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A review by tita_noir
Return to Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs
3.0
I am giving this book 3-stars. Not because it wasn't really good. It was. Not because it wasn't well written. It was wonderfully written. By all rights based on enjoyment and connection with the story this should be a 4-star or higher book.
But it isn't. And it is because the romance in this book was almost non-existent.
Sonnet Romano, daughter of Nina (heroine of earlier Willow Lake book [b:Dockside|958714|Dockside (Lakeshore Chronicles, #3)|Susan Wiggs|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179807929s/958714.jpg|943624]), is feeling a bit blue after her best friend Daisy has gotten married. By all rights her life should be perfect. She is connecting with her estranged father, she has a great new boyfriend and she has just learned that she's won a prestigious fellowship. And yet, all that seems bland in light of Daisy's happiness at her wedding. Prodded by her post-wedding glow mood and a bunch of jell-o shots, Sonnet has sex with her best friend Zach, now a hot and handsome videographer.
The next day she realizes it was a colossal mistake and runs back to New York, determined to move on with her life. Except she is dragged back home by some devastating news.
Here's the thing...I have been reading the Willow lake series since forever. It is a romance series. Well, it was a romance series. And therein lies my problem. You start out reading a series that is romance and the somewhere along the way it becomes less about romance and more about the inner struggles of the heroine. You get a serious sense of disconnect. I noticed this first with the preceding book in this series, [b:Marrying Daisy Bellamy|8637125|Marrying Daisy Bellamy (Lakeshore Chronicles #8)|Susan Wiggs|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1300144332s/8637125.jpg|13507939] which featured Sonnet's best friend and step-sister Daisy. I also gave that book 3-stars for the same reason I am giving this one three stars. To wit, I expected romance but I got women's fiction. I thought it was an anomaly. I guess not.
My affection for the characters and town that I have gotten to know is a large part of the reason why I do continue to read. And frankly SW writes a good story. However, you can't go into a book expecting a romance and not get that. It will have an effect on how you perceive the book.
After Sonnet and Zach's hook up at the wedding, their romance stalls until pretty much the last fourth of the book. The lion's share of the story is taken up with Sonnet helping Nina out with some bad news. And with Sonnet working on a reality show. And with Sonnet's preoccupation with her father's senatorial campaign. Basically with all kinds of things that have nothing to do with Zach. He disappears for whole swaths of the book. As I was reading I kept wondering when he would come back and we'd get some forward action on the romance front.
All in all this is a good book. Romance readers will find it a disappointment in the romance dept. Wiggs fans and fans of the series should still enjoy it with the caveat to expect it to be more about Sonnet and Nina than Sonnet and Zach.
But it isn't. And it is because the romance in this book was almost non-existent.
Sonnet Romano, daughter of Nina (heroine of earlier Willow Lake book [b:Dockside|958714|Dockside (Lakeshore Chronicles, #3)|Susan Wiggs|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179807929s/958714.jpg|943624]), is feeling a bit blue after her best friend Daisy has gotten married. By all rights her life should be perfect. She is connecting with her estranged father, she has a great new boyfriend and she has just learned that she's won a prestigious fellowship. And yet, all that seems bland in light of Daisy's happiness at her wedding. Prodded by her post-wedding glow mood and a bunch of jell-o shots, Sonnet has sex with her best friend Zach, now a hot and handsome videographer.
The next day she realizes it was a colossal mistake and runs back to New York, determined to move on with her life. Except she is dragged back home by some devastating news.
Here's the thing...I have been reading the Willow lake series since forever. It is a romance series. Well, it was a romance series. And therein lies my problem. You start out reading a series that is romance and the somewhere along the way it becomes less about romance and more about the inner struggles of the heroine. You get a serious sense of disconnect. I noticed this first with the preceding book in this series, [b:Marrying Daisy Bellamy|8637125|Marrying Daisy Bellamy (Lakeshore Chronicles #8)|Susan Wiggs|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1300144332s/8637125.jpg|13507939] which featured Sonnet's best friend and step-sister Daisy. I also gave that book 3-stars for the same reason I am giving this one three stars. To wit, I expected romance but I got women's fiction. I thought it was an anomaly. I guess not.
My affection for the characters and town that I have gotten to know is a large part of the reason why I do continue to read. And frankly SW writes a good story. However, you can't go into a book expecting a romance and not get that. It will have an effect on how you perceive the book.
After Sonnet and Zach's hook up at the wedding, their romance stalls until pretty much the last fourth of the book. The lion's share of the story is taken up with Sonnet helping Nina out with some bad news. And with Sonnet working on a reality show. And with Sonnet's preoccupation with her father's senatorial campaign. Basically with all kinds of things that have nothing to do with Zach. He disappears for whole swaths of the book. As I was reading I kept wondering when he would come back and we'd get some forward action on the romance front.
All in all this is a good book. Romance readers will find it a disappointment in the romance dept. Wiggs fans and fans of the series should still enjoy it with the caveat to expect it to be more about Sonnet and Nina than Sonnet and Zach.