At the River's Edge: Chesapeake Diaries #7 (Book Review)

Title: At the River’s Edge: Chesapeake Diaries #7
Author: Mariah Stewart

Publication Information: Ballantine paperback, February 2014

Genre: Contemporary Romance 

Plot: Bestselling author Stewart’s Chesapeake Diaries series is set in the small Maryland town of St. Dennis.  In this installment, Sophie Enright turns her back on a successful career as a prosecutor when she finds her lawyer boyfriend cheating on her.  She leaves town to visit her brother, Jesse, who moved to St. Dennis and fell in love with Brooke Burke (main characters of book 4), and she decides to stay while figuring out a way to open the restaurant she has always dreamed about.  Conveniently, she finds a way to get over her not-so-broken heart when she meets Brooke’s former brother-in-law, a landscape gardener who moved to St. Dennis to be near his nephew.  Naturally, the course of true love never does run smooth…

Here is a link to an excerpt from Chapter 1.

What I liked: Every lawyer flirts with the idea of walking away from it all (don't tell my boss), so it is always entertaining to read about someone who does so.   Perhaps it was a little too convenient the way all Sophie’s plans fell into place so quickly – financing, property, renovations – but I always enjoy descriptions of food and décor.  One of the appealing aspects of this series is that characters from the other St. Dennis books appear throughout, including my favorite, Steffie, who runs the local ice cream shoppe extraordinaire, One Scoop or Two (who features in book 3).

The Chesapeake Diaries are a slow-paced but pleasant romantic series with wide appeal.   The books are suitable for readers who don’t care for gratuitous sex or bad language and appealing to those who enjoy quirky characters and a hint of magic, not to mention the charm of a small town.  The “diaries” in the subtitle are kept by Grace Sinclair, who runs a beautiful inn at Sinclair’s Point as well as the local newspaper (which provides a good excuse for her avid interest in everything that goes on in town).  Grace yearns for her son to return home and it looks like that will take place in book 8.  These books can be read independently but you’ll be so curious about how all the couples wound up together you’ll have to go back and read them all in order sooner or later! 

What I disliked:  Sophie decides to open a restaurant that will serve lunch and early breakfast for fishermen who shop at the nearby bait store at 5 am, then plans to work at the family law firm in the afternoon.  I am afraid she will be far too tired in the afternoon to provide her best legal work, and her brother agrees with me.  It's hard enough with a good night's sleep!

Source: I received this book from TLC Book Tours in return for a candid review.   I  urge you to visit other stops on the tour listed below to get different perspectives on this entertaining series.  I have a copy to give away (U.S. only) - if you are interested, please leave me a message so I can pick a winner.

Mariah Stewart's Tour Stops:

Monday, January 27th:  Literally Jen

Tuesday, January 28th:  Romancing the Book

Tuesday, January 28th:  Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

Tuesday, January 29th:  Mom in Love with Fiction

Friday, January 31st:  Gidget’s Bookworms

Monday, February 3rd:  Booked on a Feeling

Monday, February 3rd:  Svetlana’s Reads and Views

Tuesday, February 4th:  Reviews from the Heart

Wednesday, February 5th:  Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Thursday, February 6th:  Sara’s Organized Chaos

Friday, February 7th:  Joyfully Retired

Friday, February 7th:  From L.A. to LA

Monday, February 10th:  Bibliotica

Tuesday, February 11th:  Book Mama Blog

Wednesday, February 12th:  A Chick Who Reads.

Thursday, February 13th:  Lesa’s Book Critiques

Friday, February 14th:  Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews

Monday, February 17th:  From the TBR Pile

Tuesday, February 18th:  Novel Reaction