Silver Linings: A Rose Harbor Novel
By: Debbie Macomber
Rating: 5 of 5
I found Debbie Macomber as an author with the first of the Rose Harbor novels (“The Inn at Rose Harbor”). What grabbed me from the first was her ability to eloquently describe the feelings of grief and loss that the main character, Jo Marie Rose, deals with when she discovers her husband is missing in action and presumed lost. Throughout the series, and especially in this book “Silver Linings”, Ms. Macomber continues to astound me with her ability to express feelings – both good and not good in a way that I can relate to. Once again, I spent a good portion of this book laughing and crying. I honestly don’t know what more you can ask from a novel about life.
In “Silver Linings”, we continue to follow Jo Marie’s evolving relationship with her handyman, Mark Taylor. At the end of the last book, Mark has expressed his feelings for Jo Marie, who is reeling from his declaration and spends most of this book trying to decipher what she feels for him.
Along with the Jo Marie storyline, we meet Katie and Coco. They are two friends who are in town for their ten year high school reunion. While they met in their last year of school, they bonded immediately and then each suffered an emotional setback that has haunted them for the last decade. They are attending the reunion, each with the intent of trying to resolve their set-back so they can get on with life. Their stories are told in flash-backs to their teenage years. It was an interesting way of incorporating elements of YA into a women’s literature novel. I don’t read a lot of YA but found that it worked well in this case for a one time story line. I am sure that Ms. Macomber does not intend to move this series into YA as the Jo Marie/Mark story is that of an adult couple.
I enjoyed reading this book and read it pretty much in one sitting as I have the other books in this series. My husband knows to leave me alone with I am camped out with a book and a pot of tea, with my tissues near by for the unavoidable tears.
Since discovering Ms. Macomber through this series, I have read others of her books and have seen movies and television series based on her novels. I know that I will have a good read whenever I sit down with one of her books and I really look forward to it.
I found Debbie Macomber as an author with the first of the Rose Harbor novels (“The Inn at Rose Harbor”). What grabbed me from the first was her ability to eloquently describe the feelings of grief and loss that the main character, Jo Marie Rose, deals with when she discovers her husband is missing in action and presumed lost. Throughout the series, and especially in this book “Silver Linings”, Ms. Macomber continues to astound me with her ability to express feelings – both good and not good in a way that I can relate to. Once again, I spent a good portion of this book laughing and crying. I honestly don’t know what more you can ask from a novel about life.