Saturday, December 10, 2011

On Lavender Lane-JoAnn Ross

On Lavender Lane


JoAnn Ross

Signet, Jan 3 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9780451235435



Former SEAL Lucas Chaffee left the Navy to join with his dad in a father and son business in Shelter Bay, Oregon. However, he learns the true meaning of the citation “man proposes but God disposes” when he arrives in time to bury his dad at sea. Lucas is in shock by his loss. The townsfolk rally around the stunned Lucas who knows he suffers from a grief-driven PTSD much worse than any of his SEAL mission.



Sofia De Luca, who was there for father and son when tragedy struck yearago is there for Lucas again. She asks him to redesign her farmhouse, Lavender Lane, into a restaurant. Lucas agrees though that brings back memories of her granddaughter Madeline; he broke two hearts back in high school.



Madeline has become a famous TV chef. She catches her husband Maxime with a bimbo on YouTube. Deciding to go home for a respite following his betrayal, Madeline returns to Shelter Bay to help Gram with her restaurant. However, on Lavender Lane, she realizes Lucas is the answer to the question How To Mend a Broken Heart (Bee Gees)?



The third Shelter Bay romance (see One Summer and The Homecoming) is an insightful second chance at love contemporary. The key to the storyline are the traumas impacting the lead couple to include death of a love one, returning military trying to adjust to civilian life, spousal abuse and PTSD as these conditions widen the understanding of the protagonists. Readers will enjoy dining in Shelter Bay with Chef Madeline and veteran Lucas.



Harriet Klausner

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