One Who Stays is a heartwarming, inspiring story about Meg, a cancer survivor and innkeeper who lives year round on Summer Island, Meg moved to Summer Island while recovering from leukemia, Her grandmother took care of her, then Meg stayed to help her run the Inn, she never left, Meg is a hardworking woman who is content in her life with Zack, a fisherman who spends as much or more time at sea than with Meg, Recently, she is realizing that she wants more of a commitment than Zack is willing to give, When Seth Darden appears on the island looking for work as a handyman, neither of them is prepared for the emotions each stirs in the other,
This was a sweet, heartwarming story that will have a happy ending if they can move beyond their secrets and be totally honest with one another, They both have issues in their past that they need to deal with before they can move forward to find a happy ending and a place to call home, I enjoyed this hopeful romance, The women who live on the island and are Meg's friends, are supportive, welcoming, and authentic, The story is not only a romance, but there is a bit of a mystery as well as some drama, It has relationship dynamics, emotion, family, friendship, community, life, loss, and love, The story was well written with good pacing, Overall, The One Who Stays is a heartfelt story about accepting the things you cannot change, letting go of the past and the things that make you unhappy, taking chances, and moving on.
This story introduces Summer Island and the wonderful people that live there, I read the second book in the series before this one, so I already know this is a great series and I highly recommend both this book and the series.
The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book upon request, The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own, The One That Stays is a good story about a young woman growing into herself amp choosing what path her life would take going forward, Meg Sloan has had a lot dumped on her in her short life, This spring has her feeling down amp depressed, Meg has to decide what is important to her amp find the light amp love in her life again, Two men are vying for her last be, Which will she choose Or will she do the unexpected amp leave the island
Zack Sheppard is a commercial fisherman, To him, being alone, out on the open sea is safe amp comforting, When he comes home, he comes home to Meg amp is comforted, He finally tells Meg a little of his history but doesnt like to talk about it, Can he stay home for Meg or will he continue his long absences
Seth Darden has a dark past, Hes come to the Inn to find something from his past, Redemption is hard to come by and doesnt always take the form you think it will, Seth opened up to Meg about his past amp felt lightened by the way she accepted it amp him, A person from his past showed up amp Seth realized he needed to share his secrets, Will Meg think less of him when he shares everything
“You pick the one who stays, You love the one who stays, ”
This book was one of growth amp redemption, Not everything was as it seemed, Meg had to determine her path for the rest of her life without worrying about who shed share it with, I loved her grandmothers thoughts sprinkled throughout the story, Her friends added depth but also confusion as it seemed they each wanted different things for their friend, This was a through provoking read,,Received copy from third party source for review,
There's absolutely nothing wrong with this book, I didn't like it, but that is purely my opinion and doesn't speak to the plot, writing, pacing, etc, It just wasn't for me, I hate love triangles, and this one has a doozy, I didn't like the main character, Meg, who I felt didn't make good decisions or just let decisions be made for her by the men in her life, I didn't like either of the main male characters, Seth and Zach, for a host of reasons, I wouldn't have chosen either, The secondary characters weren't as developed as I needed them to be to care about them, I'm sure there are many, many readers who will be all about this one, Me Not so much. In an interesting twist, however, I've never read any Toni Blake before, and I thought the writing was good enough I would look up some of her backlist with different plots.
I appreciated the writing despite not liking the book, Maybe a different book by Blake will score on both, In “The One Who Stays”, Toni Blake delves into the world of womens fiction, Her writing voice is perfectly suited to this genre,
The first book in the Summer Island series introduces us to Meg Sloan, the owner of Summerbrook Inn and several other residents of the island,
Meg loves the island and the inn, Its a place where she sought shelter after a lifealtering event, But now, she isnt sure its a place she wants to be nor is she sure if she wants to be with Zack, a man shes been in a noncommitted relationship with for a few years.
Then Seth comes along, looking for contracting work for the summer, His charm is appealing and Meg shares things with him she never expected to reveal,
As Meg begins to change things around the inn, changes occur within her, making her realize she deserves happiness and if she wants something, she should ask for it.
Not only are we part of Megs journey, we learn more about Seth and why he came to Summer Island, His part of the story will grab your heart,
And then there is Zack, A man, who loves Meg, but holds pieces of his himself back in his relationship with her,
Ms. Blake crafts a beautiful story, pulling you into these characters lives and making you believe Summer Island actually exists, Plus, the ending or new beginning of Megs journey, was exactly as I hoped it would be!
If you are a fan of Susan Mallery or Robyn Carr, I highly recommend you pick up “The One Who Stays” and add it to your bookshelf.
Ugh. This book was so painful, There were some fade to black senses, It just didnt read well, No one actually talks like that stars!
The blurb is intriguing, However, I thought this was a romance novel based on the title my fault It is, but it dwells more on the heroine finding herself through reading her grandmother's journal and the love triangle that follows.
Unfortunate for me, I am not fond of reading about finding one's self, I find it boring and while I am looking forward for the love triangle, it lacks some kick, The story was a bit slow at least for me
This book is captivating on its own, But, like I said, it just wasn't for me, However, if you enjoy reading woman's fiction, you should give this book a try,
ARC provided by Publisher in exchange for an honest review Good book, though it read more like women's fiction than the romance I thought it was.
It was enjoyable, but I frequently found my attention wandering to scrolling through facebook rather than reading the book, The only thing that kept me on task was that I was reading on a transatlantic flight, so distractions were limited,
Meg is an innkeeper on Summer Island, running the inn that she inherited from her grandmother, She retreated to the inn several years earlier, recovering from both a serious illness and the desertion of her fiancé when he found out about that illness, She likes the quieter lifestyle and the closeness of the resident community but also enjoys the bustle of the summer tourist season, For the past five years, she has been in a relationship of sorts with Zack, but she finds herself wanting more than he is willing to give,
Zack is a fisherman who spends long periods on his boat, He is content to leave his relationship with Meg as it is, He likes that she is there for him when he returns to port on Summer Island and doesn't complain when he leaves again,
Seth came to the island in search of work but also looking for something from his past, He visited once as a child, along with his grandparents, and a memory from that time has brought him back, Seth's past haunts him, and he is looking to make some significant changes,
The book opens as Zack leaves Meg once again, It is their fifth anniversary and Meg had made plans, but Zack behaves as if it is just another day, Meg finally faces the fact that Zack is unlikely ever to give her the commitment that she needs, With the idea that Zack may no longer be in her life, Meg contemplates the idea of selling the inn and moving away, starting a new life somewhere that she can find what she needs.
Fate intervenes with the arrival of Seth, a handsome, younger man who is looking for work as a handyman, He is lighthearted and charming, and Meg hires him to do some needed repairs on the inn, She doesn't expect the attraction that flares between them,
I had fun watching the friendship that developed between Seth and Meg, He is an outrageous flirt and makes no secret of his attraction to Meg, but leaves it up to her whether to pursue it, In the meantime, they work together on projects around the inn, and Seth's attention to Meg gives her a taste of what could be, I loved all the
little things that he did to show her how special she is, Meg is torn between her loyalty to Zack and the feelings she develops for Seth, Things become more complicated when Seth's presence makes Zack realize that he could lose the woman who is such a big part of his life, Can he let go of his past enough to give Meg what she needs At the same time, Seth gets closer to solving the issue that brought him to Summer Island.
His feelings for Meg grow deeper, but so do his fears of her reaction if he should confess his reasons for coming to the island, An unexpected part of Seth's past arrives on the island, forcing him to face those fears, and providing some muchneeded healing, But will it be enough for him to believe that he deserves a chance at happiness
As Meg and Seth work on the inn's renovations, they discover an old diary of her grandmother's, hidden long before.
As Meg reads the diary, she finds some unexpected parallels with her own life, I loved Meg's surprise at the things she learned and how she used them to deal with her own problems, There was a surprising twist at the end of the diary that I didn't see coming and made me smile when all was revealed, I liked how it helped Meg face her fears and insecurities and embrace life on her own terms, The ending was terrific.
I liked the secondary characters, such as Meg's friend Suzanne and the other residents of the island, Suzanne was a good friend to Meg, I enjoyed how she was both a sounding board for Meg when she needed to talk, and also a kickinthepants when Meg needed a little extra push to step outside her comfort zone.
I liked how the residents looked out for each other, even though there was sometimes a little too much attention for Meg's comfort, will be posted soon! Meg Sloan runs the Summerbrook Inn that she inherited from her grandmother, Returning home to Summer Island has been peaceful after a series of unfortunate events which really caused her emotional distress, Meg enjoys her romantic time with a local man, Zack, but he is not willing to take things further,
Meg gradually tries to cope with Zacks lack of commitment, Some of the towns folks really pushed for him which struck me as odd since they were together foryears and he couldnt commit, She then meets Seth who is a “drifter”, He is in town looking for some work, She needs someone to help around the inn and pretty soon a friendship develops,
I love romance stories by Toni Blake, She knows how to deliver a cozy small town romance, So I became so excited to read this story once I discovered a brand new series by her, The problem that I have with this one is that the story has a womens fiction vibe to it, The romance is very light,
The reader is inside Megs head throughout her whole journey of selfdiscovery, In fact, the reader is inside everyones head, There is so much inner dialogue and musings that very little is said, It is hard to stay in the story, I would have rather the story be told in first person,
I really like Seth, Hemakes his intentions towards Meg known upfront, He is genuinely a nice guy who hasnt really found a place or reason to settle down, I kind of wanted more excitement for him to be honest,
As Meg is working on her romantic prospects, she is reading her grandmothers diary, While the story or should I say the romance moved a bit too slow for my own romantic preference, I really enjoyed the parallel between Megs life and her grandmothers.
It sort of helped Meg figure things out for herself,
I would recommend this as a good beach read,
ARC provided for honest review, stars ALERT: shelving could disclose somewhat spoiler
She supposed if you didn't ask for what you wanted in this world, you could only blame yourself for not having it.Warning: Sorry not sorry, this review is expletivefilled enjoy!
I'm going to start with the headline that this romance book is unlike any other romance book I have ever read.
And I mean that in reference to books that truly fall in the romance genre, not fiction books that heavily feature a romance, When compared to every single other trade romance book I have read, . . this was insanity. INSANITY, PEOPLE!!
Let me be clear, it wasn't a bad thingI mean yes, it was a TOTAL mindfuckbut as you can see from mystar rating, I ended up very much enjoying this book and found it to be a lovely and emotional read.
So where does the mindfucking come in you ask, THERE ARE TWO HEROES AND YOU TRULY DON'T KNOW WHO THE HEROINE WILL END UP WITH! AND IT'S ALSO NOT CLEAR WHICH ONE YOU SHOULD BE HOPING SHE ENDS UP WITH!!!! Like WHAT.
THE. FUCK. mindblown Yes, sometimes romances feature a love triangle setup though it's quite rare to begin with, but at least with all the ones I've read, it has always been extremely clear who the "hero" is and who the heroine should and will end up withwhether the other guy is setup as the villain or actually a supremely likable guy who is probably then going to get his own story later on.
WE HAVE CLARITY, PEOPLE.
I hate love triangles, so was nervous about this from the start, Because of the book summary, I knew that Meg, our heroine, is in a relationship with Zack, but it's one of those "it's complicated" situations and is very undefined to the point of being nonexclusive, we learn.
But whatever, Meg has a boyfriendno big deal, I'm going to expand my horizons and be a big girl I can deal with a love triangle, sometimes the author does it well and doesn't make it too angsty not an angst fan.
Usually the new guy coming in is going to be our hero, but from the book summary it actually wasn't clear whether that would be the casenote I wrote from the book summary.
Because of course, within the first few pages we're going to know immediately, Duh.
So I start reading, . . and I notice that I'm getting much more of the story from Meg's perspective than Seth's, He's staying a bit of a mystery to me longer than I would have expected, not getting a feel for him yet or what he's about, but okay, maybe that's on purpose, sometimes author's don't do an equal balance at the beginning.
Hmm, but this is weird, I'm starting to get thirdperson perspective from Zackand not a paragraph or two, I'm talking whole sections, Umm, and he's realizing he actually loves Meg And he doesn't want to lose what they have And he's changing his behavior and wants to express himself more to her and make his feelings clear
If that's not confusing enough, let me be clear that during all this, it's also very clear that she still loves Zack yes, it's complicated, because she has resentment towards him and is dissatisfied with their relationship, but she does truly love him.
Soooo Zack is the hero
But she and Seth have this explosive chemistry building up to something, right Okay, answer received: yes, And now they're developing an emotional connection and bond I'm also learning about Seth finally and getting bigger sections from his POV,
But. So. What Zack is off sailing and missing her And she misses him But Seth is drawn to her And she's drawn back
WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE PEOPLE!! WHO AM I SUPPOSED TO WANT HER TO END UP One of the defining characteristics of a romance book is that you know the endingit's all about the journey.
So yeah, this book was taking me on a journey alright, BUT WHAT THE FUCK WAS THE DESTINATION
Because I want you to be able to experience the same mindfucking that I did I know, you're welcome, I'm not going to say much more.
Very compelling and wellwritten characters, Meg is the main character, Zack and Seth are the supporting actors the entire story is characterdriven and really takes you on ups and downs clearly,
Blake did such a good job of portraying the tension and confusion that each of the characters feel, the weight of these momentous decisions they're taking and choices they have to make, how their past has shaped them and how they're trying to decide what they want for their futures.
Is another one of those few romances that brought a tear to my eye very rare,
Would have really liked an Epilogue wanted a closing frame showing me what Meg and look like together, a little farther down the road.
This review is of an ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review, Some changes and/or edits may be made to the final published version, .