Recently, I was given Summer House to review for Coffee Time Romance. It looked like an interesting book, but we all know you cannot judge a book by its cover. So I began reading. The turmoil of families was captured perfectly.
The story follows three women throughout the summer in Nantucket. Nona who is 90, her daughter-in-law, Helen, who is 60 and Charlotte, Helen and Worth’s daughter, who is 30. Life may appear to be all nice and tidy, but taking a look inside their lives shows you things aren’t always as they appear.
Here is an excerpt: As she drew close to Worth’s bedroom, she heard him talking on his cell phone. Good, she thought, because he was awake, and then, oh, dear, she thought, because she hated it when his work, his important, overriding work, invaded their home on weekends.
“Come on, Sweet Cakes. Don’t be that way. You know I’m thinking about you every minute. You know the only thing I want to do is take you back to bed.”
What? Helen stopped dead in the hall, as if she’d run into an invisible wall. What was Worth saying? Who was he talking to? Sweet Cakes? “You know I do. And you know I will. I promise. But I’ve got to get through this party and Family Meeting first. I’ve explained it to you, Sweet Cakes, come on, talk sweet to me.”
Talk sweet to me? Worth’s voice held a low, playful, sexual urgency Helen hadn’t heard for years. The very sound of it made her blush. She stood there, paralyzed in the hall, eavesdropping on her husband, and flushing with a painful heat. “I don’t think she’s awake yet. I don’t smell coffee. But she’ll be up any minute now, I really should get off the phone. Oh Sweet Cakes, you know I’ll phone you. . .” His voice grew louder, as if he were moving closer to the door, to the hall, where Helen stood paralyzed. Then the primitive fight or flight survival instinct shut down her thoughts and shocked her into action. Heart pounding, she raced down the stairs and into the den. She paced around the room, wringing her hands together.
My God. Worth was having an affair.
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