|
Barefoot Bay Series #2
Roxanne St. Claire
Hachette Book Group/Forever
October 2012 / 978-1-455-50827-3
Contemporary Romance
Amazon
Reviewed
by Leslie Halpern
The second in
her Barefoot Bay Series, Barefoot in the Rain includes the same
cast of characters as Barefoot in the Sand, the first in the series
(published earlier this year). Although the sub-tropical Florida
setting and four women friends appear in both novels, the tone of
each story is quite different. In the first novel (a light beach
read), Tessa, Zoe, Jocelyn, and Lacey deal with the aftermath of
a hurricane as Lacey struggles to rebuild her home into a resort
and begin a new romantic relationship with an architect. Barefoot
in the Rain, however, reveals Jocelyn’s story, a much darker
depiction of stormy relationships between people, rather than the
wrath of nature.
In this compelling romantic novel, Jocelyn returns home to Mimosa
Key in Florida’s Barefoot Bay to hide after a scandal in Los
Angeles sends her fleeing from her job as a life coach for movie
stars. Once back in her hometown, Jocelyn seeks shelter at Lacey’s
new resort, which is still under construction. She runs into Will,
her former high school sweetheart, whose sidelined baseball career
has him working at construction jobs until he gets another big break.
In addition to hiding from the tabloids that tracked her down to
Florida, Jocelyn faces two additional pressures: Will wants to continue
their relationship where they left off 15 years earlier, and her
physically abusive father has developed dementia, so he can no longer
remember his violent past. That’s a lot of problems for one
emotionally damaged woman to handle -- even a controlling life coach
with a mild case of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
I thoroughly enjoyed this carefully plotted story with well-developed
characters. Far more than just finding romance, Jocelyn struggles
to find forgiveness in her heart. Helping her in both endeavors
is Will, a strong, masculine man on the outside disguising a debilitating
weakness within him. As he and Jocelyn learn, grow, discover, and
develop, it’s easy to fall in love with both of them and hope
for their sunny future in Barefoot Bay -- or wherever fate leads
them.
Reviewer's
Note: Sexuality, Profanity
|
