Another great book, looking forward to the stories continuing in Book #3!

Another charming Cedar Cove story...

Another addicting series!
Well written. good story lines, easy reads, not a lot of thinking and just a good series of books to pass the time.

I thought about giving this one 4 stars, but the mess with Zack and Rosie made me drop it one. Sorry, bickering couples are not my favorite thing to read about in romance novels. Another reason why I gave this one 3 stars, is that this one reads a bit like filler since you don't find out the resolution with a lot of things in this one until book #3, "311 Pelican Court".

One thing you can say about these books is that there is not a lack of characters. In "204 Rosewood Lane" we turn to Grace Sherman and her family. Grace's husband Dan has been missing for 6 months and she finally decides to go through with divorcing him. She has her two daughters, Maryellen and Kelly to lean on. Also she has a potential love interest too.

The good:

I liked seeing Grace become more sure of herself. From what we read about in book number one and here, she hasn't had a happy marriage. She also has managed to not shake the life out of her daughter Kelly who acts like a brat and her histrionics since her father has gone missing made me tired.

Macomber does a good job with juggling multiple people. Besides Grace, we have her daughter Maryellen as the focus, her relationship with a man named Jon, Olivia, Jack, and Olivia's ex husband Stan, Olivia's daughter Justine and Seth, along with Jack's son Eric, and Rosie and Zach Cox with their two kids. As I said in one of my other reviews, Macomber always introduces the couple who will be the focus in the next book in the preceding one. This time it's going to be Rosie and Zach. Problem was that the whole book felt weighted down with their acrimony.

Cedar Cove always feels lively and interesting and it feels like a real life place you can visit.

The bad:

I thought the nonsense between Olivia and Jack dealing with her ex and his son was boring to read about. Just have a conversation and stop playing games. They are both in their early 50s and I didn't have any patience with it at all.

Maryellen and Jon, I could not get over Maryellen and what she decides to keep a secret. Those that know me remember that my two most loathed romance plot lines are love triangles and secret babies. So guess which one this is.

Rosie and Zach, good grief. I didn't know who I wanted to shake more.



Rosie was acting like a martyr, but Zach acted like a throwback to the 1950s expecting a home cooked meal ready for him every night. Neither one of them really respected the duties the other one had during the day. And neither of them had any sense since they didn't seem to give their two kids chores which would help keep down the animosity about the cleanliness of the house and getting dinner together.

The book ends pretty abruptly and you have to read the next book to finish up some of the story-lines.

And on to the next one - what great stories - what a great series!!

This one left a lot more unfinished than the first. I felt like there was a lot more set up for the next novel. Which is okay since I have a copy of it I can start right now, but that would have made me crazy if I was reading it as they were published.
I do love the series, Cedar Cove, and the writing.

This was an enjoyable read. The second instalment to the Cedar Cove series and I really enjoyed it. It is nice to see how the characters from the first book are doing, while also being introduced to a new couple, Zachary and Rosie. Out of all the characters, my favourite is Charlotte. She is awesome and I love her so much. The story made me laugh, and I am glad that we find out what happened to Grace’s husband. I thought it was funny and witty. Debbie Macomber really has a way with her stories, and I can’t wait for 311 Pelican Court. Overall, a great read.

After finishing 16 Lighthouse Road I had put this series on hold for a while because I wasn't sure if I would ever want to revisit it. But a few days ago when I was between books I was feeling the need for something that was completely an escapist read, especially since I've got a Sanderson book going on audio right now. I saw these on my Kindle so I decided to give the series another try and I ended up completely engrossed this time.

Most of my same complaints about Macomber's writing are still there, like the amount of telling instead of showing, the way the books skip over weeks and months at a time, and the fact that too many of the characters are just too afraid to commit to the person they are interested in romantically. And also once again there is the couple who is having marital problems. They were not really that fun to read about. I just wanted to hit them both over the head! Also Maryellen, I can hardly stand her right now. But despite all of that I liked this book for what it is, an easy read about people in a small town. Some of them are endearing and others are annoying. I got my escapist read and I'm satisfied.

This book ended kind of abruptly with more than one story line unfinished

Spoiler

Maryellen's pregnancy and her relationship with Jon is the one I really wanted to see a conclusion to. Poor Jon, she really mistreated him!

and that annoyed me a little, but it also drew me right into the next book, which I'm sure the author did by design.

Review also posted at Writings of a Reader

I finished this book in less than 24 hours, and not for a lack of things to do. Every character felt extremely real to me, as each had flaws but yet weren't really bad people.

The story that leapt out to me the most was that of Zach and Rosie's; and I am anxious to read on about them in, I assume, 311 Pelican Lane.

I wholly recommend this book.