie. Both of these women have secrets, and they are secrets they don't want to share. Neither woman is looking for love, simply seeking a friendly, safe, and peaceful place to live and work, and in many ways, a place where their secrets will not be revealed, but all that is about to change when there's a fire caused by faulty wiring in the small bungalow bought by widowed police detective, Wyatt Townsend, who is raising his 7-year-old son, Logan.
Rosa has been a friend of Wyatt's sister, Carrie, for some time, and when Carrie tells her that Wyatt and his son have been living with her, with Wyatt sleeping on her too-small sofa, while his house is being repaired, she asks Rosa to let Wyatt and Logan move into a currently empty apartment at Brambleberry House until repairs are completed and he and his son can return to their home, and although she has reservations about this decision, she simply cannot refuse her friend's request. In some ways, having a police detective living there, may offer some protection to Jen and her daughter, although we aren't told exactly why that's needed until later in the novel. The added complication is that tall, handsome, and kind, Wyatt, is as attracted to Rosa as she is to him, although she has convinced herself that nothing cam come of it because of her past, and again, we don't learn her secrets either until much later in the novel.
While the characters in this novel are fairly well-drawn, I simply didn't feel the same connection to them that I have to the characters in most of Ms. Thayne's other novels, nor, as someone who is up-front and honest with the people I meet and befriend, could I fully understand why Rosa, who clearly must have at some point received counseling after being adopted, still, years later, felt that what was done to her made her unlovable and unworthy of love. With Jen, once we learn that what she's hiding from isn't all that unusual these days, her fear and reluctance to divulge her secret seemed over-the-top and hard to believe for this reader.
Finally, A Brambleberry Summer is well-written and an easy read, and while many readers may not find fault with it at all, I have to admit that it is simply not among my favorite novels by the talented Ms. Thayne.
I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions stated are my own.