Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

That’s what my day has been, folks. My third load of wash is in, I ran to Walmart and got what my hubby needs for his surgery prep, I’ve listened to my conference talk, I’ve emptied my oven drawer and had the kids clear out the path from the door TO the oven (my new one’s due to arrive today! Hurrah!), all the due-and-not-renewable library books are taken care of and waiting to be dropped off at the library…quietly productive, right? And now I get to sit and review Jenn McKinlay’s Summer Reading, which I think I actually finished listening to in Idaho.

McKinlay has multiple cozy mystery series out there, I believe; Britt could tell you all about them. Summer Reading, however, is a blend of chick lit and contemporary romance that served me well during the stress of preparing for a trip so soon after the Barlow family reunion and in the middle of the PTA end-of-year financial headache. It has its flaws, yes–McKinlay’s love scenes aren’t the smoothest-flowing plot furthering events they could be, and the story as a whole moves rather quickly–but the combination of Sam, a dyslexic chef in charge of her much-younger half-brother for the summer, and Ben, an interim library director, is a nice one. I was afraid Sam’s dyslexia was going to be the awkward elephant in the room for three-quarters of the book, but it wasn’t (thankfully!), and Ben’s search for his father makes for a poignant counterpoint to Sam and Tyler’s discovery of themselves as siblings. Most of all, perhaps, I loved the Martha’s Vineyard setting, because I went there probably once or twice a summer for most of my growing up years.

It’s beautiful.

Anyway. If you’re having the kind of summer I am, I recommend Summer Reading as an enjoyable escape from stress. If you’re not, make sure you appreciate it!